Island communities have been “deceived and failed” by SNP Ministers over commitments to reform how island ferry services are governed, Highlands and Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, said today in response to replies she has received to Parliamentary questions.
Mrs Grant said: “After everything that has happened under the existing structure, the revelation that the Scottish Government has ditched its commitment to ferries reform is another insult to island communities which have endured so much”.
She added: “Huge sums of public money have been wasted on consultancy reports and years have passed while reform was repeatedly promised. The ongoing debate was supposed to be about the form this should take. Now we are told there is to be no reform at all”.
Mrs Grant asked Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop when she “expects to announce proposals for future governance arrangements for Hebrides and Clyde ferry services, and whether these will be subject to consultation”.
Ms Hyslop replied: “No immediate decisions are being made on the subject of reform of the ferries sector, including whether any proposals would be subject to public consultation. At present, the focus is on bringing in new vessels and putting arrangements in place for the direct award of the new contract next year”.
It is almost four years since the Scottish Government hired consultants Ernst & Young to carry out “Project Neptune” – a review of the “tripartite” set up involving Transport Scotland, CMAL and CalMac, and to advise on alternatives.
The Ernst & Young report highlighted problems such as confusion over roles and responsibilities, additional costs and difficulty in holding the various bodies to account when things went wrong.
Mrs Grant said: “Project Nepture also looked at how ferries are run in Norway, British Columbia and New Zealand – all involving high levels of local involvement and accountability. These are exactly the features which are entirely missing from how our own ferries are run.
“The renewal of the CalMac contract offered the ideal opportunity to reform the whole structure, by reuniting infrastructure and operations, with a single board which involves local authorities and reflects community knowledge.
“All of that has now been ditched and it is clear island communities have again been deceived and failed.
The Parliamentary question and answer can be accessed via the following link:-
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-31794