Official Report 308KB pdf
The next item of business is a statement by Fiona Hyslop on ferries and ports. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.
14:35
In this statement, I intend to give an update on the Clyde and Hebrides contract and ferry services in the northern isles. I also intend to highlight significant progress in key ferry investments for vessels and ports across our lifeline services.
We are now approaching the end of the first period of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract following the direct award to CalMac Ferries last October. Those new arrangements are a step change in how services are delivered and they are bringing flexibility and community focus to the heart of how operations are managed. That includes new key performance indicators, which have been developed with community input and a focus on lived experience.
Scottish ministers have embedded the ferries community board in the legal agreements, and I was pleased to see an advert launched to seek a new chair in the near future—I thank Angus Campbell for his term as chair. Ministers and Transport Scotland officials have hugely valued our engagement with the board, which will continue to play a key role in strategic issues across the network. I have also welcomed my engagement with individual ferry committees in recent weeks.
Examples of how CalMac has responded to community asks include the provision of extended services on the secondary route to Arran and the Sound of Barra route in the winter, which is bringing added resilience to those islands. An enhanced area manager structure has been introduced as a permanent feature of the new Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract. I have heard directly from communities that they want to see those roles strengthened, and I confirm that Transport Scotland and CalMac are looking at further improvements to support that.
MV Glen Sannox entered the fleet in January 2025 and is expected to return to service from her annual overhaul in the next few days. The order for seven new ships as part of the small vessel replacement programme was placed in March 2025 and construction is progressing well. The first vessel is due to be delivered in 2027.
MV Isle of Islay has now arrived in Scottish waters and is undergoing preparations to enter service on Islay. I will be visiting the vessel tomorrow and would like to take this opportunity to share my thanks to and admiration of the crew undertaking her journey from Turkey, not least for the skill and bravery that was shown en route in undertaking a rescue operation north of Morocco.
MV Isle of Islay’s sister vessel, the Loch Indaal, is due to follow this summer. Her greater capacity will add to that of the Isle of Islay, which will further enhance the service to Islay. Investment in upgrading ports for Islay, including the replacement of life-expired infrastructure, was also completed at Kennacraig and Port Askaig last year.
I also announce that I have approved funding for developments in Port Ellen. I am pleased to confirm that Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd will be awarding the contract this week to completely redevelop Port Ellen. That £107 million project will provide an essential additional marshalling area to safely use the full capacity of existing and new vessels, in addition to improving resilience and increasing the efficiency and flexibility of freight operations, which will support communities and the economy of Islay. Work will start in the summer and is expected to complete in early 2029.
I turn to the port of Ardrossan, which the Government is clear will be the primary mainland port to service the island of Arran. I confirm to the Parliament that negotiations and wider legal agreements have now been concluded and will be signed shortly to confirm the purchase of the port of Ardrossan this month by CMAL. The purchase will secure the port in public ownership, which will allow us to focus on the redevelopment of the facility as the primary mainland port for Arran.
I cannot confirm the full details until the commercial deal and related agreements have formally concluded, but my previous updates have been clear that this has been a complex negotiation to bring about wider benefits for our ferry services in the longer term. In the interests of transparency, I confirm that the process has involved a shareholder direction to the CMAL board to allow the purchase to be concluded. I have also provided written authority to Transport Scotland. We will shortly share the details of that with the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and the Public Audit Committee, and we will also publish the details in line with previous commitments.
There is work to be done to move forward to tender for the port redevelopment, but CMAL has already been considering short-term work to ensure resilient operations while the MV Caledonian Isles continues to operate from Ardrossan. We are committed to funding a two-port service until the major work starts.
I thank the teams at CMAL and the Peel Ports Group for their work on getting to this point. I also add my thanks to the Isle of Arran ferry committee and their representative on the task force for their input throughout and for constantly championing the use of Ardrossan. This evening, I will meet the task force to discuss the immediate steps following purchase.
I will now move on to further vessel procurement. I can announce—the Deputy First Minister will expand on this in her statement, which will follow mine—that ministers propose to include the two new vessels for the Sound of Harris and the Sound of Barra from the next phase of the small vessel replacement programme as a direct award to Ferguson Marine as part of a wider suite of publicly funded and directly awarded vessel projects. The proposal is subject to a detailed internal due diligence process that is under way to assess viability, including examination of structural organisation matters and subsidy control. Engagement with the Competition and Markets Authority would also be among the steps that are required before any formal contract award decisions can be made.
