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That is very helpful. I thank you all for responding to those questions.

Thanks very much for that, minister. In the interests of time, I will hand back to the convener.

Good morning, Fiona and colleagues. I will ask a couple of questions about the written authority. The committee recommended in its report that Transport Scotland and CMAL should clarify in writing the procedure for seeking reassurances from Scottish ministers, and the Government’s response to that was that it accepted it and looked forward to incorporating the process in the next revision of the framework agreement with CMAL. Can you provide an update on whether that has been done and, if it has, how it is progressing?

Is the Government’s acceptance of the committee's other recommendation about the publication of written authorities on the Government’s website a commitment to publishing not only that written authority but any that may have occurred in the past? The committee is interested in seeing any examples of such written authorisations that have been sought and given.

I think that the committee was keen for that to be broadened so that we could see any governmental written authorities that have been given in the past. Is that part of what you might consider doing?

Thank you for that. I have a slightly broader question. From the outset of the committee’s work on its ferries investigation, it has been clear to me that the key problems were probably built in from the start of the project, and you have mentioned that in your comments to the committee. Constantly changing the design specifications as the ships were built was a recipe for the cost and time overruns that we have seen.

If we look at the performance of all Governments, past and present, we see a litany of public procurement cost overruns. The public can see that, too. What is your perspective on why some—not all—public projects go wrong? Do you agree that it is absolutely vital that projects are planned carefully at the outset and that recognised quality management standards and processes are deployed, so that all projects—whether they are construction projects, information technology projects or anything else—have a fair chance of being completed on time and on budget? Can you assure the committee that that approach will be taken from now on with any procurement projects that the Government might commission?

But do you get why I am saying this to you? If you do not comply, there is no public assurance, which, surely, is a grave matter. I know that getting there is a difficult and complex process, but your not being able to give the public assurance on the matters on which we seek that assurance has to be regarded as a grave matter.

Okay, I will leave that point there.

One of the things that you did not mention was the amount of money that you have spent on consultant fees—I think that it is now £600,000. Is the public getting value for money from that exercise and is it helping you to understand what that bar of audit satisfaction, which was mentioned earlier, is? Is the exercise allowing you to get there? If you come back next year, that absolutely has to be sorted. Surely you accept that.

Okay. Johanna, what can we do to reverse that trend, if that is what is happening?

Okay. Thank you for that, Johanna.