Against community wishes, CalMac has reduced services to Cumbrae this summer, and it is combining an overzealous approach to health and safety with new scheduled maintenance windows. It is a textbook example of how not to bring a community with you.

Islanders have also expressed concerns about CalMac’s reticence to carry out an impact assessment under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, even though the changes are significant. Does the minister agree that stronger guidance is needed to compel public bodies to carry out such assessments, given the Scottish Government’s commitment to genuine community involvement?

Demographic change and rising demand are placing ever greater strain on health and social care partnerships and the Scottish Government. From next Wednesday, North Ayrshire Council will provide only critical social care. Labour abstained in the budget to avoid making choices, sneakily blaming Scottish ministers thereafter if any portfolio fell under pressure. Social care is certainly in that category. Can the minister confirm how much of the additional funding that is available to the Scottish Government from April will be allocated to health and social care partnerships, specifically North Ayrshire?

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to North Ayrshire health and social care partnership. (S6O-05705)

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Since this will be my last speech of session 6, I thank you and the Presiding Officer team for your patience and for the fair and courteous manner in which you have presided over proceedings of this Parliament.

As the convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, I also record my thanks to the committee’s members and clerking team. The committee has won multiple awards and has built a formidable reputation, and none of that would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of its clerks and the collegiate working by colleagues.

I note that her speech today will be the cabinet secretary’s last response to a debate. I find it sad that Mairi Gougeon is leaving Parliament at such a young age, after a mere decade in this place—eight years in Government and five years in Cabinet. I wish her all the best for her future endeavours after she catches the midnight express.

I congratulate Jamie Halcro Johnston on securing the debate. Scotland’s islands are truly remarkable places. Our island communities are consistently identified as being among our happiest communities and the best in which to grow old or raise children.

As MSP for a constituency that includes Arran and Cumbrae, I know at first hand the outsized contribution that both places make to our economy, culture and natural heritage. I wanted to speak today about the many positive developments that are taking place in Arran and Cumbrae, such as Millport’s £48 million flood protection scheme, which has improved flood protection for more than 650 homes and businesses; the £9.17 million investment that has gone into Arran’s bus services; the reopening and refurbishment of Millport town hall, which received a £1.934 million regeneration grant from the Scottish Government; and the 18 affordable homes that were delivered as part of the Rowarden affordable housing project.

Instead, I will focus on the issue that influences every aspect of island life—the ferries. Both communities that I represent are beyond exasperation with the current situation—and with CalMac Ferries, for that matter. In Cumbrae, the community has been fighting a rearguard action against CalMac’s attempts to impose scheduled maintenance windows and increased turnaround times. The new summer timetable shows a significant reduction in sailings, which impacts both islanders and visitors on busy, sunny summer days. There is deep concern about the lack of transparency around the evidence that is used to justify those changes, such as the undisclosed turnaround time report and the limited explanation for withdrawing simultaneous loading and unloading, despite decades of safe operation. As one Millport resident put it,

“It seems to me that CalMac has forgotten that they are meant to provide a service, not service a business plan.”

On Arran, the situation for islanders has become intolerable. According to the Isle of Arran ferry committee, the last day that Arran had a timetabled service without risk being advised was 14 February; since then, there have been constant cancellations. Arranachs have endured a level of disruption that few other communities in Scotland have faced, given the issues with the MV Glen Sannox and the seemingly constant breakdowns of the MV Caledonian Isles, even after £11 million-worth of repairs.

The consequences are profound. Constituents described 40 visitors sleeping overnight in Brodick hall, cancer patients forced into exhausting and costly detours via Claonaig, families stranded for days on the mainland, empty shop shelves as freight struggles to get through, and elderly residents missing vital hospital treatments because they simply cannot rely on the ferry. The deterioration of confidence in the route is real, and the emotional, financial and social toll on Arran is immense. Islanders are asking not for miracles, but simply for a reliable, functioning lifeline service.

