That the Parliament agrees that ferry services provide an essential lifeline to island and remote rural communities and their economies; recognises that, through adverse weather events and COVID-19 causing many cancellations on the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services routes, this has been a challenging winter for island residents, businesses and communities; commends the vessel masters for the key role that they are trained to play in ensuring people’s and vessels’ safety with the decisions that they make about how and when ferries can sail; acknowledges that technical issues causing some vessels to be further laid up have added to people’s frustrations and inconvenience; notes that, since 2007, over £2 billion has been invested in service contracts, new vessels and infrastructure and that, in the current five-year period, a further £580 million has been committed, enabling harbour investments, two new vessels for Islay to be built and the purchase of the MV Loch Frisa; further notes the Scottish Government commitment to publish the Islands Connectivity Plan by the end of 2022; welcomes that the Scottish Government saved Ferguson Marine, the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde, from closure, rescuing more than 300 jobs and ensuring that two new ferry vessels will be delivered, while noting the planned revised timetable and costs for completion of these two vessels; condemns the recent actions by P&O Ferries in the strongest possible terms, and makes clear the Scottish Government’s support for P&O Ferries employees, and agrees that "fire and rehire" practices should be outlawed and have no place in a fairer, greener Scotland.
Supported by: Sharon Dowey, Meghan Gallacher
Result 79 for, 32 against, 0 abstained, 18 did not vote Agreed
Scottish National Party
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Scottish Labour
Scottish Green Party
Scottish Liberal Democrats
No Party Affiliation
That the Parliament believes that islanders, island economies and all those reliant on vital ferry links are being severely let down by the failure to deliver a resilient ferry fleet; calls on the Scottish Government to increase funding to build new ferries in the next five years and to commit to spending £1.4 billion in the next 10 years in order to bring down the average age of ferries and to upgrade ports; is deeply alarmed and disappointed with the late arrival of new operational vessels for the Clyde and Hebridean routes; understands that the construction of vessels 801 and 802, which were due to be delivered in May and July 2018 respectively, are severely delayed; notes with disappointment that the Scottish Government has yet to confirm a revised timetable for the completion of vessels 801 and 802, following the identification of issues with the cabling; believes that the Scottish Government has made insufficient progress on acting on the recommendations set out in the report by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, in Session 5, on ferry construction and procurement; calls upon the Scottish Government to publish an unredacted copy of the Project Neptune report compiled by Ernst and Young, and further calls for a full public inquiry into the Scottish Government’s failure to renew the ageing ferry network based on a workable ferries plan.
Submitted by: Jenny Gilruth, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Scottish National Party, Date lodged: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Supported by: Kate Forbes, Richard Lochhead, Michael Matheson, Màiri McAllan
Current status: Taken in the Chamber on Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Result 62 for, 50 against, 0 abstained, 17 did not vote Agreed
Submitted by: Neil Bibby, West Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date lodged: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Supported by: Rhoda Grant, Paul Sweeney
Current status: Taken in the Chamber on Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Result 50 for, 62 against, 0 abstained, 17 did not vote Disagreed