Rise in payments to manager seconded to shipyard ‘absolutely stark’, MSPs told

Increases in payments made to a senior manager seconded to the Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard were “absolutely stark”, the Auditor General has said.

Andy Crossan, who has since retired, was a senior figure at ferry procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) but was seconded to Ferguson Marine after the then chief executive, David Tydeman, said he was looking to bolster his team.

Mr Crossan was put on the payroll at Ferguson’s with a salary of £36,000, which was eventually upped to £54,000.

But through a company for which he was the sole director, Mr Crossan invoiced the yard for £144,000, on which Ferguson’s had to fork out £48,000 in unpaid tax.

Appearing before the Public Audit Committee at Holyrood on Thursday, Auditor General Stephen Boyle was asked about the increase in payments, which he described as “exponential”.

He told MSPs: “There was an increased volume of time commitments and expectation that the secondee from CMAL was providing to Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow.

“But it’s absolutely stark, the growth, and there’s a concern that those circumstances were allowed to materialise without proper checks, balances, controls.”

Mr Tydeman was sacked by the yard – which is responsible for the building of two massively late and over-budget ferries – last year, with the Auditor General telling MSPs processes are now in place to ensure such a situation cannot happen again.

In the same session on Thursday, Mr Boyle said 21 people had been given exit packages from the yard in the 2023-24 financial year, totalling up to £440,000.

The majority of those, he said, were payments in lieu of serving a notice period, while 10 were due to “ill health”, according to Audit Scotland audit director John Boyd.

Seven members of staff left the yard with a financial settlement the year before, the Auditor General said.

The Glen Sannox – the first of the two late ferries – entered service this week, while the Glen Rosa is due to be delivered in September.