McGill'sBus firm McGill’s have taken legal action against the Scottish Government after being rejected for zero-emission bus funding.
McGill’s, which is owned by the billionaire brothers James and Sandy Easdale, was overlooked for cash as part of the Government’s ScotZeb3 scheme.
The firm said if its £4.3 million bid had been successful, it would have purchased vehicles from ailing bus builder Alexander Dennis, in the hopes of securing Scottish jobs.
The company has now taken the matter to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in a bid to overturn the decision and force the process to be reformed.
Sandy Easdale said: “The move would have boosted Scottish jobs and enabled it to remove more diesel vehicles from its fleet across Scotland.
“The largest share – £13 million – was awarded to coach firm Ember to buy 100 Chinese electric coaches to expand its existing network, which would not result in any diesel vehicles being replaced.
“We have questionable decisions being made on large amounts of public money by nameless people in secret rooms who are trying to avoid scrutiny.
“Decisions on taxpayers’ sums of this magnitude should be fully transparent and decision-makers should be willing to be held accountable.”
Co-owner James Easdale added: “There is also a fundamental question about fairness and transparency in how this funding has been allocated.
“We have looked very closely at the scoring process and reached the inevitable conclusion that a legal appeal had to be submitted.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware that McGill’s Buses has submitted a claim to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
“As this matter relates to legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”
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