Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Official Report 932KB pdf

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Reserved Board Seats for Islanders

The final item of business is a members’ business debate, in the name of Alasdair Allan, on reserved board seats for islanders. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.

Motion debated,

That the Parliament acknowledges what it sees as the important role that Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and CalMac Ferries Ltd play in everyday life in the Western Isles and other island communities in the west of Scotland; understands with regret that, at present, the board of neither organisation contains members who are resident on islands within the CalMac network; notes the view that there should be reserved board seats in both organisations dedicated for members who are resident on islands within the CalMac network, and believes that such a measure would promote more community input into decision-making processes.

17:12  

I will not rehearse again the complete list of problems that arose around island ferry services this summer. I realise that the Minister for Transport is well aware of those difficulties and has, to his credit, been in regular contact with island MSPs about them since he took office. I know that he is, nonetheless, aware of the significant human and economic impact that those problems have had and it would be remiss of me not to mention briefly some of the problems that reached an acute point during the period when social distancing impacted most on vessel capacity.

Islanders were, in many cases, simply unable to travel for work, caring commitments, business or to visit family members, not even, in the most extreme of situations, seriously ill family members. Although CalMac Ferries staff tried hard to accommodate individuals when cases were brought to their attention via MSPs, I have to be honest that it was an extremely difficult situation. I am sure that the minister will want to say something about the solutions, but we know that CalMac needs more vessels, particularly a better choice of relief vessels; a better booking system; a fares review; and better communication with customers.

I know that the minister will mention some or all of those things in his summing-up speech, but I want to add to the wider debate the point that is the subject of my motion. In my view, CalMac needs to be more grounded in the communities that it serves than it presently seems to be. As far as I can establish from looking at the board of CalMac Ferries Ltd, which runs the services, and the board of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, which holds the vessels and some of the piers, not a single board member currently lives in any of the island communities that depend on CalMac ferry services. That situation is not unique to CalMac and CMAL though, because there are, to my knowledge, few members of the Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd board who live in the Highlands and islands.

I emphasise that I point that out with no disrespect to the existing CalMac board members. However, in an era when lived experience is rightly prized in public appointments, it seems to me and, I can assure members, to most islanders, as the minister will be aware, that the current situation cannot be allowed to continue forever. CalMac would be better managed if its board members had to face the travelling public whenever they went to Tesco in Stornoway or the Co-op in Daliburgh or, if things went wrong, every time that they set foot outside their house. That would be a healthy accountability that, in my view, would help concentrate CalMac’s mind.

I am convinced that it would improve services if at least some board members ever had to feel the direct personal consequences of what happens when a ferry does not appear for 10 days in a row, which has happened more than once in the past couple of years on the isle of Barra, for example. Due to new technical issues with one of CalMac’s vessels, for over a week now there have been no services operating between Mallaig and Lochboisdale, and services only every other day from Tarbert to Uig. Those are the kind of problems that board members resident in the islands would experience.

I congratulate Alasdair Allan on securing the debate and I echo his comments on not just CMAL but HIAL. Does he believe that if islanders were on the boards of those companies, as his motion proposes, we would have seen the situation where HIAL seeks to centralise air traffic services in Inverness, much against the desires of pretty much all the communities that are represented by those lifeline air services?

As I mentioned, my comments apply also to HIAL and my views on the issue to which Mr McArthur referred are a matter of record.

I realise that appointing board members is no simple task and that the criteria used for appointment become key in this case. However, in communities where so many people have professional seafaring experience as well as more general experience of living on an island, plenty of people are well qualified for board membership. As the Uist economic task force pointed out in its petition to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, increased community participation would be in keeping with the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and the national islands plan. I also realise that not everyone is willing to put their head above the parapet when it comes to board appointments—the islands suffer from unfilled job vacancies of many kinds—but we have to start making the boards more representative somehow, so I hope that the Government will consider my proposal.

Councillor Donald Manford, who represents the islands of Barra, Vatersay, South Uist and Eriskay, has long highlighted the need for stronger input into decisions about ferries from the communities affected. He is talking not about communities owning ferries, but having a more recognised way into decisions. I hope that the Government might be able to consider some of Councillor Manford’s ideas. Certainly, having some CalMac board members live on the islands that the ferries serve would be a positive start.

For CalMac, some of those points apply to more than only the board. Everyone is reassessing working patterns after Covid and we are looking at ways to disperse more public sector jobs. We should therefore give thought to how best disperse more of CalMac’s central shore-based staff to the many local offices that the company already has around the country. Organisations such as Transport Scotland should also consider whether they have positions that could be based closer to the communities that they serve.

I have tried to concentrate in my speech on one practical measure that I believe could help improve ferry services in the years ahead. That step would of course not solve every problem faced by ferry users, but I believe that it is a step that would improve matters and is worth our considering. The oft-quoted unofficial paraphrase of Psalm 24 says:

“The earth belongs unto the Lord and all that it contains,
Excepting for the Western Isles, for they are all MacBrayne’s.”