I visited Ardrossan harbour on Monday to hear about the essential redevelopment project that will begin next year as well as some of the immediate actions that Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd is taking to improve resilience. The Scottish Government’s acquisition of Ardrossan harbour should be a landmark moment. Now that it is in public ownership, there is a clear path towards the harbour’s much-needed redevelopment. Coupled with the new tonnage that is being added to CalMac’s fleet, it should represent a turning point in west coast ferry services.

However, although it is welcome, that significant investment alone is not enough. Islanders have been clear that the tripartite structure of CalMac, CMAL and Transport Scotland needs reform in order to streamline decision making and improve accountability. That will now be for the next Parliament to deliver. Islanders will rightly expect urgency, accountability and a ferry system that is worthy of the communities that it exists to serve.

13:58

I congratulate my colleague Clare Haughey on bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber and on all the work that she is doing to save the Bank of Scotland branch in Rutherglen.

I, too, pay tribute to Richard Lochhead, the minister who will respond to the debate and a colleague I have known and respected for decades. This will be Richard’s final speech after 27 years here, having spent 19 years in the Government, including nine in the Cabinet. Richard was very ill with sepsis just a couple of years ago. I wish that diligent and unassuming public servant all the best in whatever he does next.

When I last spoke here about bank branch closures, on 30 October, I remarked that high street branches were disappearing “at an alarming rate”. Unfortunately, there is no sign that that trend is being reversed. As Clare Haughey mentioned, Lloyds has announced that another 11 branches will close this summer, and I am sure that, every time such announcements are made, colleagues across the chamber anxiously check to see whether their constituency will lose yet another valued branch that local people and businesses rely on.

It is fitting, from my perspective, that we are debating the issue today, because the final bank branch in Largs was set to disappear from the town’s main street tomorrow. In December, it was given a stay of execution until 29 July, to allow time for a new cash hub to be set up in the town. Although that is welcome, it does not change the fact that Largs—a town with more than 11,000 inhabitants, including many elderly residents—will soon be without a bank branch. That will also impact customers from the neighbouring communities of Millport, Fairlie, Skelmorlie and West Kilbride. The decision leaves my constituency with only one remaining mainland bank branch, the Bank of Scotland in Saltcoats, which shows the decline in the number of bank branches across Scotland’s towns in recent years.

Cash hubs are undoubtedly welcome, and I have been assured by Link that the services available will be the same as those at a Post Office, including the ability to deposit and withdraw cash and to pay utility bills. However, that is no substitute for the high-quality, face-to-face advice provided by bank employees, who can offer complex mortgage discussions and give investment, financial and business advice.

Banks argue that the industry has changed and point to their online services, but many people feel safer and more confident with in-person banking, not least due to understandable fears about online scams and fraud. Customer behaviour has changed in recent years, prompted by the banks themselves, which is why banking hubs that offer easy access to cash and basic banking services are often seen as a solution. Those hubs also provide a private space where customers can talk face to face with staff about more complicated banking inquiries. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a banking hub in my constituency, despite, for years, having made the case to Link for establishing such a hub. When I met Link’s chief corporate affairs officer here, at Holyrood, he explained how Link defines an area by mapping the high street to understand who is likely to rely on a hub for cash services and which businesses would be affected by any gap in those services. The remit is limited to whether access to cash is guaranteed and does not consider wider banking services.

The UK Tory Government’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 gave the Financial Conduct Authority responsibility for maintaining access to cash deposit and withdrawal but, crucially, not access to banking services. At the time, Labour argued that that was wrong and that access to banking services, and not only to cash, should be available; yet, in 20 months of a Labour Government, there has been very little to suggest that that omission will be rectified—surprise, surprise. When asked about that in the House of Commons last month, Lucy Rigby MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, vaguely promised to

“keep these issues under review”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 24 February 2026; Vol 781, c 111WH.]

