Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 20 April 2022
The minister well knows that nobody has said that. Despite what he said earlier, nobody wants Ferguson’s to close.
We know that the vessel that the First Minister launched in 2017 had deteriorated by the time that Tim Hair wrote the update report in December 2019. It had suffered from two years of marine growth and was going to have to be taken out of the water. If that photo op had not taken place, things might have been better. There was also extensive internal degradation.
The procurement of vessels 801 and 802 is a scandal. Heads should have rolled but they have not. In our amendment, we call for an explanation of why CMAL was ignored. Of course, we know the answer. It was so that the announcement could be made at the SNP’s conference.
We also call for the project Neptune report to be published immediately. This is not the first time that I have asked for that to happen. Jenny Gilruth has promised to let us have it, but she has yet to deliver. She should be open and transparent and publish it in full because we need to start having an honest debate about how we will run our ferry services in future. The current model is not fit for purpose.
There is some urgency about this. The current contract for CalMac to run the west coast services is up in less than two years’ time. The Government should by now have signalled its intentions and, whatever model it chooses, started to either make changes or launch a new bidding process. All this dithering does not help the islanders, who are the people who really matter. They need the certainty of knowing that there will be a reliable service every year with new and more efficient ferries. They have been let down by the SNP.
Nicola Sturgeon has expressed her “regret” over the ferries situation. However, when asked at the weekend why she will not apologise to islanders, she said, “Oh for goodness sake!” The last thing that islanders who are suffering from a woeful ferry service need is a snotty response from the First Minister. “Oh for goodness sake!” is not the answer to people who cannot get to hospital appointments, make it to family gatherings, get to work, or run their businesses effectively. An apology would help, but the Minister for Transport, who is not here today, needs to decide whether the current model is the right one. I would say that a system that has herself, followed by Transport Scotland, followed by CMAL, followed by CalMac, is not a good place to start.
She should consider models such as those that are used in Canada and Norway, and she should consider issuing more than one contract for the west coast, which could allow operators such as Western Ferries to bid for routes.
We need action on ferries, and we need ministers to take responsibility. Our islanders deserve nothing less.
I move amendment S6M-04051.1, to insert at end:
“; further calls on the Scottish Government to set out why it ignored the advice of CMAL to award the contract for vessels 801 and 802 to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited and to say which ministers were involved in that decision, and calls on the Scottish Government to publish Ernst and Young’s Project Neptune report immediately.”
16:55Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S6M-04051.1 Economy: Ferries Motion