Meeting of the Parliament 21 May 2025
Yes, I am happy to do that. I hope that the 2018 act will make a difference, because even at this stage, the Government could intervene to ensure that islanders’ views were heard.
It is also disappointing that no progress has been made on 11 out of the 13 objectives in the national islands plan, but I have to say that I am at a loss to understand which of the two objectives has seen any progress at all.
I come to the issue of ferries, on which, despite the fact that they are essential for island communities, we have seen growing disruption. The Government has failed our islands by having no ferry replacement plan, and it started a replacement programme only when the crisis loomed. The building of the Glen Sannox and the Glen Rosa has been a disaster; the cost to the public purse of building those ferries should have replaced the whole fleet, had the plan been efficiently managed. The cost to our island communities has been incalculable—there is a shortage of ferries, and the ones that we have are old and break down regularly.
When I speak to businesses, I am struck by the fact that they are surviving only through sheer determination. Had they not had island DNA, they would have upped and left for places where they did not have to struggle with constant disruption. The same is true for those who need to access healthcare off island. Against the backdrop of failing ferries, the stress of being unwell, in addition to the stress of trying to access care, will be incalculable.
Those issues are crucial to islanders, yet we do not have adequate representation of islanders on the boards of HIAL, CalMac and CMAL. The insinuation is clear: islanders cannot manage their own services. We all know, however, that HIAL was never so proactive as it was when Sandy Matheson chaired the board. Islanders are by nature seafarers and would make a much better job of running those services than people who have never set foot on an island.
The Scottish Government has promised resilience funding, but we need to know the detail of that and how it will protect businesses going forward. As we have heard, ferries are not just a problem for the Clyde and Hebrides service; the Orkney and Shetland interisland fleet is even older, and it does not even provide reasonable disabled access. Those councils cannot afford to replace their fleet, and they need help from the Scottish Government to access capital to allow them to do so.