It is clear that banking decisions taken at Westminster are inadequate for Scotland’s needs and especially, but not exclusively, for the needs of rural communities, which have endured bank branch closures at an alarming rate. The FCA will undertake a post-implementation review of the access-to-cash regime later this year. I ask the next Scottish Government to urge its UK counterpart to change Link’s inflexible rules, which prevent Largs and other towns from having a banking hub, and to extend the FCA’s powers to access to wider banking services.

18:33

I congratulate my colleague Clare Haughey on bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber and on all the work that she is doing to save the Bank of Scotland branch in Rutherglen.

I, too, pay tribute to Richard Lochhead, the minister who will respond to the debate and a colleague I have known and respected for decades. This will be Richard’s final speech after 27 years here, having spent 19 years in the Government, including nine in the Cabinet. Richard was very ill with sepsis just a couple of years ago. I wish that diligent and unassuming public servant all the best in whatever he does next.

When I last spoke here about bank branch closures, on 30 October, I remarked that high street branches were disappearing “at an alarming rate”. Unfortunately, there is no sign that that trend is being reversed. As Clare Haughey mentioned, Lloyds has announced that another 11 branches will close this summer, and I am sure that, every time such announcements are made, colleagues across the chamber anxiously check to see whether their constituency will lose yet another valued branch that local people and businesses rely on.

It is fitting, from my perspective, that we are debating the issue today, because the final bank branch in Largs was set to disappear from the town’s main street tomorrow. In December, it was given a stay of execution until 29 July, to allow time for a new cash hub to be set up in the town. Although that is welcome, it does not change the fact that Largs—a town with more than 11,000 inhabitants, including many elderly residents—will soon be without a bank branch. That will also impact customers from the neighbouring communities of Millport, Fairlie, Skelmorlie and West Kilbride. The decision leaves my constituency with only one remaining mainland bank branch, the Bank of Scotland in Saltcoats, which shows the decline in the number of bank branches across Scotland’s towns in recent years.

Cash hubs are undoubtedly welcome, and I have been assured by Link that the services available will be the same as those at a Post Office, including the ability to deposit and withdraw cash and to pay utility bills. However, that is no substitute for the high-quality, face-to-face advice provided by bank employees, who can offer complex mortgage discussions and give investment, financial and business advice.

Banks argue that the industry has changed and point to their online services, but many people feel safer and more confident with in-person banking, not least due to understandable fears about online scams and fraud. Customer behaviour has changed in recent years, prompted by the banks themselves, which is why banking hubs that offer easy access to cash and basic banking services are often seen as a solution. Those hubs also provide a private space where customers can talk face to face with staff about more complicated banking inquiries. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a banking hub in my constituency, despite, for years, having made the case to Link for establishing such a hub. When I met Link’s chief corporate affairs officer here, at Holyrood, he explained how Link defines an area by mapping the high street to understand who is likely to rely on a hub for cash services and which businesses would be affected by any gap in those services. The remit is limited to whether access to cash is guaranteed and does not consider wider banking services.

The UK Tory Government’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 gave the Financial Conduct Authority responsibility for maintaining access to cash deposit and withdrawal but, crucially, not access to banking services. At the time, Labour argued that that was wrong and that access to banking services, and not only to cash, should be available; yet, in 20 months of a Labour Government, there has been very little to suggest that that omission will be rectified—surprise, surprise. When asked about that in the House of Commons last month, Lucy Rigby MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, vaguely promised to

“keep these issues under review”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 24 February 2026; Vol 781, c 111WH.]

It is clear that banking decisions taken at Westminster are inadequate for Scotland’s needs and especially, but not exclusively, for the needs of rural communities, which have endured bank branch closures at an alarming rate. The FCA will undertake a post-implementation review of the access-to-cash regime later this year. I ask the next Scottish Government to urge its UK counterpart to change Link’s inflexible rules, which prevent Largs and other towns from having a banking hub, and to extend the FCA’s powers to access to wider banking services.

