Bid to force resignations if ferry delivery timetable is missed again fails

An attempt to force ministerial resignations if the timetable for the delivery of two ferries is missed again, and costs continue to soar, has failed.

In a motion in Holyrood, the Scottish Lib Dems sought to force Parliament to call on the ministers responsible to quit, if the ships are delivered later than was announced last month, or if costs rise again.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes told MSPs last month that the Glen Sannox and as yet unnamed hull 802 will be delayed until at least next year – five years later than planned.

An estimate also put the cost of the final project as high as £240 million, almost two and a half times higher than the original £97 million.

Both are under construction at the Government-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, which was saved from administration in 2018 when a number of problems were discovered.

MSPs instead voted to approve a Scottish Government amendment to the motion, by 66 votes to 51, deleting it in its entirety and instead praising the Scottish Government for rescuing the yard and saving 300 jobs.

The amended motion passed by 65 votes to 52.

Speaking in favour of the motion, Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the scandal was not part of a “parliamentary soap opera”, but has real impacts on island communities.

“The public and our island communities deserve answers and they deserve accountability,” he said.

He added: “Those who dared to believe the Government’s promise to fix this situation are now left doubly disappointed and angry, and to make things worse it seems that absolutely nobody is being held to account for this failure.”

Business minister Ivan McKee said he fully recognised the importance of ferries to island communities, adding: “We accept that the delivery of ferries has faced challenges, but this Scottish Government has been crystal clear what we expect from Ferguson Marine in terms of delivering vessels 801 and 802 as well as turning the business around to make it competitive.”

He continued: “The decision we took (to save the yard from administration) saved hundreds of jobs and it saved the future of commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde and it was the right thing to do.

“We stand by the commitment to the shipbuilding communities in Inverclyde and the island communities that rely on the vessels the yard will deliver.”

The Scottish Tories tabled an amendment seeking to find out why there was no documentation of the reasoning behind the decision to press on with the contract award to Ferguson Marine, despite there being no full refund guarantee in place.

Scottish Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: “We need to see action on ferries and we need to see ministers take responsibility – our islanders deserve nothing less.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour urged the First Minister to take ministerial responsibility for the construction of the ferries, with their transport spokesman Neil Bibby saying: “It is the Scottish Government who is ultimately responsible for the procurement of these vessels and it is the First Minister who is ultimately responsible for the Scottish Government.

“So Labour are again calling the First Minister to take direct ministerial responsibility – no more buck-passing, no more blame-shifting, it is time for real accountability.”

The amendments from both opposition parties fell.