Separately, I can also announce that CMAL will now move to the open market competitive procurement of the replacement for the MV Lord of the Isles in the next few weeks, with a view to placing an order with a shipyard later this year. When I met the community and businesses in South Uist last year, I was clear that the business case would be developed this financial year, and this announcement is confirmation of that commitment.
I turn to the Little Minch. Work on the Little Minch ports was completed last year, and CMAL has now confirmed that MV Lochmor is expected to be handed over later this year and MV Claymore early next year—although it will continue to work with the yard to bring forward these dates if possible. The introduction of this new two-vessel service will bring added capacity and resilience to the Western Isles, as will the investment in the new MV Lord of the Isles vessel and the next phase of the small vessel replacement programme.
I turn now to services to Orkney and Shetland. The First Minister confirmed when he was in the northern isles recently that the peak seasonal fares for Orkney and Shetland islanders using the NorthLink services will be removed from 26 March 2026 and eligible island residents will now only need to pay low-season passenger, car and cabin rates all year round. The Scottish Government has also introduced free interisland travel in the Western Isles and the northern isles for those under the age of 22 on council-run services, and we have extended the voucher system to more of our young people across both of the networks that are the responsibility of Scottish ministers.
For the northern isles, tomorrow, we will launch the prior information notice, which is the initial phase in procurement for the next northern isles ferry services contract, which will be in place from the end of June 2028. Transport Scotland recently published the report on the extensive public consultation exercise that took place last year. My officials received more than 1,100 responses to the consultation, which is substantial for a project of this nature. Work is on-going to refine the specification for the next NIFS contract and the responses will help to inform the process.
One of the key messages in the northern isles consultation was about vehicle deck capacity and availability of cabins. Ministers understand well those needs, which have informed the development of the new freight flex vessels that will replace the existing freighters, with capacity for around 200 passengers in peak seasons. The tender process for the vessels is on track and we expect to announce the award of the contract later this month, subject to concluding the commercial processes. I note that no United Kingdom yard bid for the freight flex vessels and that the size was outwith the maximum that could be accommodated at Ferguson Marine.
With our on-going work in investing in ports, harbours and vessels, with 11 vessels under construction, three of which are in active procurements, and further investment in vessels for Mull and the second phase of the SVRP, along with these key announcements today, this Scottish Government is demonstrating our continuing commitment to supporting lifeline ferry services and the island communities and economies that they serve.
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business. I would be grateful if members who wish to put a question were to press their request-to-speak button.
I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance copy of her statement. I welcome her remarks regarding community involvement with decision making and on the investment in Port Ellen, which is vital for whisky distilleries on Islay, which were grateful for that.
I recognise the commercial sensitivity regarding the purchase of the port of Ardrossan, but residents of the town of Ardrossan and businesses on Arran were promised that years ago. Can the cabinet secretary provide timelines for when the Scottish Government expects the harbour to be upgraded? How much has been budgeted for that?
I am also quite interested in what is not in your statement, cabinet secretary. Could we get an update on the MV Glen Rosa, and could you provide more details on when the MV Glen Sannox is expected to return to full service and not go in for yet more repairs? With the announcement that the charter for the MV Alfred will be extended yet again, does the cabinet secretary think that that is value for money, considering that taxpayers have spent more money to hire that ferry than it cost Pentland to build it?
All questions should go through the chair, please.
It is vitally important that we provide on-going resilience where possible. The deployments that CalMac makes and the investment that has been made in the MV Alfred are necessary to do so.
I said in my statement that the MV Glen Sannox will return to service in the next few days.
The budget provides for the purchase of Ardrossan this financial year as well as funding to help with the initial works. The funding in the ferries and ports line in the spending review, which, the member will notice, has been substantially increased compared to previous years, includes the investment for Ardrossan to take place.
The member says that the purchase of Ardrossan has been planned and promised for years. That is not the case—I announced it to Parliament barely a year ago. I have been pursuing a solution with our partners Transport Scotland, CMAL and Peel Ports that will unlock the vital investment that will allow that major development. I am pleased that the member welcomes that decision.
I, too, thank Angus Campbell for his work on the communities board.
