Information regarding Turnaround Director of Ferguson’s Marine Shipyard: FOI review

Information requested

Your request, reference 202100217831
1. How many employees were directly employed by the shipyard when Turnaround Director Tim Hair was appointed?

2. How many employees were directly employed by the shipyard when the Scottish Government took the shipyard into public ownership?

3. How many employees are directly employed by the shipyard as of today, Friday 25th June 2021.

4. Since the Turnaround director was appointed how many days has he worked in the post?

5. For each week since the turnaround director was appointed how many hours has he worked in the role of turnaround director (per week in role) ?

6. How many days has the turnaround director been paid his daily fee whilst not attending physically the shipyard on that day?

7. What is the total number of days that Tim Hair has been Turnaround director?

8. What is the total payment to Tim Hair to date for the role of Turnaround director since he was appointed to the post?

9. Is Tim Hair still an employee of the Scottish Ministers owned agency CMAL?

10. Was Tim Hair an employee of CMAL during the design dispute that led to the delay of the Glen Sannox and it’s sister vessel that is yet unnamed?

11. If answer to 9 is yes, what is the salary and job title of Tim Hair.

Your review request, reference 202100232406
I request you review the above FOI response. Your response to me was that you could not provide the information I requested as you did not hold the information.

I was then delayed 4 weeks by having to request the information directly from Ferguson’s Shipyard, only to receive out of date information which was not what I requested.

However, I was disturbed to see this response - by the Scottish Government - to a request that asked many similar questions in substance to that I had asked: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100223540/

It is inconceivable therefore that your response to me saying you did not hold the information requested has adhered to your legal responsibilities when in fact you were able to release the information some two months later to another request.

Can you please confirm why the Government informed me that it did not posses the information that I requested when indeed the government did possess the information? For what reason did the Government make the decision to suppress the publication of the amount of days Mr Hair has been in the role of Turnaround Director and the seven figure sum he has received from the taxpayer? 

Response

I have concluded that your request was not handled as well as it should have been, and for that I would like to apologies.

However, I believe that there is a crucial distinction in what was asked under FOI 202100223540, where the questions related to the recruitment of the Turnaround Director of Ferguson Marine, for which the Scottish Government held direct responsibility, and the questions in FOI 202100217831 which relate to the day to day operational matters of Ferguson Marine shipyard, which are a matter for the yard’s management.

Therefore I have concluded that the original decision should be upheld with modifications to the initial decision, as follows:

1. I can confirm that the number of employees directly employed by the yard when Tim Hair was appointed as Turnaround Director was 285.

2. We do not hold the information you have requested, however a report on Ferguson Marine’s website confirms the number to have been 334 staff - report.pdf (fergusonmarine.com). This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

3. We do not hold the information you have requested, however a FOI response published on Ferguson Marine’s website confirms there to have been 471 employees of 1 June 2021 - foi-reponsedonald- scott-140621_redacted.pdf (fergusonmarine.com). This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested

4. We do not hold the information that you have requested, though we can confirm that Tim Hair’s contract requires him to be available for at least 4 days each week and to work a minimum of 8 hours per day. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

5. We do not hold the information that you have requested, though we can confirm that Tim Hair’s contract requires him to be available for at least 4 days each week and to work a minimum of 8 hours per day. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

6. We do not hold the information that you have requested, though we can confirm that Tim Hair’s contract requires him to be available for at least 4 days each week and to work a minimum of 8 hours per day. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

7. I can confirm that Tim Hair was appointed as Turnaround Director on 14 August 2019, therefore 741 days as of 24 August 2021.

8. We do not hold the information that you have requested. However a breakdown of pay is held on Ferguson Marine’s website - m-brown-140521_redacted.pdf (fergusonmarine.com) – till 26 April 2021. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

9. We do not hold the information that you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

10. We do not hold the information that you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

11. We do not hold the information that you have requested. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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.