Chamber and committees

Absolutely. ADS does a job in making air fares slightly more affordable for island residents. The contention is whether it goes far enough. I am more interested in the other outcomes from the scheme.

Laura Cromarty from Orkney Islands Council talked about issues relating to timetabling and the service that is available. She made the point—I am paraphrasing—that timetabling has an impact on the patronage on routes, because the flight timetable might not allow her to, in a day, attend a meeting with Transport Scotland in Edinburgh, for example, so she might choose not to fly. The same applies to businesses and island residents. If the timetable does not suit what you are looking to achieve, you might choose other options, whether that is ferry travel or not travelling at all. Transport Scotland and the Government could have an input on timetabling, and ensuring that what is available to islanders meets their needs must surely be at the top of the list of things that you consider when reviewing how the system operates.

11:30

I want to give you an opportunity to respond to a report in last week’s Stornoway Gazette about fuel surcharges. I assume that you are familiar with the article that I am referring to, which suggests that, over the past six months, Loganair received about £2.1 million in excess revenue by increasing the fuel surcharge on flights. When you gave evidence to the committee previously, you said that a significant proportion of your fuel costs for 2026 had been hedged, but the fuel surcharge has been placed on flights. What is your response to that?

You are covering really important points, but I want to move the discussion on slightly—

Thank you, cabinet secretary, for being here today. I want to touch on Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, which the Government does have some involvement in. You are right to point out that it does not charge drop-off fees; however, it does have parking charges. I understand that, at Inverness airport, parking is free for the first 15 minutes, while at some of the other airports—Stornoway, for example—it is free for the first two hours and then there are charges. First, do you foresee any implications for HIAL and its operations as a result of the legislation that is the subject of the LCM in front of us? Secondly, have you had any discussions with HIAL about its approach going forward?

When options for community benefit are outlined in a tender submission, are they given different weightings, depending on the client? Do some clients have higher expectations when it comes to what is put on the table by way of community benefit?

I have a couple of follow-up questions given some of the evidence that we have heard. They pick up on the discussion about the ports and the comments that Chris Wilcock made, but I am happy for anybody to answer them.

First, I am interested in the scale of the works that are required at Ardrossan and how that picture is changing. I appreciate that there is a moving picture on how much needs to happens there. As I understand it, the works to the Arran berth are a priority, but there are also options for the Irish berth and the wider port infrastructure. How will decisions on what works will be carried out at Ardrossan affect the wider programme of port improvements?

I am particularly interested in the plans at Gasay and Lochboisdale, which are also linked to the procurement of the replacement Lord of the Isles. I am interested in the balance between the pipeline of vessel procurement and the associated port infrastructure that will need to be in place when the vessels come into service.

Is there anything that you would like to add on that balance and the sequencing? What implications will investment in ports such as Ardrossan have on the pipeline and the plans for, for example, Gasay?

Thanks.

And the contract.

Following on from Collette’s line of questioning, the creation of new entrant positions and apprenticeships as a community benefit sounds good. I am interested in how you ensure additionality. How do you ensure that these are not positions that would already have been created through the project? How do you build that into your procurement?

You are saying that community benefits are an important part of your procurement approach and strategy. The procurement report highlights the creation of jobs and apprenticeships as a community benefit. If that is really a community benefit, it cannot simply be the same as employment that is generated through other forms of infrastructure development, such as renewable energy projects. I am not conflating the two; community benefit is different from simply delivering a project.

What you are pointing to as a community benefit is the creation of those jobs and apprenticeships. To me, a community benefit must be additional to the delivery of a project that you would have undertaken anyway.

10:45