Reappointing CalMac chiefs shows contempt for island communities

For the uninitiated, David MacBrayne Ltd means, in effect, Caledonian MacBrayne and a couple of minor subsidiaries. So Ms Hyslop has just given a resounding vote of confidence to individuals whose only relevant distinction is, quite literally, that they never go anywhere near a port served by a CalMac ferry, while turmoil ensues.

Two of these three individuals - Ingram and Macrae - have never been to any CalMac port since being appointed. Østegaard came once to Stornoway and Oban shortly after getting the job, presumably hated what he saw and has never returned from the comfort of his home in Denmark. Welcome to Scottish democracy! In rubber-stamping these appointments, Ms Hyslop brushed aside sustained pleadings from island communities for some modicum of democratic, accountable control over a ferry network which has driven businesses into penury and communities to the point of despair.

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At least the directors of White Star Line were on board the Titanic, even if they were first to claim the lifeboats. The directors of CalMac make a point of remaining at a safe distance from tedious islands and islanders. Even I was surprised by how literally true this is when I prised some information out of CalMac recently with a Freedom of Information request.

With the greatest reluctance at the second time of asking, CalMac admitted that three out of five non-execs - including Ingram and Macrae - have never visited any CalMac port. Not Brodick, not Lochboisdale. Not anywhere. Four have never been to the Outer Isles. They do not have a clue about the human impacts of what they are entrusted to preside over and care even less. It’s just a case of “any old quango will do”.

Throughout the entire Ferguson shipyard debacle, there was not a single islander on the board of either CMAL, the procurement disaster area, or CalMac, the operators. There is nowhere else in the world where this would not be thought peculiar or downright insulting to communities which then become victims of a spectacularly failed system. Yet nothing changes and no heads roll.

I have no idea why Østergaard was recruited to the quango entourage to become chairman of CMAL in the first place. His day job is as chief executive of a Danish logistics trade body. Scotland used to be rather good at shipbuilding and that sort of thing. One might have thought we could have produced a distinguished, knowledgeable figure to lead a public agency without going to Copenhagen.

In fairness, Østergaard opposed the ill-fated CalMac order being handed to Port Glasgow which he did not believe capable of building the vessels. He repeatedly warned the Scottish Government but then stayed in the job and covered for them when his advice was ignored. When that gig ran out after eight years, he was rewarded with another one, as chairman of CalMac which itself required explanation.

He certainly knew where bodies were buried from the whole Ferguson affair and the CalMac job made sure he would not be going public with any of that. But now to reappoint an individual to a key island role when he has displayed so little commitment, or even mild interest, goes beyond the bounds of reason. Unless, of course, Ms Hyslop can be prevailed upon to explain?

It is inconceivable that CalMac would have declined into its current sad condition if island voices had been heard in every forum which has contributed to the outcomes which exist - and that includes main boards. The CalMac board should have been screaming years ago about the protracted failure to provide the company with vessels it required to maintain a service.

All the wrong decisions were taken without one iota of input from the places most directly affected by them. While the belated ordering of ferries from Turkey should bring some relief, they will mainly replace ones which are now a decade and more past their natural lifespans and breaking down all over the place. There is still a long way to go and communities are suffering deeply, as I can testify from having been in South Uist this week.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop (Image: PA)

Yet this is the long-range system of control, which leaves real power in Edinburgh, to which Ms Hyslop has just given her vote of confidence. Nobody will care in Linlithgow, so why should she?

The appointments have caused predictable fury. The new Labour MP for the Western Isles, Torcuil Crichton, said: “This is truly astonishing and shows contempt for all the messages and pleas which have come from island communities”. I doubt if the reaction elsewhere will be different. Will Ms Hyslop tell us why they are wrong?

This subject goes far beyond CalMac. When it comes to positions of any political significance or potential threat to ministerial (and civil service) authority, the Scottish public appointments system is rotten to the core with the same small cast turning up over and over again.

The ferries example is particularly egregious because of its obvious absurdity and availability of a sensible alternative - to substantially devolve decision-making about infrastructure and services on which island communities depend to accountable bodies within them. Nowhere else operates the same failed system of internal colonialism as Scotland.

More generally, Scotland again needs public bodies led by serious figures who can stand up to government when necessary, rather than house-trained lackeys who are always looking for the next appointment. These quangos affect vast swathes of Scottish life and public expenditure. It is long past time for political challenge to how the system is run and the results it produces.