John Swinney - I only gave budget approval in ferry deal

John Swinney should address parliament immediately, Mr Ross said

John Swinney has said he only gave budget approval for the Scottish government's troubled ferries contract with Ferguson Marine.

A spokesman for Nicola Sturgeon said he was not aware of the financial risks.

The deputy first minister spoke to journalists after First Minister's Questions following calls from the Scottish Conservatives to "come clean".

They claimed a newly published email confirmed Mr Swinney approved the ferry contract.

Mr Swinney said he did not approve all contracts while he was finance secretary and there would be "significant inefficiency" if the government operated in such a way.

In 2015, Ferguson Marine was given a publicly-funded contract to build two new ferries at its Port Glasgow yard. However, the vessels are yet to be finished and will cost in excess of £250m, tens of millions more than the original £97m price tag.

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It emerged on Wednesday that an email had been found that showed that the then Transport Minister Derek Mackay had approved the contract.

The same email also copied in Mr Swinney who was the finance secretary at the time.

The email trail shows a finance official asking for the award to be delayed until Mr Swinney could be briefed.

Another civil servant asked for confirmation there were no "banana skins" after Mr Swinney was informed of the parameters of the deal - which ferry procurement body Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited had raised concerns about after Ferguson Marine said it could not offer a full builder's guarantee.

In the final email in the trail, the finance official said: "Just finished my call with Deputy First Minister (Mr Swinney).

"He now understands the background and that Mr McKay (sic) has cleared the proposal. So the way is clear to award."

Mr Swinney addressed media on Thursday.

He said: "As finance secretary at the time, I'm responsible for providing the budget for the meeting of any contracts.

"What officials were doing was briefing me that there was no need to change the budget arrangements based on the contract that had been agreed and approved by the transport portfolio, and which of course is confirmed by the email trail you got yesterday."

Asked if he gave it the nod, Mr Swinney said: "What I gave was the budget approval, which I had given in August.

"And the budget approval I gave in August of 2015, the officials assured me on 9 October did not need to be changed.

"The finance secretary does not approve all contracts, if that was the case there would be significant inefficiency in the processing of contracts within government."

Responding to another question, he said: "I didn't give it the final nod.

"I was given assurance that the budget provision that I had put in place in August was adequate for the contractual arrangements."

'Absence of banana skins'

Earlier at First Minister's Questions, Mr Ross quizzed Ms Sturgeon about her deputy's role in the matter.

The first minister reiterated that it was Derek Mackay who took the decision, the basis of which was set out in paperwork on 8 October 2015.

Mr Ross added: "It's very clear in here how officials escalated to John Swinney, waiting for his green light.

"In these emails, civil servants state that the deputy first minister confirmed the 'absence of banana skins'.

"John Swinney couldn't find a single banana skin, when they were absolutely littered around him - there were more banana skins in this project than there are in the monkey house at Edinburgh Zoo.

"We now know all of this, but what we don't know is why the deputy first minister ignored all those banana skins.

"The most crucial document in this affair is still missing - the one that explains why John Swinney charged ahead against expert advice."

A document released by the government revealed redacted information when copied and pasted into a Word document, Mr Ross told parliament.

One of the redacted sections stated: "The impact of a successful legal challenge could be high - in the worst case the contract could be declared ineffective."

"The stench of corruption and cover up is running through this whole sorry affair," Mr Ross added.

Ms Sturgeon accused Mr Ross of selectively quoting from the email which showed Derek Mackay made the decision.

"The deputy first minister did not take the decision, he wasn't even copied in to the advice of the 8th of October that was the basis of that decision," Ms Sturgeon said.

"He was simply briefed on the decision after it was taken, not even at his request but on the initiative of an official."

She pointed it out it was not unusual for finance minsters to be briefed on decisions that involved spending.

"It does not mean that the finance minster has taken the decision," she added.

'There must be a public inquiry'

The Scottish Conservatives previously accused the government of orchestrating a campaign to try to pin the blame on Mr Mackay - who resigned as the country's finance secretary in 2020 after sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old boy on social media.

Willie Rennie MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesman, called for a public inquiry.

"At least the amateurism of the SNP has enabled us to establish that ministers were advised that the ferries contract was potentially unlawful," he said.

"That multi-million pound contracts are routinely signed off by one-line emails even when there is a legal risk reveals a causal disregard for the public purse and the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of people.

"This confirmation now makes it inevitable that there must be a public inquiry into this shocking waste of public funds and failure to deliver two lifeline ferries."