The cabinet secretary’s statement is equivalent to the photo op of the Glen Sannox with painted-on windows. Anyone would think that there was an election looming. The statement suggests that the Scottish Government lives in a parallel universe. There is no mention that the MV Glen Sannox was in reality rebuilt by plundering the MV Glen Rosa for parts. Indeed, we will soon revert to calling the MV Glen Rosa hull 802, because it will be that diminished.
CalMac’s app says that a third of sailings today are subject to disruption. Will the cabinet secretary say what she is doing to support the communities that are suffering those disruptions? When will the Scottish Government face up to its responsibilities and ensure that communities are properly compensated?
The member has missed the point that we are about to go into procurement for the MV Lord of the Isles, which will serve the Western Isles. That will be very welcome indeed. We are also announcing the direct award of two vessels to be built by Ferguson Marine. Those things have been a long time in development and planning, but the investments that have been taking place, particularly in the ports and harbours across the Clyde and Hebrides services, have been happening through the course of this year. The Government is committed to investment. A third of the entire Clyde and Hebrides fleet is being replaced, in terms of procurement and building activity, as we speak.
On support for businesses, I am pleased that my colleague Mairi Gougeon announced the island business resilience fund, which has benefited a number of islands. Indeed, it has been of such benefit that we have extended it with a further tranche of funding.
The Government is investing in our islands and in our communities. I am in some sorrow that there was nothing in my statement that the Labour Party lead could find to support in any way whatsoever.
Today’s announcement finally rights the wrong-headed 1992 Tory privatisation of Ardrossan harbour, which ensured that maintenance of that crucial infrastructure was left at the whim of private interests. I am deeply grateful to the cabinet secretary and the First Minister for delivering on that issue. Talk is cheap, and there has been much of it, but the Scottish ministers are delivering for the people of Ardrossan and Arran.
Now that the harbour is finally being returned to public hands, can the cabinet secretary confirm that neglect of the harbour is a thing of the past and that, going forward, it will receive the attention and investment that such a key lifeline port needs and deserves?
I thank the member for his interest. Kenneth Gibson, who is the MSP for Cunninghame North, has long and persistently—indeed, quite critically at times—made sure that the Government knows the importance of investment in Ardrossan. His question cuts to the chase and is about why that is important. We need to purchase the port to help the wider development of Ardrossan and to support that community as well as to ensure the service to Arran.
I am conscious that there will be a need for support, which is why I have ensured that there will continue to be funding for the two-port service until the major development takes place. I am pleased that the Ardrossan task force, of which Kenneth Gibson is a member, will now be able to focus on the redevelopment of Ardrossan, which is what the communities of Ardrossan and Arran need.
The impact of the crisis that the Scottish National Party has overseen in our ferries fleet has, thankfully, been lessened by the role that has been played by the Pentland Ferries vessel MV Alfred, although that has meant that that new and larger vessel has been taken away from its home route in Orkney for three years now. Can the cabinet secretary confirm whether there has been any increase in the reported £1 million per month that has been paid to Pentland Ferries to charter the MV Alfred? Given that the charter has been repeatedly extended, and might be again, can she tell us definitively that the total charter cost will not exceed the £44.5 million per vessel for the new ferries that are being built in Turkey?
Clearly, the MV Alfred arrangement is a commercial arrangement with CalMac, which is responsible for it. CalMac is also responsible for ensuring consistency of service, and the MV Alfred has been extremely helpful in that regard. CalMac will be able to provide the cumulative or comparative figures, should the member contact it.
I thank the cabinet secretary for the excellent announcement of the direct award of two vessels to Ferguson Marine. Given the position in which the United Kingdom Government budget has left Scotland, I am proud that the SNP Government remains committed to continued investment in new vessels and improving the infrastructure at our ports. In the face of continued demands on the capital budget, what assurances can the cabinet secretary provide that the issue will continue to be a priority for the Scottish Government?
I thank the member for his support. He has continuously supported his constituency of Inverclyde and the position of Ferguson Marine, which will be further elaborated on by the Deputy First Minister in the statement that is to follow.
The member makes an important point about seeking security in future funding for vessels and harbours. That is why the comprehensive spending review is important, as is the infrastructure and investment pipeline that has been developed, as well as the infrastructure strategy that is currently out for consultation. Along with the islands connectivity plan, all that sets out plans for investment in vessels in a continuous, orderly and organised way that will take us right up to 2045.
