Loan facility provided to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/01836
Date received: 30 June 2018 
Date responded: 16 August 2018
 
Information requested

 

A series of questions relating to the loan facility provided by the Scottish Government to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited (FMEL) as announced on 27 June 2018. You asked 19 questions as follows:

1. What were the circumstances of the decision made by Mr Mackay to furnish FMEL with the loan of £30m?
2. Was this at the express request by the Company or offered by the Scottish Government in the first instance?
3. What approval process takes place in Government for the authorisation of this loan?
4. When was that [approval process] commenced?
5. How long is the loan for?
6. What are the agreed contractual conditions applied to this specific loan?
7. What is the agreed interest rate payable by the Company to the Scottish Government?
8. What reporting process has been introduced in this arrangement to ensure that at the end of the term the Scottish Government will receive full repayment of the loan and any interest payments agreed under the contract?

9. As this is public money being loaned to a private company involved in contracts for the Scottish Government where can members of the public find information on this loan in the public domain?
10. Was this loan to Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd agreed in any parliamentary debate or committee and if so where can details be found on the decision to award the Company this loan?
11. What conditions have been applied to this loan to ensure that the description of the reason for the loan as shown below are adhered to and not used for any other purpose including using these funds to support the ongoing construction and fit-out of FMEL Vessels known as 'Hulls 801 and 802' which are significantly behind schedule as outlined here.
12. How was the figure of £30m agreed between the Scottish Government and the Company?
13. What, if any match funding, has been agreed under the contract for this loan?
14. What ongoing reporting process has been agreed with the Company for regular updates on the use of the loan?
15. What outputs have been agreed for ensuring this loan is value for money for the public purse?
16. How is the £30m loan being administered to the Company, that is in a single one-off payment or payment by the Government in installments?
17. How confident is the Scottish Government that this will provide the benefits to the public purse given that it is nationally recognised that the Company is failing to deliver the contractual requirements for the award to build vessels 801 and 802?

18. Was Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (as the procurement vehicle for Scottish Ministers for ferries and port infrastructure) consulted on at any stage before the loan was awarded to the Company?
19. Will the Scottish Government's Public Audit and Post-legislative Committee call for representatives from the Company to give evidence to the Committee during the term of the loan to update Members on how the loan is being spent and with what outputs and economic benefits result from the loan?

 

 

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections of FOISA apply. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

 

 

Exemptions apply, subject to the public interest test.

An exemption under section 33 (1(b)) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested because it relates to commercial information that may prejudice the company.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking 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.

 

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