18:33

I congratulate my colleague Clare Haughey on bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber and on all the work that she is doing to save the Bank of Scotland branch in Rutherglen.

I, too, pay tribute to Richard Lochhead, the minister who will respond to the debate and a colleague I have known and respected for decades. This will be Richard’s final speech after 27 years here, having spent 19 years in the Government, including nine in the Cabinet. Richard was very ill with sepsis just a couple of years ago. I wish that diligent and unassuming public servant all the best in whatever he does next.

When I last spoke here about bank branch closures, on 30 October, I remarked that high street branches were disappearing “at an alarming rate”. Unfortunately, there is no sign that that trend is being reversed. As Clare Haughey mentioned, Lloyds has announced that another 11 branches will close this summer, and I am sure that, every time such announcements are made, colleagues across the chamber anxiously check to see whether their constituency will lose yet another valued branch that local people and businesses rely on.

It is fitting, from my perspective, that we are debating the issue today, because the final bank branch in Largs was set to disappear from the town’s main street tomorrow. In December, it was given a stay of execution until 29 July, to allow time for a new cash hub to be set up in the town. Although that is welcome, it does not change the fact that Largs—a town with more than 11,000 inhabitants, including many elderly residents—will soon be without a bank branch. That will also impact customers from the neighbouring communities of Millport, Fairlie, Skelmorlie and West Kilbride. The decision leaves my constituency with only one remaining mainland bank branch, the Bank of Scotland in Saltcoats, which shows the decline in the number of bank branches across Scotland’s towns in recent years.

Cash hubs are undoubtedly welcome, and I have been assured by Link that the services available will be the same as those at a Post Office, including the ability to deposit and withdraw cash and to pay utility bills. However, that is no substitute for the high-quality, face-to-face advice provided by bank employees, who can offer complex mortgage discussions and give investment, financial and business advice.

Banks argue that the industry has changed and point to their online services, but many people feel safer and more confident with in-person banking, not least due to understandable fears about online scams and fraud. Customer behaviour has changed in recent years, prompted by the banks themselves, which is why banking hubs that offer easy access to cash and basic banking services are often seen as a solution. Those hubs also provide a private space where customers can talk face to face with staff about more complicated banking inquiries. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a banking hub in my constituency, despite, for years, having made the case to Link for establishing such a hub. When I met Link’s chief corporate affairs officer here, at Holyrood, he explained how Link defines an area by mapping the high street to understand who is likely to rely on a hub for cash services and which businesses would be affected by any gap in those services. The remit is limited to whether access to cash is guaranteed and does not consider wider banking services.

The UK Tory Government’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 gave the Financial Conduct Authority responsibility for maintaining access to cash deposit and withdrawal but, crucially, not access to banking services. At the time, Labour argued that that was wrong and that access to banking services, and not only to cash, should be available; yet, in 20 months of a Labour Government, there has been very little to suggest that that omission will be rectified—surprise, surprise. When asked about that in the House of Commons last month, Lucy Rigby MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, vaguely promised to

“keep these issues under review”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 24 February 2026; Vol 781, c 111WH.]

It is clear that banking decisions taken at Westminster are inadequate for Scotland’s needs and especially, but not exclusively, for the needs of rural communities, which have endured bank branch closures at an alarming rate. The FCA will undertake a post-implementation review of the access-to-cash regime later this year. I ask the next Scottish Government to urge its UK counterpart to change Link’s inflexible rules, which prevent Largs and other towns from having a banking hub, and to extend the FCA’s powers to access to wider banking services.

18:33

I congratulate my colleague Clare Haughey on bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber and on all the work that she is doing to save the Bank of Scotland branch in Rutherglen.

