Meeting of the Parliament 16 June 2015
I think that if the member looks, Margaret Thatcher is still with us today—but he is absolutely right.
The compulsory privatisation powers under the 1991 act have not been used since devolution.
There are different kinds of ports—private ports, trust ports and local authority ports—but they all operate on a commercial basis and receive almost no public funding. Some of our ports are funded by local authorities. Sullom Voe is one example. The model has the flexibility to allow benefits to flow—in that example, to the good people of Shetland.
Aberdeen Harbour’s classification as a public corporation has been mentioned. Its reclassification to trust status potentially gives the harbour and the Scottish Government the flexibility to borrow and invest in a cost-efficient manner. The transfer obviously provides best value for the community, the taxpayer and the people of Aberdeen.
Private ports, of course, also have a contribution to make. As the Presiding Officer will know, Ayr and Troon harbours are part of the British Ports Association, and they are very important. Scotland will grow its export market significantly in the years to come, so our port authorities must be secure and flexible, and they must assist as best they can under the new transfer of powers to achieve that significant goal, which will bring investment, jobs and a better standard of living to Scotland.
The tourism trade, about which I will speak in the next debate, is very important, as are the fishing industry and the marine sports industry, for which the marina at Largs caters. The offshore wind market has given many ports a lifeline. It secures employment on not just the operational side but the maintenance side.
The bill will give Scotland the flexibility to grow its ports and harbours in a disciplined fashion. It will improve the legal framework for trust ports by negating the need for privatisation as a result of ONS reclassification, which would jeopardise their future status and, as the minister said, Government budgets.
It is right that protection is afforded to trust ports and that intervention will be possible to secure the transfer of rights and liabilities, subject to Government advice. All the things that the bill will do are very important. The British Ports Association says that it
“very much welcomes the proposals in as much as they will remove uncertainty for those ports above the privatisation threshold. It also confirms support for the Trust Port model as a vital part of the ownership mix in Scotland.”
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