I believe that reassessing the composition of the CalMac board to include islanders would reverse some assumptions about where power lies and give a much healthier sense that MacBrayne answers to a much greater extent to Scotland’s island communities.

I call Kenneth Gibson, to be followed by Jamie Halcro Johnston, who will join us remotely. I ask members to speak only for the allotted time, which is up to four minutes.

17:19  

I congratulate my colleague Alasdair Allan on securing debating time for this important matter. As an MSP representing the islands of Arran and Cumbrae, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate. Having represented the people of Cunninghame North for over 14 years, I can safely say that ferry-related issues are consistently island residents’ greatest concerns.

Ferries are rightly described as lifelines for island communities; not only are they the only means of travelling to and from the mainland, but they also play a vital role for businesses, not least by sustaining importing and exporting. It is therefore hardly surprising that islanders are frustrated when that crucial service does not operate efficiently or at all. That situation was especially severe this summer. As soon as Covid capacity restrictions were lifted, there were positive cases among the crew of MV Caledonian Isles, resulting in it leaving the service. Breakdowns, cancellations and diversions further increased pressure on sailings, and there were 65 cancelled sailings in 11 days.

Islanders struggled to travel to attend engagements such as weddings and funerals and to do business, while tourism and hospitality businesses faced reduced income because of lower visitor numbers. Food and drink producers who are already grappling with Brexit-related trade barriers and disruption were confronted with delays in exporting their produce—that was all at the height of the summer season.

Given island communities’ absolute reliance on ferries, I was glad that the “National Transport Strategy Delivery Plan 2020-2022” included a clear commitment to minimise the connectivity and cost disadvantages faced by island communities and those in remote rural areas. However, I agree with Alasdair Allan that the plan should reflect reality and not simply be a paper exercise. We must involve island communities with lived experience of those issues more strongly in the day-to-day running of lifeline ferry services.

In its first annual report on the national islands plan, the Scottish Government islands team and Transport Scotland indicated that further regard should be given to island communities when transport-related policies, strategies and services are developed. When it comes to the provision of ferry services, Dr Allan is right about the crucial importance of CMAL and CalMac Ferries. When services fail, island residents’ expressions of dismay and frustration are directed mainly at those two organisations and the Scottish ministers, often via their MSP. In many cases, service users are a lot more understanding once the origins of and potential remedies for the disruption are clearly communicated and explained to them. Unfortunately, too often a lack of clear, timeous communication and information leaves passengers disillusioned.

I firmly believe that giving reserved board seats to island residents can only be advantageous. CMAL and CalMac would benefit from the knowledge and lived experience of island residents on their boards and it would surely improve their customer focus. I can think of island constituents who have acquired over the years invaluable knowledge and understanding of the issues at stake. Those constituents include members of the Arran ferry committee and the Cumbrae ferry users group, with which CalMac regularly engages and which are the main island voices for ferry-related matters on Arran and Cumbrae, made up of representatives of the community and business sectors.

Island communities are at the end of their tether. Often, patient individuals are frustrated by frequently cancelled sailings following breakdowns of CalMac’s exhausted and rapidly ageing fleet—cancellations that are now exacerbated by Covid-19 disruptions. I am encouraged by the Scottish Government’s announcements about increasing islanders’ input into the development of transport-related services, policies and strategies, and I hope that the new islands connectivity plan will meaningfully contribute to that notion of greater community engagement.

Reserved seats for islanders on the boards of CMAL and CalMac would be mutually beneficial. Nevertheless, CalMac primarily needs to deliver a service, not a contracted timetable. The issues that islanders face need more than having board members who are island residents. Many islanders believe that CalMac sees the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services as just one contract among others that it manages. Communicating and explaining, for example, why a sailing has been cancelled is crucial. CMAL and CalMac would benefit from greater community input and would be able to develop a more customer-focused approach. Islanders would see their concerns better represented in the decision-making processes while—I hope—receiving more regular and extensive updates and communications about CMAL’s and CalMac’s day-to-day operations.

I now call Jamie Halcro Johnston, who joins us remotely.

17:23  

I congratulate Alasdair Allan on bringing the debate to the chamber.

This summer, we have seen unprecedented disruption to the lifeline ferry links to Scotland’s island communities. The costs to island communities will be high, with visitor journeys impacted, some businesses seeing their operations affected and local residents forced to have real disruption to their travel. All that comes on the back of a pandemic that has brought its own impact on jobs, businesses and livelihoods. Some islands have been, in effect, cut off and others have come to realise that a truly unreliable service is no real service at all. Last week saw yet more sailings withdrawn as Scotland’s ageing ferry fleet—in desperate need of repairs and replacements, as members have highlighted—continued to creak under the pressure.

