The transport minister has been told by island business leaders that the top tier of management with ferry operator CalMac should be sacked, including chief executive Robbie Drummond, before it gets an uncontested contract to continue lifeline services, the Herald can reveal.
The South Uist Business Impact Group which began a major public protest after years of frustration at the islands being impacted by major ferry cancellations has told Fiona Hyslop that it supports the direct award of the lifeline Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service - but only if there are major changes at the top of Scottish Government-owned CalMac.
It has backed a campaign by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers to keep the ferry service in public hands and that the ferry operator should be given a direct award of the contract.
READ MORE: ScotGov blocks plan to wrest control of ferry services from CalMac
READ MORE: 'Shocking': Ferry fiasco puts Scotland's world famous Islay whisky festival at risk
A rethink over the way CalMac shuffles its ferry deck when there are breakdowns in the ageing fleet have come when a protest organised by the group saw an estimated 500 residents, 200 cars, 40 vans and 20 lorries converge on Lochboisdale – the port which links South Uist to the mainland – in June last year to protest about how they have faced the brunt of lifeline service cancellations.
Lochboisdale protest from June.
The Scottish Government's bid to provide a direct public contract to CalMac to run the ageing ferry fleet without going through a competitive tendering process has already been opposed by its community board.
It is understood that a permanent contract is an option on the table – after it emerged that an uncontested direct award to state-owned CalMac is the preferred option for the next contract over the future of lifeline ferry services.
It comes after the ferry operator 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.
CalMac's current £975m eight-year Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract expires in September 2024.
It had previously won the contract for six years in 2007 – after ministers were forced to tender for routes to satisfy European competition rules.
The Scottish Government has said that a direct award with no contest from other potential bidders is the preferred option – closing the door on opening routes up to private operators.
The South Uist group of businesses said that they want a service that is "more fit for purpose" and that a "complete root and branch revamp is required".
John Daniel Peteranna of the group, which met Ms Hyslop two weeks ago, said that the group's support for direct award came with huge provisos - one being that the management of CalMac should be replaced, including Mr Drummond.
He said: "At this stage, with the contract expiring in September, there would be chaos caused if there was no direct award to keep the service running. It would be bonkers to do otherwise.
"We suggested to the minister that the only way we could see the whole thing working is with new management at the top of CalMac that are more customer focussed.
"From what we see it is just a dictatorship at the moment. What Robbie says is what happens and everybody falls in line."
We suggested to the minister that the only way we could see the whole thing working is with new management at the top of CalMac
The group say a complete root and branch revamp is required with islanders served by CalMac and the ferry operator's staff driving the standards that should be provided.
They say the current arrangement is failing to do so and as a result island businesses are struggling and the impact on the community is "becoming irreversible”.
Mr Peteranna added: "Top tier of management should be replaced and the islanders who are served should have a direct input as to what and how the services is run, not on a day to day basis, but on a strategic level, including setting the goals of the company. That is what we have fed to the minister."
He said Ms Hyslop wasn't surprised that they had called for the heads of CalMac management, but neither agreed or disagreed.
"She assured us that we would have far more input and control by islanders going forward," said Mr Peteranna.
"There is a paper being created by Transport Scotland's ferries division looking at the legalities of direct award which is being presented to the minister in August.
"She explained that in her head rather than the current situation there would be more control over what CalMac could and couldn't do. CalMac would be made to be more customer focussed."
They welcomed an assurance from the minister that six new ferries, including the wildly over-budget and delayed Ferguson Marine vessels and four being built in Turkey would be added to the network by 2026.
But they said that did not give reassurance to the community of the reliability of the service for the next few years.
“Businesses will have folded by the time we see these new vessels, if not enough is done to help protect the businesses and the vital transport links on and off the island," the said.
The RMT is to hold a series of public meeetings across areas covered by the ferry network from March 14 as it seeks a "People's CalMac".
They fear privatisation would "destroy the stability, quality, safety and employment standards integral to lifeline public transport services".
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Cabinet Secretary for Transport welcomed the recent engagement with the South Uist Business Impact Group as part of a series of wider engagements in the Western Isles last week and the opportunity to hear directly from them on the impacts of ferry disruptions.
“Scottish Ministers are currently consulting on the next Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services Contract and would encourage all stakeholders to respond to the formal consultation and to attend the public events that are taking place.
“Decisions around senior staffing are for the Board of Calmac to consider.”
CalMac was approached for comment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel