Chamber and committees

There is a specific line in the budget. I cannot remember the exact figure—

I certainly hope not. In my visit to the yard and my meetings with the chair and the chief executive, and indeed with the shop stewards and the senior staff, I have emphasised that there is a need for us to deliver those vessels as quickly as possible. I do not want to see any further delay, but it is also important to ensure financial probity and that we are bearing down on costs. I do not want to see a further cost overrun, but obviously I cannot guarantee that there will not be one—it depends on what comes through at the meeting at the end of this week.

I have stressed to the board and the chief executive the financial situation that the Government is in. As we have all heard about and have been poring over today, the availability of further resource is limited. They need to ensure that they are bearing down on costs. I have pushed as hard as I can, and so has the First Minister, on not coming forward with any further cost overruns.

It was around that figure, and the yard did not comply with what we would expect on a commercial market operator test. Therefore, the request fell at that first legal hurdle, which is that we have to have consideration for subsidy control.

No—

We would consider that alongside the assessments that we have to make around whether it passes subsidy control and the commercial market operator test and whether we think that that would help it to be productive to win future work on its own merits.

I said that, if Ferguson Marine comes forward with a plan that we think passes those tests and allows us to invest, we would look to find that money to ensure that we can invest in the yard.

I will be brief, convener.

Mr Doris is correct that the opportunity for more income, as ScotWind becomes operational, is substantial not just in terms of direct income to the Scottish Government but, as I referred to in my introduction, in terms of the huge economic multiplier that comes from supply chain development.

To support ScotWind becoming operational as quickly as possible, we are prioritising it in the budget and through the First Minister’s commitment to investing £500 million over the next five years in development of the supply chain. That helps to build confidence for developers to go through with developing their sites, thereby maximising the opportunity that Mr Doris has pointed to. We hope that we can do that, both from an energy deployment perspective and an economic perspective, through ScotWind.

SNIB is in a period of transition from its establishment only a short period ago to becoming, we hope, self-sustaining. During that period, there are points that we need to establish, including on the advisory board.

We have a strong relationship. I met SNIB’s chair and chief executive last week or the week before. We discussed the strategic priority that is ScotWind and we looked at how we could maximise that opportunity. We already have a strong working relationship but, as the bank develops and grows, we need to ensure that the oversight continues to grow alongside that. That is where the advisory board comes in, and we are working on establishing that.

It would come from—

The advisory board is still being worked on, and there will be an update in due course.