We will undoubtedly see more failures, symptoms of long-term strategic failures that have seen our islands deprioritised at the highest level in Edinburgh. This debate could therefore hardly be more timely.

Alasdair Allan is right to highlight that a gulf has opened up between the decisions that are made about our west coast ferry network and the interests of islanders. There is anger, and rightly so. This summer, our islands could not have seemed further from Edinburgh, in so many ways.

To address the substantial points of today’s motion, it is undoubtedly the case that the boards benefit from a diversity of skills and knowledge. Existing board members bring a range of talents and experience—many of them have maritime experience brought from elsewhere, and a number bring skills that are more organisationally focused. That is no bad thing, but I suspect that we would not be debating the motion had the Scottish Government’s appointments process recognised the value of not only those attributes, but local island knowledge and an ability to reflect and represent the communities that CalMac and CMAL serve. That should be fundamental, and should not require a debate or forced change.

At the core of the problems that we have seen is not only organisational ability, but accountability. CalMac is state owned. Next year, the Scottish Government intends to bring ScotRail into public sector operation—the suggestion being that it will be better able to serve the public. We are right to ask where the accountability lies. Ministers, including the First Minister, aligned themselves closely with the building of the two new, and very necessary, ferries in Port Glasgow, and the operation of Ferguson Marine, which is also now under Scottish Government control.

Endless failings have been well documented, including by a committee of the Parliament, but what has happened? The failings have continued, with the cost falling not to those who are responsible, but to our island communities. Successive transport ministers, before our current ministers’ tenures, have failed to make the long-term decisions needed to make the service resilient. Before being held to account for those failings, they simply moved on, often to some loftier position, which, in most cases, was one that befitted their ambitions rather than their abilities.

While this summer’s crisis was on-going, we called for a statement to be made to the Parliament during one of the virtual sittings. We were told that the transport minister was on holiday. That is one thing; however, in Scotland’s biggest ever ministerial team, we also have a Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, and a Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, too. I hope that they will forgive me for suggesting that their excuses for failing to provide someone to make a statement was about not availability, but a reluctance to come before the Parliament and answer hard questions about what they are doing during this unprecedented crisis.

Building boards that can represent the interests of the islands is important, and would go some distance to bridging the gulf between island interests and operations. However, accountability is important too, and that is what is missing from the equation. As Alasdair Allan said in the press yesterday,

“it is clear that what we witnessed over the summer can never be repeated.”

He is right, but unless there is considerable change in the strategic direction from ministers, there is no reason to believe that it will not be repeated. As long as islands are an afterthought in St Andrew’s house, our island communities will suffer. As an islander, I say that we deserve better than that.

17:28  

I thank Alasdair Allan for bringing the motion to the chamber. I support the central argument in support of representation for island communities on the boards of CMAL and CalMac Ferries Ltd.

I often travel to the isle of Lewis in Dr Allan’s constituency to visit family, and I agree that the infrastructure and lifeline services that CMAL and CalMac provide are an important part of the everyday life of the islands. I represent West Scotland, and I can tell members that the infrastructure services that are provided by those two bodies are also an important part of everyday life of the islands on the Clyde coast.

Arran has been hit particularly hard by what islanders themselves have called a ferry fiasco. We know why that is the case—the CalMac fleet is ageing and increasingly unreliable. Frequent ferry disruption has an enormous impact on the local economies and island life. It means disruption to supply chains, visitor cancellations and missed hospital appointments. That is unacceptable, and I agree with Kenny Gibson’s comment that islanders are at the end of their tether.

A robust and resilient ferry service would be the foundation on which to build stronger, more sustainable island economies. Through inaction, neglect and what a committee of this Parliament called a “catastrophic failure” in the procurement of replacement ferries, the people of Arran and other islands have been denied the resilient ferry service that they deserve. If Scotland’s islands had a dedicated voice on the boards of CMAL and CalMac, it would be harder to ignore the concerns of people on our islands.

They would have a voice on the boards that shape the critical services that their communities cannot do without. Not only does it make practical sense, we should, as a matter of principle, support greater passenger and workforce representation in the governance of public transport systems—of ferries, bus services and the new publicly owned ScotRail.

Alasdair Allan said that not a single member of the CMAL board lives on one of the island communities they serve. Not a single member of the board lives with the reality of the decisions that they take and the mistakes that they make. That can no longer be justified. CMAL should be accountable to Scotland’s islands, as it is to ministers in Edinburgh. Let me also say that ministers in Edinburgh should be accountable to Scotland’s islands. The ferry fiasco is not over; there are still demands for a public inquiry, and ministers must not escape scrutiny. They are ultimately responsible for the dismal failure to provide resilient ferry services.

It is a national disgrace, meaning that the new ferries that we need are delayed and £100 million over budget. That is £100 million that we could have been investing in our islands, our local services and in strengthening our ferry network as a whole. The minister should today give a crystal clear commitment that there will be no further delays and no further cost increases to those ferries.

