Islanders must pay “costs of ageing fleet”

A warning was issued that a 10 per cent increase in fares will hit every sector of the economy

There has been a furious reaction to the disclosure that Scottish Government Ministers over-ruled the advice of Caledonian MacBrayne in order to impose a ten per cent fares increase on passengers, vehicles and freight.

To add insult to injury, a briefing paper to Ministers advised them that the huge increase was necessary to pay for “the additional maintenance and operating costs associated with maintaining an ageing fleet”, leading to charges that islanders are being forced to pay for the Scottish Government’s own mismanagement.

Island leaders have described the increases and the arguments used to justify them, which were intended to remain confidential within the Scottish Government, as “extraordinary” and “scandalous”.

The advice to Ministers even discussed “ongoing cost of living issues which are disproportionately affecting islanders” – before dismissing this as an argument against imposing the ten per cent rise, which was duly announced by Transport Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, to take effect at the end of March.

The background to that decision has been revealed through a Freedom of Information request by Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant. This resulted in the release of the briefing paper to Ministers which acknowledged that both CalMac and Northlink had requested authority for two per cent increases in line with inflation at that time.

The briefing paper then pointed out: “Ministers can, however, set fares as they wish through issue of Contract Variations … significant and ongoing fiscal pressures facing Ministers at this time necessitate recommending a ten per cent increase … This is set against an environment of significant cost increases due to inflationary pressures and the additional maintenance and operating costs associated with maintaining an ageing fleet”.

It added: “These costs will continue to exceed available budget as new vessels enter service and Transport Scotland works to significantly improve reliability and resilience of the fleet.”

The advice continues: “Various fare increases were considered, with consideration

to the ongoing cost of living issues which are disproportionately affecting islanders and the relatively high fare increase last year.

"However, the significant and ongoing fiscal pressures facing Ministers at this time necessitate recommending a ten per cent increase.”

The chairman of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s transportation committee, Uisdean Robertson, said this week: “You couldn’t make it up. I find it absolutely extraordinary that they should use that argument in this context. The additional costs aren’t CalMac’s fault and they certainly aren’t islanders’ fault. Yet we are to pay for them.

“I see the hand of Transport Scotland in this. They have no understanding of the issues faced by islands like ours and I just don’t think Ministers are able to stand up to them. These additional costs are going to continue because of past failures, so are they going to keep putting forward the same argument that islanders must pay?”.

John Daniel Peteranna, chair of Lochboisdale Development Ltd, said: “They have brought these places to their knees and now they are making us pay for it again. A ten per cent rise on both passengers and freight will inevitably feed through into the cost of living and additional disincentives to travel”.

He said the additional costs arising out an ageing fleet were “a failure of government for which we in South Uist are paying a particularly heavy price” and asked: “How on earth can they justify using that as an argument in support of a massive fares increase, which will inflict further damage on exactly the same places?”.

Stornoway haulage contractor David Wood described the increases and the reasoning behind them as “scandalous” and added: “This means virtually a 20 per cent increase in two years. There is no way we can absorb this. There was no consultation, no discussion, no nothing. And now we know the background to how the decision was made makes it even worse”.

Rhoda Grant said “These bombshell documents show it was SNP Ministers who chose to inflict eyewatering fare hikes on long-suffering ferry users. After dealing with years of ferry chaos because of the SNP’s incompetence, islanders are now being forced to pick up the tab for SNP financial mismanagement too”.

When the ten per cent increase was announced, the Ferries Community Board issued a strong statement condemning the lack of consultation. It said they were "disappointed and surprised to see another fares increase. It is particularly disappointing that this increase has been decided with no consultation or impact assessment but applied by decree.

“The move towards more collaborative decision making and the application of the principles of the Islands Bill in terms of community impact assessment have once again been forgotten when they are inconvenient”

At that time, Ms Hyslop defended the increase on grounds that it was “a necessary action to ensure that ferry services remain sustainable and available to our island communities”.