After a strong local campaign, in 2017, the Scottish Government announced that the Ardrossan to Brodick route would continue and that a redevelopment of Ardrossan harbour was needed. I welcome the announcement today but, given that we are nine years on, the cabinet secretary will appreciate that local people want to know when the port will be fully operational again. Can the cabinet secretary therefore advise when the work that is needed to start a tendering process is likely to start and be completed, when redevelopment work is likely to start and when the harbour redevelopment could be finished to allow the new ferries to operate?
When I came into post in June 2023, there was no prospect of investment in Ardrossan harbour, because there was a tripartite arrangement and one of the bodies involved was a private company, Peel Ports. Obviously, any negotiation for development or investment required decision making and investment from it. The solution that I have come up with—I have kept the Parliament updated regularly since—was to purchase the port and put it back into public ownership. That is something that this Government has done when previous Labour Governments did not do it after the privatisation of Ardrossan harbour by others.
On the member’s point about investment, the port is currently operational. CMAL wants to do short-term work to secure that on an immediate basis, and funding is available for that. The next stages will be the major development to enable larger vessels to use the port. The task force and the work of Mr Gibson and others will be vital in taking that forward.
Islanders should not be restricted by seasonal ferry pricing. Therefore, it is welcome that, in the midst of the continued cost of living crisis under Labour, this SNP Government is investing £1.8 million in 2026-27 to remove peak fares on northern isles ferries. Can the cabinet secretary tell us more about how that decision is expected to benefit island communities?
The member is quite right to identify that islanders consistently face increased costs in a variety of areas. That is why the decision to provide £1.8 million to help to tackle the situation on the northern isles, where islanders faced peak fares in the summer, has been taken. For example, a family of four from Shetland with a car and cabin can save up to £193 per return journey, which is a considerable amount at a time when families face increasing bills.
We are also investing in two new freight flex vessels, which will help to improve capacity for islanders. Islanders should not be penalised when they travel. I am delighted that we are helping not only young islanders but also families with their travel.
I welcome the purchase of Ardrossan harbour and the work that has gone into it. I will park the fact that it should have happened in 2015, when the Glen Sannox was ordered. We ordered a boat that was longer than the length of the pier, which needs to be lengthened and strengthened, and the harbour needs to be supported by a new terminal and new liquefied natural gas storage facilities. Before buying the harbour, the cabinet secretary must have worked out all the costs that are involved in doing that. Will she tell the Parliament the costs of the repairs and when they will start?
I recall that, in 2017, I was the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, so I was pursuing that agenda instead. In his capacity as convener of a number of committees at different times, Edward Mountain has fully examined at length all the issues that he referred to. He might want to dwell in 2017, but I want to dwell in 2026. In fact, he wants to go back to 2015, which is even longer ago.
It must be remembered that Peel Ports is a private company. Many harbours are private harbours, which means that arrangements have to be made on a commercial basis. There is a difference between repairs and redevelopment. The cost of the short-term repairs will be met by the funding that is to be transferred for the purchase of the harbour in the next few weeks, as part of this year’s budget. The cost of the redevelopment work depends on what you want to do, because the cost of the more expansive work and the cost of the work that is required for the vessels are different. Having said that, I reassure Edward Mountain that funding will be made available as part of the ferries and ports budget in the spending review.
It is good to hear about the Government’s development of the ferry fleet. I welcome the introduction of free interisland travel for under-22s and the removal of peak seasonal fares on NorthLink Ferries for Orkney and Shetland residents, which addresses an issue that I first raised after islanders raised concerns with me. I am grateful to the Government for working with me on the issue.
However, I am interested in what is not in the statement: the long-promised ferry fares review, specifically how it addresses freight charges. On the Oban to Craignure route, a 12m truck is charged £426, yet a motorhome of identical length travels for less than £132. That structural inequality effectively escalates the cost of living for our islanders. Will the cabinet secretary commit to publishing the long-promised ferry fares review?
The fair fares review, which reported some time ago, made reference to ferry fares. The issue around freight has to be and will be addressed as part of on-going dialogue and discussions between officials and relevant bodies.
I started my statement by saying that we have done something fairly substantial by making a direct award to CalMac for ferry services. It is important that those services and systems—as well as the KPIs, which are informed by local communities—are bedded in. The community-needs assessment, which will address the needs of freight and passengers, must also run its course for particular routes.
