Ministers criticised after Ferguson Marine given tug contracts instead of promised ferries

# What happened Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn announced late in the day that Ferguson Marine will receive short-term work building a number of small tugs. The announcement was framed as a way to maintain yard skills during a pause while officials complete due diligence on four larger vessels promised earlier in the year.

# Why this matters Six months after ministers publicly said they would award contracts for two fisheries ships and two small CalMac ferries, officials have not submitted the plan for approval under subsidy control rules. That delay means there will be no immediate steel-cutting for those larger vessels because design-preparation work is still required. The tug order is small and will not replace the scale or type of work ministers previously announced.

• Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr called the announcement "painfully thin" and said the March promise of four new vessels looked like "nothing more than a con made to the people of Inverclyde mere weeks before the election."
• Reform UK Scotland leader Malcolm Offord said the timing and 5pm release suggested an attempt to "bury the story" and argued tugs are no substitute for the ferries and larger vessels that were promised.
• Scottish Labour spokesman Neil Bibby urged Flynn to accept the urgency for island communities and workers and to give a firm commitment to deliver the promised contracts.
• Scottish LibDem transport spokesperson Willie Rennie accused the government of failing to carry out appropriate legal checks before earlier announcements, and linked the lapse to recent job cuts at the yard.

# The yard's status Ferguson Marine is in the final stages of completing MV Glen Rosa, the second of two long-delayed CalMac ferries. Despite that work, the yard recently announced a reduction of about 70 jobs, roughly a quarter of its workforce. Ministers said the tug work will help keep skills in the yard while due diligence continues on the larger contracts.

# Government explanation The transport secretary and officials say they need to confirm that awarding the four larger vessels complies with subsidy control laws. If the contracts clear those checks, the government still faces design and preparatory steps before construction can begin, which means there would not be an immediate restart of large-scale building.

# What remains unresolved There is no public timetable for when the subsidy control checks will conclude or when steel-cutting could begin for the two fisheries ships and two CalMac ferries. Opposition parties remain sceptical about the government's handling of the promise and the impact on local employment and island ferry services.

# Bottom line