Taxpayers 'robbed' by over-budget ferries - Labour peer

The second ferry being built by Ferguson Shipyard, Glen Rosa, is still on the slipway

The construction of two delayed and overbudget ferries has "robbed taxpayers", a Labour peer has said.

Ferguson shipyard won a contract from a government-owned procurement agency CMAL, to build the vessels for CalMac.

The initial contract in 2016 was for £97m but it is estimated the ferries will cost £360m when finally completed.

The Scottish government said its priorities were on the completion of the ships, securing a future for the yard and supporting island communities.

Labour peer Lord Robertson is set to retire from his role as chairman of Western Ferries, a privately-owned firm operating between Gourock and Dunoon, at the end of the year.

• CalMac could win ferries contract without tender

• No extra cash for Ferguson shipyard modernisation

• Launch date set for delayed ferry MV Glen Rosa

He has urged Scottish ministers to work with island communities to devolve the operation of local services.

He added that the attempt to bolster CalMac's fleet in the west of Scotland by building the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa vessels at the Ferguson Marine Shipyard in Port Glasgow had been a "fiasco".

"The taxpayers are being robbed here. These will probably be the most expensive ferries in the world. They probably could have been gold-plated and would have saved money," he said.

"It's a sad reflection on Scotland today, where we used to build the great liners of the world. It is now reduced to one shipyard that can't apparently build two simple car ferries."

CalMac's chief executive said it would continue to support islanders who relied on its services

The former defence secretary, who served under Tony Blair's government, was born in Islay and raised in Dunoon. He said island communities had been forgotten by the Scottish government.

"The communities based on the islands have been compromised, affected, limited, and in some cases destroyed by the fact the lifeline links have been relegated in the way they have," he said.

"In recent years, the rural and the islands, especially, seem to have been relegated and forgotten.

"I think that is a scandal because Scotland is made up of a whole series of communities but if it is all centralised in the central belt then the island and rural communities get a raw deal."

Lord Robertson said the initial plan for devolution, which was introduced by his government, was for authority to be further "devolved inside Scotland" to give islanders control of the services they relied on.

He also criticised the potential plan to directly award the Clyde and Hebrides contracts to CalMac without putting them out to tender in the usual way.

'Deeply disappointing'

The Scottish government has said it is exploring the direct award, but stressed it would not be "business as usual" for the service which has faced criticism over its reliability.

Lord Robertson said: "Simply handing the contract to Caledonian MacBrayne is the wrong answer from the point of view of the taxpayer. It doesn't allow for competition, and it allows the existing model to continue.

"But the fact is, in previous times when it has been open to competition, the taxpayer pays for the cost of putting together the Caledonian MacBrayne bid and the private, anybody challenging Caledonian MacBrayne finds itself having to pick up a very enormous bill for putting together a bid."

CalMac's chief executive, Robbie Drummond, said it would continue to collaborate with local stakeholders and support island communities which relied on its services.

He added that he anticipated that the addition of six major and 10 small vessels would enhance capacity and resilience of its network.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "As ministers have previously set out, the rising costs and delays are deeply disappointing.

"The Scottish government's priorities have always been, and remain, the completion of the two ferries, securing a future for the yard and its workforce and supporting our island communities that rely on this type of vessel on a daily basis."