Once the ferries have been delivered, there should be a national ferry building programme with direct awards to the lower Clyde, in line with calls made by the leader of Inverclyde Council, Stephen McCabe, last month.

On the issue of voices on boards, I take the opportunity to say that, had the trade union at Ferguson Marine had a formal voice on the board of Ferguson during the past few years, perhaps mistakes could have been avoided and the Glen Sannox would not be delayed and over budget.

I reiterate the need for robust and resilient ferry services in Scotland, and agree that representation for islanders on the boards of the bodies can help us to press that case. Scotland’s islanders deserve better. They need a voice and that voice needs to be listened to.

Before I call the next speaker, I say that, because of the number of members who wish to speak in this debate, I am minded to accept a motion without notice, under rule 8.14.3, to extend the debate by up to 30 minutes. I invite Alasdair Allan to move such a motion.

Motion moved,

That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[Dr Alasdair Allan]

Motion agreed to.

17:32  

Yesterday, my journey to this place started with catching the 7 am CMAL ferry the Hebridean Isles, operated by CalMac. As Dr Allan said, for islanders, our ferry service beats the weather as a topic of conversation. Since I was elected, my inbox attests to that, as do conversations that I have had on Mull, Iona, Tiree, Coll, Colonsay, Islay, Gigha, and Jura, and in Dunoon and Campbeltown.

I would like to put on the record how helpful and accommodating the staff at the ports and on the ferry are, whether they are employed by CMAL or CalMac. Last year, my husband was trampled by cattle and helicoptered off Islay to hospital the following day. The CalMac staff ensured that I was able to get on the ferry at very short notice so that I could be with him in Glasgow.

There are many examples of CalMac staff going above and beyond to help islanders and visitors alike. However, I know from emails from my constituents and from many conversations that that is not always the case, as was highlighted earlier.

CalMac cannot guarantee space for islanders to get to mainland hospital appointments or visit sick relatives, or for getting vital services on to the islands. Although I know that there can be two sides to every story, I believe that mechanisms should be put in place to prioritise islanders’ access to their lifeline service.

Through their ferry groups, my constituents regularly suggest how services might be improved, and they take part in consultations on new vessels. The introduction of the community board in CalMac was a positive step, and it has had some successes. The transport minister recently met the community board, and I believe that he sees it as a key driver for change.

However, the organisation has to be willing to change, and at a reasonable speed. CalMac’s website says of the community board that

“Its primary purpose is to be the voice of the communities and provide the community view to CalMac”

but a biannual report to the CalMac board—as per the terms of the community board—does not provide the community with a very loud or regular voice.

For example, in 2018, I learned from Islay high school that the school minibus was charged more than a camper van was to get on and off the island. I asked that the issue be raised at a community board meeting to see whether something could be done. Something was done, but I think that everyone will agree that living on an island should not be a barrier to kids attending cultural or sporting events. It has taken three years for that change to happen, which begs me to ask why.

Dr Allan’s motion calls for the reservation of places on the boards of CMAL and CalMac for islanders who are served by CalMac services. To be honest, I am slightly taken aback that that is not already the case. The minutes of CalMac’s board meeting on 5 May this year state that

“although there were no west of Scotland islanders on the Board, the Board skills matrix required Board members to have an understanding and appreciation of stakeholders including communities.”

I am interested to know what defines

“an understanding and appreciation of”.

Is it enough to have simply been on a CalMac ferry and visited one of the islands that it serves to tick the boxes of that skills matrix?

I suggest that both organisations need to increase the diversity of their boards. As other members have mentioned, when lived experience is given such a high priority in all other walks of life, why should that not be the case for CalMac Ferries and CMAL? It happens elsewhere. Neil Bibby talked about representation on boards. The board of BC Ferries comprises four directors who are nominated by postal regional district, one director who is nominated by the trade union and four directors who are appointed by the province.

This year, the people of Scotland elected a Parliament that reflects our diverse country. It is time that the boards of the two organisations that are responsible for decision making on the lifeline ferry services of Argyll and Bute, the Clyde islands, the Inner Hebrides and the Western Isles are shaped to formally incorporate the voices of the communities that they serve.

17:36  

I also thank Alasdair Allan for securing this important and welcome debate, which acknowledges the role that CMAL and CalMac Ferries play in the life of island communities across the Western Isles and the west of Scotland. I am happy to support the motion.

Alasdair Allan has highlighted the impact that lifeline transport has on the everyday lives of people who live in island and remote communities. When people in the central belt have issues with their transport connections, they can usually find alternative methods of reaching their desired destination, regardless of whether it is their desired means of travel. If someone’s flight from Edinburgh to London or Paris does not fly, they can probably get a train to another airport, such as Glasgow or Manchester, and then go onwards to their destination. If the train does not run, the chances are that they will be able to get a bus. Obviously, that option is not available if people cannot get on or off an island.

