Chamber and committees

I conclude there, and I recognise that the Government amendment goes some way—in fact, a great deal of the way—towards acknowledging those problems, which are very real.

A number of my constituents have recently expressed concern that some of the companies that are listed on the R100 website as being active in the Western Isles and, as such, able to utilise the R100 vouchers are declining to undertake the work when approached by interested residents. What more could be done to make it clearer which companies will do the work in the islands so that people can use the vouchers that they are entitled to?

I can identify with what Donald Cameron said, which is why I tried to phrase my remarks carefully. No, we should not be in a position where islands are in competition with each other; of course, when there are not enough ships, they inevitably are. I point to the particular situation in South Uist and I hope that my remarks are clear about what they have been suffering.

The focus on passenger numbers to the detriment of all other considerations is, I believe, leading those who operate ferry services to drift from their core purpose. That is how we get to a route prioritisation matrix that was devised without any input from communities, and which strips an island of all its ferry services for the whole month of June.

I therefore welcome the cabinet secretary’s remarks, in which she is—it would seem—willing to question that matrix. There is no lack of evidence for the economic damage that is being caused. One example that was reported by Business Gateway in Uist detailed a 40 per cent drop in bookings for accommodation providers. Hauliers, who are not supported through compensation from CalMac, have frequently—

Building on what Mark Ruskell asked about, I want to ask about responsiveness to local communities’ needs, and specifically the fact that not all culture takes place in a theatre or traditional cultural venue. I am thinking about traditional culture, but that could apply to all sorts of local culture. How do you recognise that fact in how you approach things nationally?

I appreciate that.

I have been in it. I have seen “Star Wars” in it in Barra.

I agree with your point that some of the funding for the big cities reflects the fact that people come into big cities to access stuff. However, when you measure success rates, do you also take account of the fact that visiting some parts of the country—I represent the Western Isles—would involve an overnight stay and that those places are therefore out of some people’s reach? That is not a case against the centres of excellence in the Burrell collection or the national museum of Scotland, but are we measuring success in terms of enabling people to access national assets that are in places that are so far away that an overnight stay is involved?

Thank you.

I will begin with a sentence or two first, if I can—thank you.

The Public Audit Committee’s report that we are debating today adds to the work that has been done by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee in its inquiry in session 5, and in the Auditor General for Scotland’s report in March last year. As the Audit Scotland report, “New vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides: Arrangements to deliver vessels 801 and 802”, notes,

“Procuring both vessels at the same time was intended to be the start of a standardised approach to building new vessels”

for CalMac.

The contract was for a combined £97 million for both ships, with delivery due in May and July of 2018. Those were intended to be the first in a series of vessels, which would have seen the average age of CMAL’s major vessels reduced from 21 years in 2017 to 12 years by 2025.

Instead, as has been very well, but fairly, rehearsed, island communities have been left waiting for new vessels during that period. As a result of the sequence of events, which members have gone through today, many island communities are still depending on vessels such as the MV Isle of Arran for network resilience. That vessel, for members who do not know her, is so old that she predates the emergence of Apple personal computers and commercial camcorders.

I spend a great proportion of my life raising concerns about the ferry network, which is a measure of just how essential ferries are for every aspect of island life. That reliance on an ageing and overstretched fleet is, of course, having real and serious consequences for my constituents.

CalMac crews and shore staff do an outstanding job, but CalMac, as a company, can and should do much better for island communities. This winter’s annual refit programme has been one of the most chaotic in living memory and has shown itself to be maddeningly inflexible to changing circumstances. The latest decision to deprive South Uist of its ferry service entirely—again—for all of June is one example of why island voices are increasingly, as we have all heard, being raised to use phrases such as “out of touch” and “remote” when describing CalMac’s upper management.

I do not mention all that, in relation to the operation of ferry services, to deflect from the undeniable reality that CalMac does not have enough ships to fulfil its duties as an operator, or even, at present, to sail from all the ferry ports that are advertised on its timetable.

I welcome the news that the Glen Sannox, however belatedly, now shows signs of being ready for this autumn, and that progress with vessel 802 suggests that she might be in service late next year, just as I also warmly welcome the award of contracts to build another four new vessels, the construction of two of which is now well under way.

The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy’s decision to give a ministerial direction for vessel 802 to be completed at Ferguson’s was, despite much bluster from some quarters in the chamber today and previously, the right thing to do. It might well have cost less to start again and build elsewhere, but the costs of waiting for the necessary two or, probably, three years extra to do so would have been borne by island communities and businesses, as they continued to deal with disruption.

The Public Audit Committee agreed

“with the REC Committee that the decision-making structure for the procurement and construction of new vessels to serve the Clyde and Hebrides ferries network is cluttered and lacks transparency.”

The landscape of differing responsibilities of Scottish ministers, civil servants, CMAL, CalMac and Transport Scotland is—in my view and that of many others—very complex indeed. I hope that the work, through project Neptune, that is under way to review governance arrangements, provides an opportunity to set some of that right. Angus Campbell from the ferry users community board has been diligently going around the country to ensure community input in any future reform.

On a personal note, I thank the outgoing transport minister for the very considerable efforts that he made in office to engage with many island communities, including mine, and I wish him all the best for improvement in his health.

Everyone on the islands is painfully aware—believe you me—of the failings that are associated with the building of the Glen Sannox and vessel 802. Those failings have had undoubted consequences, both economically and socially, for my constituents. However, they also raise wider questions about how, in the future, the management of ferry services by CalMac can be done more effectively. Not least, I hope, if I can be entirely frank—and as other members have mentioned—that CalMac will take the hint that there is something far wrong with the matrix that it uses to decide which ferry services to abandon at any time, given that, generally, the same ferry service is abandoned. Government and CalMac alike will need to address all those questions in order to ensure that we have the ferry services that we need for the years ahead.

It is as well to start—as we have all done in several previous ferries debates—with a frank acknowledgement of the situation that we face. Many of us were in the chamber in October 2015 to hear the contract award announcement for vessels 801 and 802. I doubt whether any of us, even in our uneasiest dreams, could have imagined that we might be here nearly eight years later, discussing the circumstances of those two vessels’ on-going construction.