Due diligence report by Teneo regarding costs of hulls 801 and 802: FOI release

Information requested

1. Please provide a copy of the due diligence report carried out by external advisers Teneo in relation to the costs of the 801 and 802 ferries contract being carried out by Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow, which was commissioned following the latest estimates of costs by the chief executive of FMPG in autumn 2022.
2. Please also provide any briefing notes provided to ministers analysing the findings of the report.
3. Please also confirm how much was paid to Teneo to carry out the report.

Response

Please provide a copy of the due diligence report carried out by external advisers Teneo in relation to the costs of the 801 and 802 ferries contract being carried out by Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow, which was commissioned following the latest estimates of costs by the chief executive of FMPG in autumn 2022.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 gives everyone the right to ask Scottish public authorities for the information they hold, subject to various provisions and exemptions. It's important to note that the right applies to information, not to documents.

While our aim is to provide you information wherever we can, on this occasion after reviewing the information on a line-by-line basis, we are unable to provide you with a copy of the due diligence report carried out by external advisers Teneo in relation to the costs of the 801 and 802 ferries contract being carried out by Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow that you have requested. An exemption under section 33(1)(b) of FOISA applies to the information you have requested because it is likely to prejudice substantially the commercial interests of the company and the Scottish Government as an interested party.

Releasing this information will impact the current operational abilities, including the delivery of the vessels and future viability of commercial operations of the companies involved at substantial risk. There is also a contractual agreement between the businesses providing the advice to Government that the information provided is commercially sensitive, whilst considering the public interest tests it would be inappropriate to publish the information.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking into account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release of this information to provide transparency on information given to the Ministers and officials, on costs of the projects and programmes funded from the public purse and on the progress of these particular projects. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in limiting disruption to the costs and delivery schedule of the vessels, maintaining current and safeguarding the future commercial sustainability of the Ferguson Marine operations, in which people of Scotland have a vested public interest in, that would be adversely affected should the information be released.

Please also provide any briefing notes provided to ministers analysing the findings of the report.

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide you information wherever we can, on this occasion we are unable to provide you with some 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 attached.

Please also confirm how much was paid to Teneo to carry out the report.

The information on monies paid to Teneo to carry out the report that you have requested is available from the Scottish Parliament website under this link. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

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FOI - 202300359647 - Annex

File type

1 page PDF

File size

110.0 kB

FOI - 202300359647 - Information release

File type

11 page PDF

File size

687.5 kB