Our islands cannot survive and thrive without good transport connectivity, whether it be external or internal transport. Like our islands, that connectivity comes in all shapes and sizes, Whether it is the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, the ferry from Kirkwall to Eday or the internal island flight from Tingwall to Foula, which I had the pleasure of taking recently, they play a critical role in the lives of each passenger and in the wider community. They allow people to visit family, go to a wedding and attend a hospital appointment or business meeting, and they allow an engineer to come to an island to repair a vital piece of equipment.

I agree with Alasdair Allan’s point about having reserved seats for island residents on the boards. I say that not just to show support for his motion or commonality with another island group but because I believe in empowering local decision making. Including island residents on boards will make for better decision making for the communities that the boards represent.

The same principle should be applied to other organisations that have a dominant public service role in the lives of islanders. Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd is another example of an organisation in which island voices are lacking on its board. The make-up of HIAL’s board supports Alasdair Allan’s point about the boards of CalMac and CMAL. The boards need to include direct island representation—people who live and work in the communities that they represent and who have local knowledge and understanding of how the communities function socially and economically and of the impact that decisions that board members take have on them. That is vital if we are to avoid further calamitous scenes such as those on the west coast ferry routes this summer, and if we are to avoid HIAL’s vanity remote towers project.

Reserved board seats for islands will bring decision-making closer to the communities that the boards serve. That can only be good for island communities.

17:39  

I congratulate Alasdair Allan on bringing the debate to the chamber. It has been interesting for me to listen to members who represent islands—I do not represent islands, so it is great to hear from people who do and who have first-hand experience of the problems that islanders have faced, particularly this summer. We heard from Dr Allan, Kenneth Gibson and Jamie Halcro Johnston, who spoke of islanders’ anger, and we heard from Jenni Minto—I will come back to something that she said.

Alasdair Allan set out very well the problems and issues that people have been facing over the summer. I take issue with one thing that he said, which relates very much to his motion. He said that having islanders on boards would in itself improve services. It would not in itself improve services; however, it is the right thing to do.

The member and I are probably not a million miles apart. He probably agrees that although it would not magically solve problems it would certainly make things better.

That is why I said that it is the right thing to do. It will not in itself improve matters. What will improve matters is having more ferries and newer ferries.

That is the issue. We have an ageing ferry fleet, as all members who represent islands and all people who have to use ferries know. The fleet is too old and we have underinvested in Scotland’s ferries for decades. That is why we are in the position that we are in.

Let me talk about the role of a board member. A member of a company board has a responsibility to act in the interests of the whole company and every community; they should not just try to secure decisions that suit their particular interest group—if we can call it that. If someone from island A is on a board and sees themselves as an islands representative, there is a risk that they might act in a way that does not serve the interests of island B.

However, if we are adults about this, we can get through the problem. That brings me back to what Jenni Minto said. She was absolutely right to say that British Columbia Ferry Services has representatives from different communities. I have spoken to a board member of the company. They do things rather differently in Canada: British Columbia Ferry Services has been given a decades-long contract to run the ferries, which enables it to invest in ferries in a way that we have not seen in Scotland.

There is an opportunity to do things differently. I urge the minister to look at the serious proposal from Alasdair Allan and others and to involve the people who use the services.

17:43  

I congratulate Alasdair Allan on securing the debate.

It is sad that Alasdair Allan has had to raise in the chamber something that we would surely have expected to happen naturally. That it has not happened smacks of a bygone colonial age when people had decisions made for and about them by a distant power. We must strive to be better than that.

There is a host of talent in our island communities, alongside the numerous people who make their living at sea—people in the Merchant Navy, people who fish and people who work offshore, for example. There are businesspeople and people with in-depth knowledge of logistics and customer services—I could go on. The talent is there. We have the skills and expertise on the islands to fill boards.

We must acknowledge the importance to our communities of resilient and dependable ferry services. When someone’s livelihood and wellbeing depend on those services, the person has a whole new perspective on them. If islanders were on those boards, would we be in the position that we are? Too many cancellations to mention have had a devastating impact on the lives of those who live on the islands, and on the islands’ economies. That ferry staff having to deal with the fallout of that also makes life very difficult for them.

I question whether we believe that CMAL should exist. Is it necessary for ferry provision? The experience with the ferries that it has tried to procure—the MV Glen Sannox and hull 802—have proved the point that CMAL is no longer fit for purpose and, worse, that it is damaging the communities that it should be serving. Those services no longer need to be put out to tender, and it follows that CalMac should own and procure its own vessels. Islanders need an end to vanity projects. I am sure that, had islanders had been on those boards, they would have ensured that the ferries had been designed before the contracts had been signed, and that the design would have ensured that the ferries could dock at the harbours from which they operate and at other harbours where they might be required as relief vessels. It is absolutely nonsensical that the harbours will be required to change in order to allow the ferries to dock at and operate from them. The cost of those two ferries is much greater than the cost of just building them, because it also includes the cost of adapting the harbours.

