No decision has been taken on a more than £80m budget increase to complete two late and over-budget ferries, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The Glen Sannox and as-yet-unnamed Hull 802 were due to be in service by next year, but further delays were reported to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on Wednesday by Ferguson Marine chief executive David Tydeman.
He told the committee in a letter that the completion of 802 will take until the first quarter of 2024, as opposed to the previous date of December 2023, while the Glen Sannox could see a one to two months “slippage” in delivery date.
The cost of completing the vessels will also rise, the letter said, reaching a maximum of £209.6m, on top of the initial £97m cost of the contract.
A letter to the same committee in March put the extra costs at between £119m and £122m.
Although Tydeman told the committee that between £6m and £7m could be recouped through a prospective contract with BAE and the cost of Hull 802 could drop by as much as £10.5m if the yard reaches a “stretch target” and does not need to use contingency funding.
When questioned on the price rises during First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said - despite being made aware of the circumstances at the yard last week - that ministers had not yet looked at the new budget for the ships.
“Ferguson has set out its latest estimate of cost, but this is the key point – ministers have yet to properly scrutinise that estimate, so no decision has yet been taken about any further increase in the budget for the ferries,” stated the First Minister.
“As that process of due diligence, which government has to undertake, we will update Parliament in the normal way.
“That is what we will continue to do, as we work to continue to support the shipyard, to support the jobs that depend on that shipyard – that’s the responsible approach to government.”
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross responded that the issue of the ferries, which have been delayed by five years thus far, “does matter”, adding: “It matters to the islanders that have been abandoned by this government, it matters because the price and the delays keep spiralling further.”
Sturgeon replied: “What I do agree with Douglas Ross on is that these things do matter and the government take them as seriously as we do.”
The news comes as the Port Glasgow shipyard has been accused of receiving “special treatment” in the bidding process for the ferries.
A BBC investigation found that a more-than 400-page document written by ferry procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) was passed to the yard by a design consultant, detailing the technical requirements for the vessels.
Sturgeon, who told a group of Holyrood committee conveners on Wednesday she had seen no evidence of criminality in the process, said to Ross that the allegations should be investigated.
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