Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
I will not, Mr Gibson, as I have very limited time and quite a significant amount to carry on with.
That figure will rise further now that the charter has been extended. That is not strategic fleet management; it is short-term crisis management.
Island and coastal communities have experienced repeated timetable changes, cancelled sailings and the absence of a real resilience vessel when breakdowns occur. Public services, local businesses, tourism and supply chains have all been hindered by that mismanagement.
The question is simple. How will the Scottish Government hold the ferry service providers to account to ensure that they deliver for island and coastal communities? Islanders and taxpayers deserve transparency and competence, and they deserve better than this.
Let me be clear: no one in the chamber doubts the dedication of workers at Ferguson Marine or the crews operating our ferry services. They are doing their utmost in extremely difficult circumstances. The failure here is not theirs. It lies with ministers, who have presided over years of delay, poor oversight and a lack of forward planning.
What Scotland needs now is a credible long-term strategy. We need a rolling 30-year plan for ferries and ports infrastructure, so that no community is ever left again without a viable lifeline service.