Island board members would have also seen to it that vessels would provide the additional capacity that is required in the summer months, and the flexibility and resilience that are required in winter. It is well known that the people of Lewis wanted two smaller vessels rather than the MV Loch Seaforth. That would have provided additional capacity in the summer and a relief boat to cover maintenance and dry docking in the winter. That makes perfect sense if you live on an island and are well used to the turmoil that is created when boats need repair. I have been asking for a relief vessel for many years.

Covid-19 created a perfect storm this year, but the service was struggling prior to the pandemic. Others have highlighted the impact of all this. I am really worried about what will have to happen before the Government will act. Our islands desperately need resilient seagoing vessels that are fit for purpose and built on time and on budget. I suggest that, had island dwellers been on the boards, that would have happened. I think that the same is true of HIAL: had islanders been on the board, the centralisation of air traffic control would not have happened, because those board members would have understood the importance of service before vanity.

I would urge the minister to heed the motion and to act before our island economies are damaged beyond repair.

17:48  

I congratulate Alasdair Allan on securing the debate, which highlights the huge frustration that is felt by many who rely on lifeline ferry services. It really is astonishing that there is not one person who lives on an island on either the CalMac or the CMAL board, particularly given that so many people who work on CalMac ferries live on the islands and that that has been the case for many decades. It is quite clear that the expertise is there. I know many islanders who have applied for positions on the boards and have not been able to secure one. It is right that the case is being made for a model that requires reserved seats for islanders. I also believe that we need reserved places for the workforce and that their voices need to be heard.

It is absolutely clear that there has been a catalogue of poor decision making, unfortunately, in relation to our ferry services. The Scottish Government has committed to a new model, and I agree that one is needed. It has committed to delivering a model of ferry services that will deliver accountability, transparency and good outcomes for communities. That is what we are all looking for.

In the 14 years since 2007, the Scottish Government has commissioned only 12 ferries and only five have been delivered. In the 14 years prior to that, 26 ferries were commissioned of similar tonnage. In 2019, more than 1,000 ferry sailings were cancelled, and over a five-year period more than 1,000 were delayed due to mechanical issues.

There is absolutely no doubt that one reason why there are so many problems is the old nature of the fleet. However, it is not just money that is needed. Alasdair Allan is absolutely correct to highlight that the way that decisions are made is also an issue. Any of us who has represented an island constituency will have seen example after example of communities saying clearly and consistently, over extended periods, that those in authority are making the wrong decisions. That is partly because there is a level of expertise and knowledge among the communities that rely on the services and because there is self-interest in the correct decisions being taken.

We have heard from my colleague Neil Bibby about the ferries that are being built at Ferguson Marine, which is perhaps the most high-profile example of poor decision making. However, there are many other examples that show the significant problems with the current model, such as the building of Brodick pier and the current situation in which investment is still not signed off for Ardrossan harbour after almost five years. I understand that the reason why the Ardrossan harbour investment has still not been signed off is that the land is owned by Peel Ports and the Government feels that the balance of risk is wrong in relation to the negotiations that have taken place. North Ayrshire Council is willing to take Ardrossan harbour land into public ownership to facilitate that much-needed investment. I hope that the Scottish Government will be supportive of that wish from the council to try to make progress.

That situation highlights the need for a new model for the ferries. It simply does not make sense that we have a fragmented model in which the ferries are owned by one organisation, another organisation, CalMac, operates them and the ports are owned by a multitude of organisations, including CMAL. I ask the minister, in his considerations after the debate, to look at the long-term issues and at a new model that will ensure that the voices of communities and the workforce are heard and taken into account in future decision making.

17:52  

I thank Alasdair Allan for securing the debate, the motion for which calls for reserved seats for islanders on the boards of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and CalMac Ferries Ltd. Scotland is an island nation, and it is also a nation of islands. It is time that we recognised and celebrated that and supported the people who live on our islands. For them, life on the islands is not a remote and peripheral way of life. Islanders live and work at the heart of where they live, and we must do all that we can to remove barriers to that way of life and ensure that people can thrive and flourish there.

It should be straightforward to remove one barrier by putting in place measures to reserve seats for islanders on the boards that make decisions that affect island life. The debate is about board seats being reserved so that islanders have direct input into the provision of lifeline ferry services. Having visited Na h-Eileanan an Iar over the recess, I learned about the richness of island life and the challenges that islanders face. I experienced at first hand the anxiety of that moment of not knowing whether a ferry was going to sail. I would have missed a meeting that could have been rearranged, but for many it would have meant missing a crucial appointment or a loss of income because of not getting produce to market.

In travelling from Barra to Benbecula and North and South Uist, Harris and Lewis, I was struck by the stunning diversity of the landscape. Landscape shapes our way of life, and each island has its unique form. From the top of Ruabhal, 124m above sea level, Benbecula, North Uist and South Uist rolled out before me, a fragile and ancient lace laid delicately across the Atlantic and the Minch.

