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Top lawyer to investigate if Scottish ferries contract was 'rigged'

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Glen Sannox and hull 802, pictured, are still being constructed at Ferguson shipyard

Scotland's ferry procurement body is appointing a senior lawyer to investigate if a £97m contract for two new ships was "rigged".

CMAL asked its legal firm, Addelshaw Goddard, to appoint a KC to lead an independent probe into the process.

The two CalMac ferries are now £150m over budget and five years late.

A BBC Disclosure investigation obtained a leaked dossier which suggested that successful bidder Ferguson Marine Engineering had preferential treatment.

Ferries agency CMAL is owned by the Scottish government.

However, the Scottish government said it was not involved in the appointment of the KC.

The contract process for the two passenger ferries, the Glen Sannox and the unnamed 'hull 802', has also been investigated by MSPs on Holyrood's public audit committee.

CMAL has defended the procurement and said an audit in 2018 found "no adverse issues".

However, the BBC documentary Disclosure: The Great Ferries Scandal uncovered evidence of a number of irregularities:

  • CMAL may have broken its own rules by allowing Ferguson to go ahead with its bid despite being unable to provide evidence of a builders refund guarantee, a mandatory financial safeguard.
  • Ferguson obtained a 424-page document from a design consultant setting out CalMac's technical requirements, while other bidders had to rely on a more limited 125-page specification. A key section of its bid was mostly cut-and-pasted from this longer document.
  • The shipyard was allowed to significantly change its design halfway through the tender by developing a variant mentioned but discounted in its original submission.
  • This change also allowed it to reduce its price by nearly £10m, making it more competitive.
  • CMAL assessors held a "confidential" meeting with Ferguson, the only bidder to receive an in-person meeting.
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The Glen Sannox is being built at the Ferguson Marine shipyard at Port Glasgow

The Glen Sannox and hull 802 are being built at the Ferguson Marine shipyard at Port Glasgow.

The yard collapsed into administration and was nationalised in 2019 amid an dispute between former owner Jim McColl and the ferries agency CMAL, who both blamed each other for the problems.

A spokeswoman from CMAL said: "CMAL has instructed its lawyers Addleshaw Goddard to appoint a King's Counsel to conduct an independent investigation relating to the procurement process.

"We are unable to comment further while this investigation is ongoing."

The public audit committee is due to report on its inquiry into the delays to the delivery of the two ferries next month.

Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said procurement process had been "mired in secrecy and evasiveness".

He said: "MSPs should be able to question the KC appointed once they have completed their work and there should be parliamentary scrutiny of the final report."

"The government should commit to following their recommendations as well as any recommendations made by the committee when they report."