Analysis: CMAL's probe into the 'rigged' ferry contract is a whitewashing farce

The KC investigation sparked by a BBC documentary is a pointless exercise in PR management.

In September, Scotland’s ferry procurement body was accused by the BBC of having “rigged” a procurement process in favour of a shipyard, Ferguson Marine, owned by a pro-independence tycoon and a symbol of historic shipbuilding on the Clyde.

This, the BBC said, was done through breaching procurement rules by providing preferential treatment to the yard, allegedly by failing to follow its own rules on a key refund guarantee, allowing the yard to cut-and-paste vast swathes of a technical design document not available to other bidders, allowing Ferguson’s to change its design to be cheaper and more competitive midway the process.

The Scotsman has followed the fallout to this documentary since, revealing in February a leading lawyer was hired to investigate the allegations made in the programme.

CMAL hired Barry Smith KC to undertake an investigation into allegations the contract for hulls 801 and 802 was 'rigged'.

However, today, we reveal Barry Smith KC’s remit does not cover these allegations. Instead, it is limited to whether there was the crime of fraud, an allegation never made by the BBC.

Let’s run through some key facts about this so-called independent investigation.

- It will not investigate the actual allegations against CMAL

- Government officials sought to restrict publication and discussed the scope of the probe

- It won’t be published in full (only a CMAL chosen summary will be)

- We won’t know how much taxpayer’s money has been wasted on the probe

No wonder there are some who believe that this report is nothing more than a whitewashing farce designed to rehabilitate the reputation of a public body embroiled in scandal.

At this stage, with the knowledge we have about this investigation, they are right.

Waving this report around as exoneration once completed will be rightly mocked.

Kevin Hobbs, the chief executive of CMAL, should do the right thing and ensure that the central allegations of the BBC documentary are adequately and fully investigated.

While ‘independent’ in nature, the probe’s investigation has been specified by CMAL in coordination with government officials.

CMAL’s own lawyers hired Mr Smith, a man with a track record of defending clients across maritime, oil and gas, aviation, and construction sectors against regulatory prosecutions.

This probe’s remit, therefore, is entirely within CMAL’s power.

Time for the search for easy PR to turn into a search for truth.