 Thank you. That concludes topical questions. The next item of business is a statement by Neil Gray, on Ferguson Marine. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of a statement. There should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Neil Gray up to 10 minutes. Today's statement maintains once again this governance commitment to update Parliament ar y progres aethau yng Nghymru yw'r newid, Fferries, MV GlenSanx 801 a MV GlenRosa 802 yng Nghymru yn Sibiart yn Port Glasgow. Felly mae'n amlwg i'r parlynydol yng Nghymru, ac mae'n cysylltu i'r ddweud i'r ddweud i'r ffwg sydd ymddangosol sydd yng Nghymru i'r ffwg erbyn i'r ddweud i'r gweithio I agree with Katie Clark that we want to see competitive commercial ship building on the Clyde. We agree upon that, which is why we are doing all that we can to support the Yard, both in the delivery of these vessels, which is critically important for island communities and the workforce and the reputation of the Yard, but also in supporting them and coming forward with that business plan around what the investment in the Yard is actually going to look like and what it has prioritised towards. As I said, the market has moved, but the investments that the Yard would want to see in order to get access to contracts has changed, so we will continue to support the Yard as we come forward with that revised business case. I welcome the update from the cabinet secretary on the progress that has been made with the work that is taking place at Ferguson's and a recognition from him of the importance of securing a long-term future for the Yard and the sector in Scotland. What work has the Scottish Government done to seek out industrial partners to bring investment, technology and expertise to help to secure the long-term future of the Yard? I thank Ivan McKee for that question. As I have said, my officials have worked closely with the board and the chief executive to identify possible areas for investment and upgrade. Shipbuilding is a highly-specialised industrial area, so we have to also contract with specialist advisers to assist in identifying a path to a sustainable future. That work is on-going. As part of our work to support the Yard and develop a revised business plan for the request for CAPEX, we are considering all options, including potential partnerships and opportunities. Obviously, while that work is on-going, we will do what we can to ensure that that is made public as soon as considerations are concluded. How much was requested by Ferguson Marine for a new plating line? The business case and the request for capital investment in the Yard has been set out previously in the correspondence and the discussions that I have had with the committee. We are now in the situation where that has been revised. A question has been asked by the cabinet secretary and the person who has the floor should be able to provide the answer that they provide without any sedentary chunkering. I have set out very clearly that the application for capital investment is changing. The investment that is needed at the Yard is going to be supporting the Yard in coming forward with that business case to do what we can to ensure that whatever capital investment is required to help to make the Yard competitive. We do what we can within the subsidy control legislation to ensure that we are complying with that and doing what we can to ensure that the Yard remains competitive. I call Kate Forbes, followed by Paul Sweeney. I start by paying tribute to the workers who found themselves often at the mercy of ever-changing leadership, ownership and political rhetoric. The only way to sustain the future for the Yard is to ensure that it can compete for contracts on merit. Can the Capsic advice on whether the Yard is indeed becoming more competitive and how we complete that journey? Yes. First of all, in response to Kate Forbes' initial point, I absolutely and wholeheartedly agree. I enjoy very positive work in relationship with the shop stewards who represent the workers at the Yard and pay tribute to the work of the workers that are at the Yard and the shop stewards, the unions, who have been representing them for the very reasons that Kate Forbes set out. Officials are working with the Yard to develop and refine the business case to ensure that the Yard can continue to be competitive. Any investment provided to Ferguson Marine has to comply with regulatory, irregularity, priority and value for money assessments, as well as subsidy control legislation failure to do so would leave any award of investment open to legal challenge. However, my team and I, the Yard, are working together to do everything we can to make sure that the Yard can be competitive for future work and to make sure that we are targeting those areas where that might be possible. I call Paul Sweeney to be followed by Stuart McMillan. The minister has said that he must be guided by the need to ensure that we don't harm the ability of the shipyard to compete for and secure future work. On that, we are certainly agreed, and it is also agreed, as verified by consultants, that the shipyard does need capital investment to be competitive, particularly in a new panel line supplied by Pemomec of Finland. Other shipyards in the UK are investing in such technologies, such as Harlan Wolf and Belfast. It also fits very well with the national shipbuilding strategy Refresh by the UK Government. Will the Scottish Government consider creating a programme of investment perhaps through the Scottish National Investment Bank and Scottish Enterprise, which is available to all shipbuilding activity in Scotland, regardless of ownership, and will allow for those capital investments to be made to achieve the national strategic objective of growing a shipbuilding industry? That would get round the restrictions that the cabinet secretary has identified around commercial market operator test. Will he consider that measure? We are considering all avenues where we can support the yard and maintain maintenance of commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde. It is the whole reason why we stepped in and public ownership was brought forward, so that we could do everything that we could with the powers that we had and the resources that we had available in order to make sure that we delivered those ferries and that we maintained as best as we possibly could a future for commercial shipbuilding. Of course, we will consider all potential options to see investment in the yard to make sure that it maintains competitiveness. The cabinet secretary stated that the Scottish Government remains committed to doing all it can to ensure a sustainable future for the yard. On 12 March 2024, when the Glen Rosa is launched, the building of new ships becomes even more essential. When will the Scottish Government announce an update regarding the small vessel programme and will a decision be made on the direct award with or without any new investment, which will safeguard the future of the yard and also the jobs in my community? I thank Stuart McMillan for his question and his on-going stout advocacy for his constituents at the workforce and the yard in his constituency. We will consider future vessel contracts from public agencies on a case-by-case basis and whether it might be legally possible and appropriate to use direct awards. Direct award is only possible in limited circumstances under procurement rules and breaching those rules could lead to legal challenge, costing the taxpayer and causing delay, but we will give all of these options serious consideration going forward. