Ferry provision ‘well below reasonable’ levels, consultation finds

The provision of ferries for Scotland’s island communities is “well below” reasonable levels, hundreds of respondents to a Holyrood consultation have said.

A total of 394 responses were received to the Transport Committee’s call for views on the ferry service this year.

A summary of the responses was published on Wednesday, saying views on the level of provision were effectively unanimous.

Reliability of ferry sailings emerged as a key theme, with many saying the service should be resilient enough to cope with extreme weather events and faults on the vessels.

Calmac’s ageing fleet of ferries has led to disruption as they are taken out of service for maintenance and repairs.

Respondents to the call for views were self-selecting, with 357 coming from members of the public.

The committee’s report said: “There is effective unanimity amongst respondents, regardless of who they are or where they are located, that current levels of ferry service provision fall well below what they considered reasonable.

“Particular concern focuses on the growth in short notice service cancellations and the impact this is having on many aspects of life in island and remote rural communities.

“It should be noted that many respondents praise the efforts of frontline ferry staff, who often work in challenging conditions and with ageing vessels and infrastructure.”

In June, a group of island community representatives spoke to the committee and vented their anger over unreliable ferry services.

Margaret Morrison, chair of the Harris Transport Forum, said it had “reached an all-time critical situation”.

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said she recognised “many of the concerns raised in the committee’s report from our own regular engagement with islanders and stakeholders” and added: “We know we need to improve resilience in the short-term and in the long-term.”

“The Scottish Government has invested more than £2bn in our ferry services since 2007 and we continue to work towards introducing more capacity and greater resilience on the Clyde and Hebrides network,” she said.

“Since May 2021, we have bought and deployed an additional vessel in MV Loch Frisa in June, chartered the MV Arrow, made significant progress in the construction of vessels 801 and 802, commissioned two new vessels for Islay, progressed investment in essential harbour infrastructure, and now we are delivering a further two new vessels.

“At the same time we are continuing to work on pursuing all reasonable and appropriate opportunities to enhance capacity and resilience in the short term through second-hand vessels.”

She added she shared the “desires of island communities for sustainable and effective ferry services and look forward to continuing our constructive engagement with them on future services and vessel replacements”.