Keeping CalMac to operate ageing ferries is 'no vote of confidence'

The idea of Scottish Government-owned ferry operator CalMac keeping the lifeline service contract to islands off the west coast is anathema to some islanders.

A Holyrood inquiry's Carry on CalMac nod to keeping the status quo in terms of operating ferry services came after it received some £10.5m in poor performance fines in the six-and-a-half years since CalMac took the franchise – nearly eight times more than in its first nine years in charge of the west coast fleet.

But Edward Mountain, convener of Holyrood's transport committee insists keeping CalMac in charge of the west coast lifeline contract is not a vote of confidence in how it has performed.

It comes as the inquiry supported scrapping the Scottish Government controlled ferry and port owner CMAL to create a new ferries agency while giving CalMac an even longer contract to continue lifeline services.

The Net Zero, Energy & Transport Committee inquiry report says it wants to bring an end to the system for managing Scotland's lifeline services which "is not working" and that it had led to a "blame-shifting culture".

The Competition and Markets Authority has previously warned about the "potential risks" of state control over the way ferries are operated, run and paid for in Scotland.

There has been concern over the management of ferries being cocooned inside three levels of Scottish Government-controlled bureaucracy known as the 'tripartite' arrangement.

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This features the Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland as funders, the procuring and ferry owning company CMAL, and service providers Calmac. 

On top of that comes Ferguson Marine, the shipbuilding company that came under the control of Scottish ministers in August 2019 when it fell into administration under tycoon Jim McColl's control in the midst of a cost implosion and delays over delivery of two key ferries.

The committee, which has been examining the future of ferries in an inquiry, said that the current 'tripartite' arrangement over control of ferries "is not working and must be reviewed" while suggesting a merger of CMAL and the wing of the Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland.

It said that beleaguered state-owned ferry operator CalMac should benefit from a direct award of an extended ten year contract to run lifeline services on the west coast of Scotland.

It said it supported the length of the new CalMac contract from eight to ten years as it was needed to "ensure continuity of service and avoid disruption" with the current contract due to expire in September, next year.

It comes against a background of major disruption to lifeline ferry services involving a ferry fleet where more than half of the vessels are older than the 25 year life expectancy.

Two lifeline vessels, MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802, are still languishing in the now state-owned Ferguson Marine shipyard, with delivery over five years late and with costs of their construction expected to soar to quadruple the original £97m contract.

Edward Mountain, who is convener of the net zero, energy and transport committee speaking after some islanders criticised the idea of keeping CalMac in control said that it was felt by the inquiry that there was no other choice.

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But in the wake of the inquiry, it has emerged some island groups have advocated proper consideration over the breaking up of Scotland's ferry network to improve provision with Mull and Iona already considering their own CalMac replacement for local services.

Mr Mountain believed there is no choice but CalMac at the present time and said that unbundling had been "put to one side" in the inquiry findings because it was "abundantly clear" that the Scottish Government were not going to do it.

"It is quite clear to us that we are about a year away from when the contract will end and what we cannot have is a situation where nothing is happening and nothing is done," he said.

"When the original contract running was put out for tender, CalMac bid for it and so did Serco, but its bid was incomplete and couldn't be considered. So that would probably mean they would do the same this time.

"We considered who else would want to stick their head above the parapet and deal with the problems CalMac are going to have to deal with until the new ferries arrive.

"I cannot see anyone out there.

"Unbundling was left to one side on the basis that there was an understanding that this government were not going to do it. They have made it abundantly clear they weren't going to do it. So, to go down there is a bit of a rabbit hole at the moment. What we need is more reliability on what we have got rather than split it all up."

The South Uist Business Impact Group (SUBIG) was among those who were outraged at the idea of CalMac retaining the contract after all services to and from Lochboisdale were scrapped for nearly all of June due to vessel breakdowns and delayed annual maintenance work.

They have been critical of how it is that South Uist persistently suffers when vessels are shuffled because of shortage using a matrix that aims to keep the number of people affected to a minimum.

"We are acutely aware of how sensitive some islanders would be to that comment [Calmac getting the contract]," said Mr Mountain. "It was something that wasn't done lightly. We think it is in the best interests of islanders to try and create some stability in an unstable world, on the proviso that they up their game and we review the tripartite arrangement, which is fundamentally flawed.

"No, I don't think it is a vote of confidence in CalMac. It is because we saw no other options."

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