Ferries scandal Scotland: Humza Yousaf refuses to say whether he will grant power for Ferguson Marine's finances to be reviewed

Holyrood committee calls on the Scottish Government to grant the Auditor General the power to review Ferguson Marine’s finances

Humza Yousaf has refused to say whether or not he will grant the powers needed for Ferguson Marine’s finances to be officially reviewed.

Earlier this week a Holyrood committee said economy secretary Neil Gray must give Scotland’s Auditor General the power to be legally able to review Ferguson Marine’s financial records.

The public audit committee says Auditor General Stephen Boyle needs to undertake this review so they can better understand how the shipyard in Port Glasgow spent £128.5 million of public money on two new vessels.

The MV Glen Rosa at Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow. Image: John Devlin/National World.

These two vessels, now known as MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa, are languishing in the shipyard five years behind schedule and more than three times their original £97m budget.

The Scottish Government needs to make what is called a “competent order” under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 to allow the Auditor General to carry out this review, something the public audit committee has urged the Government to do.

However, Mr Yousaf was directly challenged to do this during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday by the Conservatives’ transport spokesman Graham Simpson.

Mr Yousaf said: “There have been a number of inquiries and the Scottish Government and Ferguson Marine have co-operated fully. Hundreds of documents have been published in the public domain on what’s happening at Ferguson’s.

“I will not hesitate in apologising to island communities that they’re still waiting for completion of [MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa].

“What I won’t do is apologise for the Scottish Government stepping in to make sure we secured hundreds of jobs in Inverclyde.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Simpson said: “It’s extraordinary that the First Minister can’t answer a simple question about whether he will provide the Auditor General with the powers he says he needs.

“So we’re none the wiser about what has happened to the £128.5m received by FMEL (Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited). After years of ongoing scandal surrounding the failure to provide lifeline ferries for island communities, Humza Yousaf is still fobbing them off with warm words and no answers.”