The following day, I encountered the utter and immediate contrast to the north as I travelled through the skyward mountains of Harris and on to the low peatland plains of Lewis. Walking up Ruabhal gave me perspective, but I will never have the whole perspective of what it means to live year round on an island and nor will any mainland member of a board—no matter what skills and experience they have.

A board is a decision-making body that takes businesses and organisations forward, tacking from decision to decision, depending on the changing context in which they are operating. The challenge faced by people who sit on boards—and, indeed, by all of us—is that we have blind spots. It is surely a large blind spot to have a board that makes decisions about the ferries that affect island life that has no islanders on it. Consultation and calls for views are not enough. When the diverse communities of the Western Isles and other island communities face daily threats to life and livelihood, and when decisions are made about ferries or matters that affect islanders, they should have a seat at the table, just as Scotland seeks to have a seat at the table in our international negotiations. However, I call for more than one seat at the table—there should be more than one island seat on a board. Life in Stornoway is very different from life in Castlebay or on the islands mentioned by my colleague Jenni Minto. We need that range of views, which can only enhance the decisions that are made.

In every conversation that I had during my visit, islanders told me how they were inspired by the life-changing democratic process that the Faroe Islands undertook in building tunnels to link their islands, so that everyone has ease of access to the capital city of Tórshavn. However, the issue of fixed links is for another debate. For now, to ensure that our islands thrive and flourish, there must be islanders on the boards of CMAL and CalMac so that matters are considered from all perspectives and those who are most affected by the decisions that are taken about their lifelines can shape the way in which they flourish.

17:57  

Let me begin by commending Alasdair Allan on securing the debate. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the point that he has raised and the wider issues. I appreciate your indulgence, Presiding Officer, in affording me a little extra time in which to do that.

The motion highlights the importance of ensuring that the views and experience of islanders inform the delivery of ferry services. That has been at the core of my thinking since I took on the transport portfolio, a few short months ago. On the specific matter of island-based board members, let me be clear that I would very much favour an island-based presence on the boards of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and David MacBrayne Ltd. Although it is clear that any member of the board must bring the requisite skills to guide the business and to meet the fiduciary duties in relation to the interests of the company, I recognise the desire of many people to ensure that there are board members who can bring direct and current experience of island living to the table.

The chamber will be aware that CalMac Ferries Ltd is a subsidiary company of DML and that the board is appointed by DML rather than by ministers. In the most recent board recruitment for David MacBrayne Ltd, it was made clear that people applying must have a strong focus on serving our island and remote communities and experience or knowledge of the issues affecting those communities, as well as having an understanding and knowledge of tourism and economic and social regeneration—all issues that affect our rural and island communities.

The most recent recruitment for the board of David MacBrayne Ltd is on-going, so there is a limit to what I can say about it. However, I can say that the positions were advertised widely, including on the vessels travelling to our island communities, and a high number of applications were received. If, after that process concludes, further progress is required, I would be happy to explore how we might achieve that. I give Dr Allan and others that assurance. It is neither tenable nor credible that there continues to be no representation from anyone living on our islands in those environments.

There are, of course, other means by which we can ensure that the voices of island communities are heard. The boards of DML and CMAL, though important, are just one part of the delivery of our ferry services. Both DML and Serco NorthLink ferries, which operates the northern isles service, are major employers in our island communities and both draw more than a third of their employees from the island and remote rural communities that they serve.

Specific to Alasdair Allan’s constituency, the contact centre team in Stornoway, for example, has now grown to six people, including one who has just been promoted to be the contact centre team leader. In addition, CFL has recently recruited two new senior managers to positions within the operations team, both of whom are based in the Western Isles. That is progress, although there is perhaps more that can be done on recruitment for some other non-geographically specific posts. I look forward to the new CalMac agile flexible working policy that will come into force later this month, which will perhaps facilitate that.

The issue that there has been on ferry service networks since I took up my post is very much a priority for me. That engagement was largely virtual and strategic in nature to begin with, while social distancing was restricting seat numbers on our ferries until a few weeks ago. Over the past six weeks or so, however, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of island communities to see at first hand some of their ferry services and ports and to meet islanders and hear directly from them about the issues that they are facing. Along with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, I will attend the upcoming islands strategic group to discuss transport matters with the leaders of all six island local authorities, although I have already met in person those of Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles and Orkney.

I reassure the chamber that we are very much listening to communities and, importantly, hearing their views and ideas for improving the current services. On the basis of feedback and requests from communities, CFL recently removed motor homes from standby queues across the network. It was a small action but one that could be taken immediately, and it dealt with a level of unfairness and disproportion in the use of that element of available space. There were some initial reactions around what it meant for islanders with camper vans, but a solution was quickly found.

