The Scottish Parliament’s Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee recently carried out an inquiry into domestic Scottish ferry services. As part of the inquiry Stornoway, Clydeport and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd all gave evidence before the Committee.
In its report the Committee described the inquiry as one of the most extensive conducted by a Scottish Parliament Committee and added that the findings has a strong ‘user’ bias. It also made a large number of recommendations on the direction of the Scottish Government’s forthcoming ferries review.
The Committee’s recommendations
The central theme of the report called on the Scottish Government to establish a “long term” national ferry strategy and to transfer the responsibility for the strategic direction of ferry services to Transport Scotland.
The Committee suggested that in its review the Government should encourage the modernisation of the Scottish ferry network and that this should be carried out at a much faster pace than previous attempts. It highlighted that the network could examine the possibility of acquiring faster and more fuel efficient vessels, adjusting timetables and frequency of sailings to better meet the needs of ferry users, expanding with new routes and extending existing services.
