Hulls 801 and 802 - procurement process, reviews undertaken: EIR release

Information requested

1) Any internal review, lessons learned report, or other reflective document which centered on the lessons to be learned from the procurement of hulls 801 and 802.

2) A record of the procurement process followed, and any 'best practice' internal guidance for those involved in procurement decisions of this nature.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

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, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

The answer to your question is as follows;

1) Any internal review, lessons learned report, or other reflective document which centered on the lessons to be learned from the procurement of hulls 801 and 802.

The Scottish Government’s procurement directorate conducted an independent high-level review of CMAL’s procurement procedure into the contract award in May 2018. A copy of the report shared with CMAL can be found in Annex A.

2) A record of the procurement process followed, and any 'best practice' internal guidance for those involved in procurement decisions of this nature.

For context and not in response to your request, Ferguson Marine (Engineering) Limited (FMEL) was awarded the contract following a detailed, open procurement process that used both quality and price as the criteria for award. CMAL conducted due diligence in relation to all of the 7 bids submitted by 6 different shipyards.

The procurement process was governed by EU law which sets strict parameters for how the process is run and the basis on which successful tenders can be awarded. In line with European legislation the award was open to challenge. No other bidder or third party chose to challenge the decision. Details of the procurement process followed are in public domain and can be found at the following links;

• Inquiry into construction and procurement of ferry vessels in Scotland - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament
• 20200813_RECC_Committee__Final_Written_Statement_Ferry_Inquiry.pdf (parliament.scot)
• New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides (audit-scotland.gov.uk)

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

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, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

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.

FOI 202200290957 - Information released

File type

4 page PDF

File size

109.4 kB