Correspondence between Ferguson Marine and Transport Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

1. All correspondence between Ferguson Marine and Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government regarding the resignation of Ferguson Marine CFO George Crookston.
2. When did Ferguson Marine inform Transport Scotland that the CFO had resigned? Who told who about this and when did this happen?
3. Will construction work start in Ardrossan Harbour before this winter or what is the current timetable for works?
4. Will the service between Ardrossan and Arran be back to normal service before summer 2025 including the Hull 802 and Glen Sannox with an upgraded harbour?

Response

1. In response to part 1 of your request: the information held by the Scottish Government that falls within the scope of your request has been attached separately for your reference. While our aim is to provide you information wherever we can, on this occasion we are unable to provide you with all of the information you have requested as statutory exemptions under FOISA apply. Details on what exemptions apply and why can be found in the annex below.

2. David Tydeman, Chief Executive Officer of Ferguson Marine Limited, informed the Strategic Commercial Assets Division (not Transport Scotland) of George Crookston’s resignation on 16 November 2022.

3. and 4. The Ardrossan harbour re-development project is overseen by a Ministerial Task Force, and project information is published regularly on the Transport Scotland webpages including Task Force minutes and Q&A. Some of the information you have requested has been published online and can be found below using via the following links:

• Infrastructure projects | Ardrossan Harbour re-development project | Transport Scotland
• Ardrossan Steering Group - questions and answers - May 2023 | Transport Scotland
• Ardrossan Harbour Task Force | Transport Scotland

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to provide information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact the email address noted above so a paper copy can be arranged. 

ANNEX
REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION
Section 25(1) – Information Otherwise Accessible
This exemption states that a Scottish public authority does not need to provide information requested under FOISA if that information is ‘reasonably obtainable’ to the requester by other means. This exemption is not about withholding the information from the public, but recognises that where information is already available to the requester, there is no need to provide an alternative right of access to it through FOISA.

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Information
An exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, i.e. names and contact details. Disclosing this information would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. 

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

Supporting Document - 202300349149

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1 page PDF

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103.6 kB