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Presiding Officer, Parliament will be forgiven for not celebrating the Glen Rosa's launch date because Nicola Sturgeon's pretend christening of the Glen Sannock six years ago came with painted-on windows, fake engines and the wrong bow. It was enough to make Kim, Jong and Blush, and still our island communities suffer. Dave Teidman, the CEO of Ferguson Marine, believes that the boats will be worth just £70 million a piece when they are finally finished. That is a fraction of the £360 million that taxpayers' money spent on their construction. Will the minister confirm that that is also the Government's assessment of the ferry's market value? Will he tell the chamber why no SNP minister has ever resigned over a scandal that can be seen from space? Alex Cole-Hamilton misunderstands the process by which shipbuilding happens. A launch date is the first opportunity that the ships reach the water for the next stage of their build. That is the next stage for Glen Rosa going forward. It is the normal part of the process in order to see progress being made on the building works. In terms of the value of the vessels coming forward, it is obviously going to be part of the work that is being done to assess the value going forward and how they are reported in the accounts. That will all be publicly available upon its completion. Given recent cancellations on the broadic ferry route due to both the weather and technical problems, what discussions has the cabinet secretary had with Ferguson Marine about the increased reliability and resilience that Glen Sanox and Glen Rosa will deliver when they enter service on the route itself? When is that expected to be? That is the question that Islanders are asking. Once again, I thank Kenny Gibson for his question. This has a material impact on the constituents that he represents and does so doubly in this chamber. The new vessels and the related port works have been designed to improve capacity, reliability and resilience on the Arran route. Port works at broadic are complete. Temporary works at Trun are nearing completion, and work is continuing on the review of the business case and the costs for our draws and upgrades. As set out in the latest update from the ARD to the NZ Committee, MV Glen Sanox is due to be delivered by the ARD by 31 March 2024, with deployment on the Arran route expected in summer, subject to the completion of the build and successful sea trials. The final date for entry into service is for CalMac. However, everything that we and Ferguson's are working towards is for Sanox to be operational on the summertime table. We know that ferries are vital for island communities and their economies. We also know that many services require upgrading or replacing. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we need a long-term strategy for ferry procurement, manufacture, maintenance and replacement, learning the lessons from Ferguson Marine? We need community engagement, secure jobs, the decarbonisation of fleets and a rolling programme of build and refurb for all our island communities. Can the cabinet secretary say whether he agrees with this, and if so, whether this will form part of the forthcoming green industrial strategy? I thank Maggie Chapman for that question. I set out in my answer to previous questions about the issue of direct award and procurement of vessels. Obviously, we need to work with the procuring authorities in that regard and make sure that decisions are proportionate, subject to the substance control elements that I have already set out. Obviously, we will do everything that we can to make sure that there is certainty for island communities going forward. I am happy in the regular meetings and updates that I have with green colleagues to set out that in more detail. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Today, the audit of the annual accounts was published, which said that it was clearly uncertain whether the yard could continue as a going concern. It also said that bonuses had been paid without approval of the Scottish Government. The board, according to the cabinet secretary, does not believe that the business case is based on work that they can possibly win. They have asked for £40 million, which is the figure that the cabinet secretary is looking for, to do something that they do not believe is worth investing in. What will the business case be based on, and what will the amount of money that is needed to keep this vital yard in operation? I thank Edward Mountain to the chair of the committee for his question. As I set out in my statement, I also thank him and his committee for the work that they do to scrutinise this and to ensure that ministers and fergusons are held accountable on delivering these vital ferries for the island communities that need them so badly. As I have set out already, the business case is now subject to change. We are working with fergusons and supporting them on that to ensure that it is responsive to the changing market conditions and the areas of work that the yard is looking to attempt to win. We will continue to do so because we are committed to ensuring, as far as we possibly can, that there is a sustainable commercial shipbuilding operation on the Clyde. It is clear that inflationary and other significant pressures could increase the cost to complete vessels. Can the cabinet secretary outline on-going control and scrutiny to ensure that remaining costs are tightly controlled? Yes, I can, because this is critically important. Fergusons and marines are required to submit monthly financial reports to the sponsor directorate within government, and those are scrutinised by our technical advisers, CMAL and our finance teams to ensure that they are necessary and representative of good value. That concludes the ministerial statement. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front-bench teams to change position should they so wish.