FERRY FIASCO: CIVIL SERVICE PAPER TRAILS

Who should have been in the loop concerning decision to retain Ferguson as contractor after August 2015?

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It is understandable that everyone wishes to focus on the politicians involved in making the key decisions that resulted in the ongoing ferry fiasco. However Audit Scotland reports “There is insufficient documentary evidence to explain why Scottish ministers accepted the risks and were content to approve the contract award in October 2015”¹.

How is it possible for there to be insufficient documentary evidence to ascertain why the Scottish Government opted to ignore the financial risks? A decision was reached at top levels of government to proceed with Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) as ferry contractor; despite knowing from September 2015 that it - as preferred bidder - could not satisfy a mandatory requirement for the contract (namely a full taxpayer refund guarantee).

A catastrophic decision was taken that has left taxpayers facing nearly a quarter of a billion pounds in costs. But we are expected to believe there are no documents about a key decision taken during September 2015?

What we do know is that SNP politicians are being extremely tight lipped:

Kate Forbes MSP is eagerly informing journalists it isn’t anything to do with her…

“It all happened before I was in post…”

And Humza Yousaf is busy ensuring he won’t be joining Derek Mackay under the bus as a potential fall-guy

“minutes of those meetings would be available…”

The First Minister herself is reduced to speaking in double negatives

“I didn’t say don’t go ahead”

IN THE ABSENCE of any answers forthcoming from the politicians, we need to consider who else could offer some. This provides us with a jump-off point for any investigative digging. Other than SNP politicians currently practicing duck and cover, who else should have been in a position to know a few answers?

Well, it’s time for a game of civil service paper trail! But first let’s start by examining the formal procedures set out to safeguard and ensure propriety of public expenditure.

If we check out the ‘Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000’, it reveals the legal backdrop for the ‘Accountable Officer’.² Putting the Act simply, for each and every bit of spending under Scottish Government authority, there is an Accountable Officer (AO), which is also explained in the Scottish Ministerial Code.³

(If you fancy reading a fuller examination on the formal procedures intended to safeguard the propriety of public spending Scotland under Section 15 of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, check out an excellent thread here)

So, we know there are senior civil servants who will have participated in discussions and approvals concerning a ferry procurement on this size and scale. In fact, at an original £97m fixed price procurement contract, you can be sure the very top civil servants would have been involved. And there had to be an AO.

Furthermore, anyone who has ever worked in the civil service (or any professional bureaucracy) will tell you that there is always a paper trail. Emails are sent, anyone with even remote overlapping authority is copied in. Why? Spread risk, ensure accountability, body-swerve blame., avoid stepping on toes. Top civil servants are masters of their departmental empires.

It is a normal civil service process to ensure people are copied into emails, minutes are made, t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted. Contemporaneous notes are made, kept, retained for periods of time afterward. This is how a professional, normal bureaucracy functions; regardless of the political masters who are ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ heading up ministries. The TV show ‘Yes Minister’ comically pokes fun at all of this dry civil service process with its character ‘Sir Humphrey Appleby’; and it worked so well because it captured something of the realistic.

The following senior civil servants were in positions which mean can expect them to have been firmly in this civil service ‘paper trail’ loop of communication.

Leslie Evans | Permanent Secretary July 1, 2015 - January 5, 2022

Principle Accountable Officer as per The Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

“The Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 makes provision for the appointment of the Permanent Secretary as Principal Accountable Officer (PAO) for the Scottish Administration and specifies the Permanent Secretary’s functions in this capacity. These include designating Accountable Officers for such parts of the Scottish Administration as the Permanent Secretary may specify and for certain other bodies, the accounts of which are required by statute to be audited by or under the control of the Auditor General for Scotland.” -Scottish Ministerial Code 2018 edition

The Permanent Secretary is Principal Accountable Officer (PAO), but for obvious practical reasons (she heads up a mammoth bureaucracy), separate Accountable Officers (AOs) are appointed for different areas. From what I can gather, this seems to happen via Cabinet portfolio. A senior civil servant below Permanent Secretary level will be the AO for each portfolio.

But Leslie Evans is Permanent Secretary, ultimately any major event which might necessitate a change of policy direction is reported to her. If anyone was in a position to explain why the Scottish Government decided to proceed with Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) despite lack of refund guarantee, it is former head civil servant in Scotland Leslie Evans.

Alyson Stafford CBE | Director General Finance October 2010-June 2017⁴

According to her own words Alyson Stafford must have been cc’d into many emails concerning the ferry procurement process.

“As Director General Finance for the Scottish Government I am the principal financial adviser to the Permanent Secretary as Principal Accountable Officer and to Scottish Ministers. I am responsible for the overall Scottish Budget including tax, spending and infrastructure investment. I lead a team of finance professionals who support financial decisions across the Scottish Government to secure value for Scotland and Ministers from the Scottish Budget” - Alyson Stafford DG Finance 22 September 2016⁵

As per her own job description, she must have been someone who would have signed-off after knowledge broke in September 2015 that, as preferred bidder, FMEL were unable to provide full taxpayer refund guarantee (a mandatory requirement for the contract). And she would have directly reported to Leslie Evans as Permanent Secretary.

Today Ms Stafford is Director-General Scottish Exchequer, appointed in July 2017.

Where does all of this leave us?

The Auditor general of Scotland has reported “There is insufficient documentary evidence to explain why Scottish ministers accepted the risks and were content to approve the contract award in October 2015”⁶. But we now know two civil servants who can surely illuminate that issue for us.

And given civil service bureaucracy makes copying everyone related to a decision into the paper (or email) chain, surely these two individuals can provide physical documentary evidence not yet seen?

Leslie Evans and Alyson Stafford CBE must address the following:

1. Why were said paper/email chains relating to the decision to retain FMEL after September 2015 not handed over to the Auditor General?

2. If they no longer exist, who deleted this evidence and why?

3. If no such documentary evidence ever existed, this would represent a serious (unthinkable) administrative failure within the Scottish Civil Service. Should you be expected to retain your jobs / full gold-lined public pensions for such incompetence?

September 2015 revealed FMEL could not satisfy the mandatory condition for contract to build two new ferries. But SNP ministers decided to proceed regardless. The Auditor General is unable to ascertain why this reckless, incompetent decision was taken. The SNP politicians are refusing to provide answers. So why not just ask the top civil servants? They must have been involved. Their sign-offs required. Their objections, thoughts, concerns, opinions all written down. If not, something is hideously wrong with the institutions of Scottish governance and democracy.

The opposition MSPs should be calling in Leslie Evans and Alyson Stafford. Or preferably both be compelled to appear under oath in front of a full independent judge-led public inquiry.

1. Auditor General, (2022 March), ‘New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802’, Audit Scotland, pg 3, https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/uploads/docs/report/2022/nr_220323_vessels.pdf

2. ‘Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000’, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/1/section/15

3. Scottish Ministerial Code (2018), ‘The Role of the Accountable Officer’, 2018 Edition, pg 20, file:///D:/Politics%20Stuff/00531094.pdf

4. Director-General Scottish Exchequer, responsibilities & biography, https://www.gov.scot/about/how-government-is-run/civil-service/director-general-finance/#:~:text=Alyson%20Stafford%20CBE%20was%20appointed,Scottish%20Exchequer%20in%20July%202017.

5. Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts 2015 to 2016, Foreword, https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2015-16/

6. Auditor General, (2022 March), ‘New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802’, Audit Scotland, pg 3, https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/uploads/docs/report/2022/nr_220323_vessels.pdf