On some routes, one thing that is being introduced is a directive that freight is liable for payment if it does not show up for its booking, which helps to ensure that space is freed up for locals. It is a continuous process. The whole point of the direct award to CalMac is to allow it to work with a public service ethos as opposed to working only to contract.
It is hugely welcome that the SNP Government is making record investment in public transport in 2026 and 2027, including the investment for Ardrossan in response to Kenneth Gibson’s request. Will the cabinet secretary expand on how the investment will be used to deliver wider ferry service improvements and port upgrades?
In my statement, I set out a number of areas of improvement. We should emphasise that a third of the whole CalMac fleet will be replaced, but ports and harbours do not get as much attention. Work has been done to enable improvements on the Little Minch, and a series of other works are taking place in various ports. Funnily enough, Rhoda Grant did not mention the Gasay development work, which will also help, particularly on the Western Isles. Such investment will continue and is part of a pipeline of wider publicly available capital projects.
Given what has happened over the past 14 years of austerity, when capital budgets have been severely constrained and emergency budgets have taken capital funding out of the Scottish Government’s budget, I hope that everyone in the chamber will welcome the fact that we have been able to plan and plot a route forward, which includes the announcements that I have made today and the investment that we are making.
I welcome the move to take Ardrossan port into public ownership. It is a good move, and I commend the efforts of local campaigners, who have been fighting for that for some years.
However, the reality is that Ardrossan remains a difficult place to do business. There are still problems with services to Brodick from Ardrossan. Today and tomorrow, all services to Brodick are cancelled because of technical issues on the MV Caledonian Isles. That leaves local Ardrossan businesses bereft of footfall and cash for all that time. Once again, I make a plea to the cabinet secretary to extend the island business resilience fund to Ardrossan businesses.
Will CMAL, the new owners of the harbour, undertake any more immediate remedial work on the port to make it more reliable? We simply cannot wait a number of years for the full redevelopment of the harbour.
I thank Jamie Greene for his welcome of the purchase of Ardrossan harbour. The Ardrossan economy in North Ayrshire has wider challenges, and I hope that the move will give a bit of hope and confidence that investment will be made to give Ardrossan port a long-term, sustainable future. The work of the task force and our work with North Ayrshire Council will be really important, because more has to be done to ensure that investment is made.
Jamie Greene is correct to identify that some technical issues mean that the Ardrossan-Brodick route is not operating currently. However, as I said, we expect vessels to be redeployed in the coming days and weeks to provide support.
In relation to Ardrossan accessing the island business resilience fund, the clue is in the name—it is an island business resilience fund. We have had to prioritise islands that have experienced the greatest degree of disruption. The threshold was initially set at a 15 per cent reduction, and then it went down to a 10 per cent reduction, so we have extended the fund to more islands, which is to be welcomed.
Jamie Greene makes an important point about what will happen to Ardrossan in the future. I have made it clear—although this will be for another minister, because this is probably the last statement that I will make in the chamber—that my advice is that, at the time of that major development, there will be a need for business resilience for Ardrossan.
On Jamie Greene’s question about immediate remedial work, I have been quite clear that the answer is yes. When the asset is transferred, one of the first things that will happen will be work to support the port’s resilience.
I can squeeze in two more questions, but I need succinct questions and answers.
When the Scottish Government was developing its vessels and ports plan last year, stakeholders highlighted reliability and resilience as key priorities for vessel and port investment. How is the Scottish Government working to deliver on those priorities?
It is clear that reliability and resilience are important. I come back to the impact of continuous severe weather, which is part of what we will have to deal with, so the resilience of ports will become increasingly important. That is why I have given as much attention to ports as I have to vessels in my statement.
Reliability means that there has to be interoperability between vessels so that different vessels can cover at different times. That is what we have been doing with the procurement, so there will be further interoperability between different vessels that can berth at different harbours to help with that resilience.
I am interested in the cost of redeveloping Ardrossan. I heard the cabinet secretary say that there could be different figures, but because she is a diligent cabinet secretary, I know that she will have a budget in mind. Can she tell us what the range of figures is?
The range of figures is covered in the provision in the budget and comprehensive spending review. However, as the member will know, as with any commercial tender, if I were to suggest how much that would be, I might not get the best value for the public purse or secure best value for public investment. I reassure the member that the figures are there, but I also ask him to understand that there will have to be a competitive tender to secure the best value for that development work.
That concludes the statement. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business.
Previous
Topical Question TimeNext
Ferguson Marine