Chamber and committees

In relation to short term issues, we are actively exploring opportunities for chartering additional tonnage, including consideration of the suitability of the MV Pentalina and looking at other credible, affordable and viable options to improve resilience.

The timetable impact of the breakdown of the MV Loch Seaforth is summarised below:

The MV Loch Seaforth was removed from service on 14 April and other vessels were redeployed to ensure continuity of service across the network.

CalMac were unable to charter any suitable vessels at short notice, meaning re-deployment of a vessel from within the current fleet was required. The MV Isle of Lewis was redeployed from Castlebay-Oban to cover daytime Stornoway-Ullapool sailings, and the MV Isle of Arran redeployed from Ardrossan-Brodick to cover the overnight freight service. The MV Lord of the Isles provided a combined Castlebay-Oban-Lochboisdale-Mallaig service. The MV Isle of Arran subsequently incurred a technical issue and was swapped with the MV Hebridean Isles on the Kennacraig-Islay service, maintaining Islay’s two vessel service and a dedicated freight service for Ullapool-Stornoway, with the Ardrossan-Brodick service reduced to a single vessel service and delayed the start of the summer only Ardossan-Campbeltown service which shares a vessel with Ardrossan-Brodick. Some additional capacity for Arran was provided by deploying a second vessel, MV Loch Linnhe, to the Lochranza-Claonaig service. These changes resulted in revised timetabling for the affected routes. CalMac operated additional sailings where possible, however this was restricted by crew hours and availability.

MV Loch Seaforth resumed full service on Stornoway-Ullapool on the evening of 31 May. All services were back to normal with their usual vessel deployment on 3 June.

We are aware of the significant impact on communities and businesses throughout this unacceptable period of service. This includes impacts on island producers, tourism and haulage businesses across the network. As I have stated to Parliament, we are looking at all options to provide greater resilience to minimise disruption during any future prolonged periods of disruption – as well as ensuring any lessons are learned that prevent further breakdowns where these could be avoided.

It is too early to say where future vessels to replace the current CalMac fleet will be built. These replacement programmes will follow national procurement rules; ensuring quality, value for money and the timely delivery of vessels to serve our island communities.

On 8 June 2021 I announced that the process to build a new ferry for Islay was formally under way. The Scottish Government look forward to continuing to work with key stakeholders to develop programmes for major vessels and small vessels – investing at least £580m in our ferry networks over the next five years.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00322 on 16 June 2021. 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

A public consultation into the advertising and promotion of Nicotine Vapour Products (NVPs) will begin this Autumn. The consultation was postponed due to the pandemic and will cover views on potentially introducing Scotland wide restrictions on the advertising, promotion, brandsharing and sponsorship of these products.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00577 on 16 June 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Transport Scotland continues to make good progress on the 2018 Smart Ticketing Delivery Strategy, having introduced smart interoperability, exceeded smart journey targets, established the Mobility as Service Investment Fund and continuing to support operators during the pandemic so that over 90% of bus services now accept contactless payment, reducing contagion points for passengers. Work on the Transport Act Smart Ticketing and Bus Open Data measures was paused during the pandemic, however is now reconvening, with consultation on the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board expected this summer. Additional projects responding to the pandemic have also been delivered, including multi-operator ‘Bus capacity tracker’ service through Traveline Scotland - significantly improving people’s ability to plan their journey and travel safely - and a trial supporting the NHS track and trace on board rail and ferry services.

The availability and reliability of broadband by each mode of public transport is summarised in the following table:-

The cost incurred due to disruptions, including potential charter of any additional tonnage, if available, would depend on the time over which vessels were chartered for and under which conditions. We are actively exploring opportunities for chartering additional tonnage, including consideration of the suitability of MV Pentalina to increase resilience across the network. In addition, we have also confirmed new investment of £580 million in ports and vessels to support and improve Scotland’s ferry services over the next five years, as part of our wider infrastructure investment plan.

Transport Scotland officials meet regularly with their counterparts at Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries Ltd to discuss future investment in vessels and harbours for the Clyde and Hebrides network, primarily but not exclusively at a formal bi-monthly programme board. Discussions have produced a forward programme which was summarised for the next five years in Annex D of the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan published 4 February 2021 and is also reflected in the CMAL Business Plan 2021-2024 published 9 April 2021.