Chamber and committees

The charter of MV Alfred is an operational matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd as the network service operator. The Scottish Government has no role in reviewing the charter agreed with Pentland Ferries.

There is currently no firm date for the return of MV Caledonian Isles. Transport Scotland officials continue to engage with CalMac weekly, and although complex, works are progressing well.

I meet regularly with CMAL CEO to receive updates and explore progress on a range of live projects. I last met with Kevin Hobbs on 27 August and status of the commercially sensitive negotiations around Ardrossan was discussed.

Updates to the NZET Committee and Ardrossan Task Force were provided on 1 September and I look forward to further updating Parliament in due course.

CalMac informed Transport Scotland of the incident, which is their contractual obligation. The Scottish Government has no role in discussing these matters with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Discussions have already taken place for the MV Isle of Islay in relation to commercial crewing levels in which trade unions, with the exception of RMT, have agreed the crew numbers.

A meeting will be scheduled by CalMac Ferries Ltd within the coming weeks with the RMT to continue discussions. This same approach will be taking forward for all new vessels entering service.

In regards to the route specific sea trials mentioned, CalMac have confirmed that once that vessel is under their operation, the vessel personnel will operate under the terms of their individual Seafarer Employment Agreements and Collective Agreements, which they do not envisage as needing to be re-negotiated.

The Scottish Government is unable to provide such a list, as the dry dock facility at Inchgreen has not been used to undertake scheduled or unscheduled dry dock work on vessels that are owned by CMAL.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

At time of the transition to public ownership and control of ScotRail, in order to maintain service levels while minimising disruption to staff, it was decided that the contracts for the contact centre, finance and payroll which were delivered to ScotRail by a third party provider, would remain external.

The contract for the contact centre, which is coming to an end, has been awarded to Teleperformance Ltd, who will maintain the continuity of providing the service.

ScotRail will bring the abovementioned functions in-house, as soon as it is practicable to do so.

These are operational decisions for ScotRail Trains Ltd. In discharging its operational responsibilities, SRT is required to comply with Scottish Government Fair Work policies.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39497 on 15 August 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.