Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited, financing and vessel delivery dates: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/19/00021  
Date received: 27 December 2018
Date responded: 28 January 2019

 

 

To request Scottish Ministers to provide all email, correspondence, telephone calls, meetings and minutes that specifically states to the Scottish Government's commitment to .....'finding a solution to funding the vessels through to completion'.

Response

The text quoted in the request was not sourced from the Scottish Government but comes from the financial statements of Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited as published in December 2018. We have searched our records for the specific wording quoted in the request and have not located any material that specifically states the exact phrase quoted.

Question 2

To request Scottish Ministers to provide ALL correspondence, emails, telephone calls, meetings and minutes of any such meetings that relate to the provision of financial arrangements to Ferguson Marine Engineering Holdings Ltd and Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and Clyde Blowers Capital (the 'parent company') from the 27th June 2018 to 27th December 2018 inclusive. Earlier requests for information relating to the arrangements for the £15m and £30m amounts have provided full and frank information (with some redactions) being in the public interest and it is expected that this FOI request will be afforded the same process.

Response

Scottish Ministers have made two commercial loan arrangements involving Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and Ferguson Marine Engineering Holdings Limited: the first in September 2017 and the second in June 2018.
From 27 June 2018 to 27 December 2018, Scottish Ministers agreed no further financial arrangements with Ferguson Marine Engineering Holdings Ltd, Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited or Clyde Blowers Capital. We hold no information on financial arrangements between the Scottish Government and the companies mentioned other than the facilities agreed in September 2017 and June 2018.

Question 3

To request Scottish Ministers to provide any information at this time of writing 27th December 2018 that relates to a specific commitment to the Company to provide further public funding, in any form whatsoever, to improve liquidity and or working capital, funding for diversification, loans or equity of any nature that would be provided to the Company to permit the contractual completion of the two vessels.

Response

As at 27 December 2018, Scottish Ministers had made no financial commitments to FMEL in relation to liquidity, working capital, funding for diversification, loans or equity other than the loan facilities agreed in September 2017 and June 2018.

Question 4

To ask Scottish Ministers why the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands, Paul Wheelhouse MSP, ahead of a further press release as outlined in this exchange SPECIFICALLY asked for the removal of the date '2020' for Vessel 802 'going in to the Western Isles fleet' which was duly deleted and the PR approved for release.

Response

In response to FOI/18/02756 we released all the information we hold in relation to the views of the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands on this matter.

 

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