The Scottish Government does not intend to issue a statement on the safety on the MV Alfred, following the publication of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, into the grounding of the vessel at Swona Isalnd on 5 July 2022.

Any discussions around the charter, including a crew fatigue management plan are solely a matter between the owner of the vessel, Pentland Ferries, and the operator CalMac Ferries Limited.

Forestry and Land Scotland reduce impacts on red squirrel by scheduling operations to avoid the breeding season in areas that are thought to hold higher than average densities of red squirrels. Prior to any harvesting operation, a pre-operational survey is carried out to assess the extent of use of the felling coupe by red squirrels, and to locate squirrel dreys.

If red squirrels are identified as being present, various mitigation may be enacted, such as retaining drey trees, avoiding areas with dreys until after the breeding season, and directional felling to slowly usher adults and kits into adjacent stands. During operations machine operators are required to report any dreys felled with kits in them. No such reports have been made in 2024 or 2023 seasons.

It is impossible to know with certainty whether in fact any kits are killed each year , for example if unobserved dreys are felled, which are consequently unreported by machine operators. FLS have therefore calculated a hypothetical maximum assuming worst case scenarios in all assumptions. Based on the current felling and harvesting programme, the potential numbers for a) 2024 and b) 2025, is:

a) 903 (or 1.2% of the estimated population of kits in Scotland)

b) 876 (or 1.17% of the estimated population of kits in Scotland)

This will change as the programme is adjusted and finalised.

Only a small proportion of the theoretical deaths of squirrel kits due to forest operations would be extra mortality, as over 70% of young kits naturally die during their first winter.

The Scottish Government have not entered into, or signed, any agreement with Pentland Ferries.

The charter agreements of the MV Alfred from Pentland Ferries, vessel owner, for use on Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract (CHFS) have all been undertaken by the operator, CalMac Ferries Ltd. The Scottish Government has provided funding to CalMac Ferries Ltd to enable the charter of the MV Alfred and this was confirmed as £15.1m, in the Freedom of Information request published on 8 February 2024: Information relating to Scottish ferries costs and upgrades: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) regarding maritime safety compliance in respect of the MV Alfred. The MCA are responsible for the inspection and surveying of ships to ensure that they are meeting UK and international safety rules.

The Scottish Government expects the highest shipping safety and crew welfare standards and for these to be applied in the case of all vessels and personnel accessing our ports and coastal areas.

The number of sailings CalMac Ferries Ltd has provided with the charter vessel, MV Alfred, across the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) between 1 May 2023 and 30 April 2024 is 1,086.

The Scottish Government does not receive nor hold any information related to Car Parking charges at Ardrossan. This is the responsibility of Peel Ports Group (PPG) as the statutory harbour authority and owner of the port.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-27104 on 10 May 2024 and S6W-26870 on 25 April 2024. 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 .

Discussions regarding the charter, and terms of the contract were solely between the owner of the vessel, Pentland Ferries, and the operator CalMac Ferries Limited.

As announced by the First Minister in May, the Pilot was extended for a further three months until 27 September 2024. This was based on the existing data available and allows for a longer evaluation period to gather additional data on the pilot’s effectiveness at encouraging modal shift from car to rail while helping passengers facing cost of living pressures.