I, too, pay tribute to Richard Lochhead, the minister who will respond to the debate and a colleague I have known and respected for decades. This will be Richard’s final speech after 27 years here, having spent 19 years in the Government, including nine in the Cabinet. Richard was very ill with sepsis just a couple of years ago. I wish that diligent and unassuming public servant all the best in whatever he does next.

When I last spoke here about bank branch closures, on 30 October, I remarked that high street branches were disappearing “at an alarming rate”. Unfortunately, there is no sign that that trend is being reversed. As Clare Haughey mentioned, Lloyds has announced that another 11 branches will close this summer, and I am sure that, every time such announcements are made, colleagues across the chamber anxiously check to see whether their constituency will lose yet another valued branch that local people and businesses rely on.

It is fitting, from my perspective, that we are debating the issue today, because the final bank branch in Largs was set to disappear from the town’s main street tomorrow. In December, it was given a stay of execution until 29 July, to allow time for a new cash hub to be set up in the town. Although that is welcome, it does not change the fact that Largs—a town with more than 11,000 inhabitants, including many elderly residents—will soon be without a bank branch. That will also impact customers from the neighbouring communities of Millport, Fairlie, Skelmorlie and West Kilbride. The decision leaves my constituency with only one remaining mainland bank branch, the Bank of Scotland in Saltcoats, which shows the decline in the number of bank branches across Scotland’s towns in recent years.

Cash hubs are undoubtedly welcome, and I have been assured by Link that the services available will be the same as those at a Post Office, including the ability to deposit and withdraw cash and to pay utility bills. However, that is no substitute for the high-quality, face-to-face advice provided by bank employees, who can offer complex mortgage discussions and give investment, financial and business advice.

Banks argue that the industry has changed and point to their online services, but many people feel safer and more confident with in-person banking, not least due to understandable fears about online scams and fraud. Customer behaviour has changed in recent years, prompted by the banks themselves, which is why banking hubs that offer easy access to cash and basic banking services are often seen as a solution. Those hubs also provide a private space where customers can talk face to face with staff about more complicated banking inquiries. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a banking hub in my constituency, despite, for years, having made the case to Link for establishing such a hub. When I met Link’s chief corporate affairs officer here, at Holyrood, he explained how Link defines an area by mapping the high street to understand who is likely to rely on a hub for cash services and which businesses would be affected by any gap in those services. The remit is limited to whether access to cash is guaranteed and does not consider wider banking services.

The UK Tory Government’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 gave the Financial Conduct Authority responsibility for maintaining access to cash deposit and withdrawal but, crucially, not access to banking services. At the time, Labour argued that that was wrong and that access to banking services, and not only to cash, should be available; yet, in 20 months of a Labour Government, there has been very little to suggest that that omission will be rectified—surprise, surprise. When asked about that in the House of Commons last month, Lucy Rigby MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, vaguely promised to

“keep these issues under review”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 24 February 2026; Vol 781, c 111WH.]

It is clear that banking decisions taken at Westminster are inadequate for Scotland’s needs and especially, but not exclusively, for the needs of rural communities, which have endured bank branch closures at an alarming rate. The FCA will undertake a post-implementation review of the access-to-cash regime later this year. I ask the next Scottish Government to urge its UK counterpart to change Link’s inflexible rules, which prevent Largs and other towns from having a banking hub, and to extend the FCA’s powers to access to wider banking services.

18:33

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport outlined the Scottish Government’s welcome commitment to a two-vessel service for Arran while Ardrossan harbour is being redeveloped. However, for most of this week, Arran has had a zero-vessel service, with both the MV Glen Sannox and the MV Caledonian Isles breaking down and the MV Alfred away for maintenance, leaving the island with no connection to Ayrshire for days.

No other island community is bearing disruption on that scale. Businesses are losing income, medical appointments are being missed, essential supplies are at risk and islanders constantly fear the next breakdown. What action will the First Minister take to restore reliability to Arran’s ferry services before the consequences become even more serious?

Well said.