Picking up on Jenny Minto’s point, we are also working up a plan to reduce fares for school buses that are being used for extracurricular activities, which was another community ask. Officials have been engaging with CFL and the ferries community board to finalise details of the scheme including exact fares, eligibility, costs and timescales.

That is just the start of the process of better responding to the reasonable asks and ideas coming from our island communities. I am particularly keen that we build on the work of the ferries community board. Therefore, I have asked it to take on an enhanced role, contributing to the early stages of some key pieces of policy work that are strategic and network-wide in nature. The board members can help to inform that policy development and highlight any key issues or unintended consequences on the basis of their expertise as ferry users and representatives of their communities. We look forward to working with the community board on other ticketing and fares initiatives over the coming weeks, and I place on record my appreciation for the enthusiastic commitment to that approach that we have had from Angus Campbell and his colleagues.

That is in no way designed to supplant the excellent work that is done by ferry committees or transport forums, which will still have a key role to play in community-specific issues such as vessel replacement. I hope that my engagement with the Harris transport forum and the Mull ferry committee demonstrates my commitment to that. I look forward to meeting the Arran committee in person later this month.

We are improving and standardising our approach to engaging with communities in the development of new vessel projects such as the new vessel for Islay, where that approach has been welcomed. Last but by no means least, engagement with relevant local authorities is also a vital part of all this. Later this month, I will follow up on initial helpful dialogue with North Ayrshire Council around the issue of Arran and Ardrossan. I look forward to progressing that work.

Let me turn to some of the points that members have made. Alasdair Allan was right to say that I am acutely aware of the human and economic impact that was felt on our islands because of difficulties that were heightened by, but not entirely due to, the need for social distancing. That was not acceptable, and improvement needs to happen. We need to increase the resilience of the fleet over the short, medium and long terms.

Kenny Gibson noted the impact that lifting the restrictions has had—the difficulties that that has caused—and he was right to do so. Covid outbreaks have affected a number of our ferry services, particularly in Arran, and I make a plea to ferry users to exercise all due care in utilising the vessels.

Kenny Gibson, like Alasdair Allan, also highlighted the need for clearer messaging when communicating bad news around cancellations, including the need to provide specific details about such cancellations and the plan to mitigate them. To be fair to CalMac, we are seeing some progress on that.

On second-hand and new tonnage providing relief to the problems that have been experienced this year, we have, of course, added the time-chartered MV Arrow temporarily, and we are actively progressing efforts to add more permanently in the immediate term.

As far as the progression of new vessels is concerned, I hope to have news on that quite shortly in the form of the Islay vessel. That kicks off the already announced building programme—it is part of a £580 million investment in the fleet and the accompanying infrastructure.

Rhoda Grant questioned the future structures behind ferry services, which I entirely understand. However, as Katy Clark noted, a review of those is under way. I suspect that neither member would expect me to prejudge the outcome of that review, but let me be clear that what matters is finding the most effective and efficient way to manage and deliver services. We owe that to our island communities.

On the review, which I think is very important, can the minister say when that will be concluded? Is he prepared to make a statement to Parliament once it is concluded?

The exact timescale for that is not in our hands, but I am certainly happy to consider that option. I will talk to members from all parties about that if they feel that it is appropriate.

Katy Clark also noted the situation at Ardrossan, and I can advise that progress does, at last, seem to be being made, thanks in no small part to the support of the local council. I am relieved that that is the case, not least because we need to make progress but also because that will give me peace and quiet from Kenny Gibson, the local MSP.

I further assure Katy Clark that I am very much looking at the model of port infrastructure ownership and operation. We might not agree entirely about what that would best look like, but the model that we have currently is certainly not appropriate to our needs.

The “Scottish Government Ferry Services Procurement Policy Review Interim Report—Emerging Findings”, which was published in December 2017, said:

“We will build a case for making a direct award to an in-house operator”.

Is the Government still taking that approach?

It is fair to say that that issue is not at the top of my agenda at the moment. I have much to be getting on with in the ferry space, and the ferry services contract is not due for some time. It is something that we will come to, but it is not high up on my agenda, as the member will appreciate.

In concluding, I thank Alasdair Allan for lodging the motion, which has provided the Parliament with an opportunity to discuss the important issue of community involvement in ferry services and how we can further develop that.

If you will indulge me a little bit more, Presiding Officer—I know that I am pushing my luck—I will take the opportunity to express my personal thanks to our ferry crews and the backroom staff for the tremendous job that they have done throughout the pandemic. I had the chance to do that personally on the MV Hamnavoe at Stromness and when I was travelling on the MV Coruisk and the MV Loch Seaforth. I also did that when I met front-line ticket office staff in Kirkwall, Mull, Oban, Stornoway and Ullapool. I reiterate more widely the point that I made to them, that those who have delivered our ferry services throughout these difficult past 18 months deserve our grateful thanks.

Meeting closed at 18:08.