A FORMER Labour First Minister has called for a police investigation into the Ferguson Marine debacle.
Jack McConnell, now a life peer in the House of Lords, has warned the Scottish Government destroying official documents is a crime after Nicola Sturgeon said it was “regrettable” key decisions which resulted in the contract being awarded were not recorded.
Auditor General Stephen Boyle told MSPs last week he had been unable to obtain documents from the government which outlined why the contract was awarded to Ferguson Marine despite it not including the usual refund guarantee if the yard closed or failed to build the ships on time.
READ MORE: 'Regrettable' key ferry contract records were not properly kept, Nicola Sturgeon says
Two vessels to serve the Clyde and Hebrides routes for CalMac remain unfinished and are now nearly four years late and are two and a half times over budget. The cost has ballooned to at least £240 million.
The Scottish Government told the BBC that a “thorough search has been conducted and the paperwork/documentation cannot be located”.
The former First Minister wrote: “I’m sure that when we wrote and then passed the Freedom of Information Act we included clauses to make the destruction or removal of official documents a crime.
“A thorough search.” The Scottish Government responds after the Auditor-General was critical of the lack of proper documentation for the £240m ferry contract. The paperwork “cannot be located.” pic.twitter.com/lPcYNrtI7S
— BBC Andrew Kerr (@BBCandrewkerr) April 21, 2022
“I hope the BBC and the Auditor General are asking Police Scotland to investigate.”
While Boyle last week told Holyrood’s public audit committee he was frustrated with the lack of documentation, he believes a record was not created at the time and the Scottish Government is not withholding details.
However the failure to do so could be a breach of requirements under the Public Finance and Accountability Act, The Times reports.
In the years since the contract was awarded, the yard has been saved from administration by the Scottish Government, and the estimated delivery of the vessels has been pushed back by five years, along with an increase in costs from £97 million to at least £250 million.
READ MORE: Ferguson Marine buy-out was right thing to do and saved 300 jobs, Kate Forbes says
The Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed hull 802 are now expected to be completed between March and May 2023 and between October and December 2023 respectively.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “A thorough search has been conducted and all relevant information that we hold has been shared with Audit Scotland.
“There is extensive documentation available which records the decision-making process, including mitigations proposed to safeguard public money.
“The Scottish government fully supported Audit Scotland while they conducted their inquiry. We have committed to undertaking a formal review following the completion of the vessels, as recommended by the Audit Scotland report.”
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