A welcome intervention – but “should never have been allowed”

Loss of the morning return service between Inverness and Stornoway took effect in mid-July and will still run until the end of October, inflicting particular inconvenience upon patients and additional costs which would have run to over £1 million a year for NHS Western Isles alone.

While greeted with relief, the intervention has also raised serious questions about why it did not happen months ago, in order to prevent withdrawal of the services and the campaign which has forced Ministers to act.

Critical to this outcome was the decision by the Transport Committee of the Scottish Parliament and its chair, Willie Rennie MSP, to devote its first post-election session to the issue, when crucial information emerged.

It transpired that HIAL and Loganair had been in discussions about the proposed withdrawal of services since February without the knowledge of island communities directly affected. Loganair were looking for £1.3 million a year to keep the services going but HIAL could come up with less than half that amount.

It was only when these discussions broke down that Loganair announced the imminent withdrawal of the services which took effect on July 19th.

When the chief executive of HIAL, Paul Kelsall, told the Holyrood committee that he had not communicated with Ministers or senior civil servants about the potential implications of negotiations failing, Mr Rennie declared himself “astonished”.

This was later backed up by Loganair who said they had assumed that HIAL were keeping Ministers and Transport Scotland informed of the discussions that were going on. The question of whether Mr Kelsall’s account was accurate, and if so why, will continue to come under scrutiny.

The additional funding was intimated in a letter from the Transport Secretary, Stephen Flynn, to Mr Rennie which said: “It is important to note that air services from Inverness are provided and operated on a commercial basis and the recent changes were entirely a matter for Loganair to determine. However, the Scottish Government is very much aware that the changes have had significant negative consequences for the affected communities".

Willie Rennie MSP said: “This investment will be a positive outcome for the island communities who made powerful and compelling representations to the Transport Committee. From the evidence we heard, it is clear that a longer-term plan for aviation will need to be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan.

“The Scottish Government needs to continue working closely with transport providers and our island communities to ensure a longer-term solution. We will continue to monitor developments in this area. However, for now, this is a step in the right direction”.

Welcoming the £1 million intervention which will be channelled through HIAL, Donald Mackinnon MSP – who is a member of the Transport Committee at Holyrood – said that the situation “should never have been allowed to escalate to this point in the first place”.

He too emphasised the need for a long-term approach to island air travel, stating: “We desperately need the Scottish Government to take responsibility and deliver a strategy for island air travel that ensures air services work for islanders while making the best use of public money.

“A fix for one year is not enough. Islanders need long-term certainty. Continuing with an approach that allows Loganair to effectively hold the public purse to ransom does not serve anyone well”.