Chamber and committees

No specific advice has been sought from, or provided by, the Ferry Industry Advisory Group regarding (a) chartering additional ferry capacity, and (b) time chartering the MV Pentalina from Pentland Ferries on the Clyde and Hebrides routes operation.

Transport Scotland officials have continued to engage closely with CalMac and CMAL as key stakeholders on issues including additional tonnage.

Collective bargaining agreements are a matter for CalMac, its employees and the recognised trades unions. In the case of any additional ferries secured by CalMac through a “time charter”, the crews of these vessels are not employed by CalMac and are not covered by collective bargaining agreements which are currently in place with RMT and Nautilus. Any agreement with the Unions would be a matter for the vessel operator in that instance.

The number of Senior Civil Servants working in core Scottish Government and its Agencies who have requested approval under the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) rules in the last 5 years is provided in the following table:

The Scottish Government does not process business appointment applications from former Ministers. These are considered by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) which publishes details of its advice in relation to appointments it is aware have been taken up, or announced, on its website: Advisory Committee on Business Appointments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

Berthing trials of the MV Pentalina were carried out during the week commencing 14 June 2021, at the following ports on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) network: Campbeltown, Ardrossan, Brodick, Craignure, Kennacraig, Port Ellen, Oban, Stornoway and Ullapool.

Discussions are progressing between CalMac and Pentland Ferries with regards to the time charter of the MV Pentalina. The impact on the annual level of subsidy cannot be confirmed until negotiations have been completed.

CalMac Ferries Ltd will apply its standard ticketing arrangements and fares for whatever route the MV Pentalina is operating on.

The Scottish Government has received no assurance from the UK Government that the MV Pentalina or MV Alfred, are safe to operate on ferry routes in Scotland. All vessels are required to meet all relevant regulatory requirements as set out by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and any other regulatory authority.

To improve the resilience of ferry services serving island and remote mainland communities, we are exploring opportunities for chartering additional tonnage including the temporary time charter of the MV Pentalina. Industrial relations are a matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd, its employees and the recognised trades unions. I understand discussions have been taking place between CalMac and its local Union representatives on these matters.

The maximum passenger and vehicle carrying capacity of the vessels in the CalMac fleet that normally operate the routes they will consider deploying the MV Pentalina on, if chartered, are detailed in the following table.