Contest for ferry services delayed

Transport Correspondent

Thursday 27 September 2012

CALEDONIAN MacBrayne, the publicly funded ferry operator, has been granted a three-year contract to run west coast services after a tender competition for the routes was delayed.

PLAIN SAILING: The decision to delay awarding a permanent contract has been praised by the RMT. Picture: Colin Mearns

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

Transport Minister Keith Brown said a tendering process had been put back until autumn 2014 and said the Clyde and Hebridean network would continue to operate as a single entity.

The decision was hailed as a massive victory by the RMT union, which had threatened strike action over fears the network would be split up and private companies allowed to cherry-pick lucrative routes.

However, it was attacked by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which had argued that greater competition would improve services.Meanwhile, opposition parties accused the SNP of putting off difficult decisions until after the independence referendum. The temporary contract will run from autumn 2013, when the existing six-year contract is due to expire, to autumn 2016.Mr Brown said this would allow the Scottish Government to consider the Scottish Ferries Review, an exercise designed to inform policy between 2010 and 2020, but which has been subjected to delays.Ministers will also consider taking over some services operated by councils and explore whether a six-year European Commission limit on contract length can be extended.On the move to keep services a single entity, Mr Brown said: "We have looked at the options available to us to drive up ferry service standards and no compelling case tendering individual routes, or 'unbundling' the current contract, has been put to me."RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "The confirmation of the three-year delay on the tendering is a massive victory for the RMT campaign against privatisation and in defence of jobs and working conditions."The move was also welcomed by the Scottish Trades Union Congress. However, CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan expressed disappointment.He said: "The Scottish Government's ferries review and draft plan provided ministers with a fresh opportunity to develop a more efficient and responsive service by opening up the market to competition, leading to improvements in service and better consumer choice."Labour infrastructure spokesman Richard Baker said: "The decision to delay the tendering process for three years, until after the referendum, raises a number of questions."Why three years? Why has this decision not been scrutinised by parliament? Why was this not announced in parliament? Last week, I was told no decision has been made, but now it has. When was this made? What organisations have lobbied the SNP on this?"Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Alex Johnstone MSP added: "The SNP has once again failed in its duty to deliver the open and accessible bidding process which would have allowed the provision of value for money for both the taxpayer and the passengers served by the Clyde and Hebrides ferries."However, the move was welcomed by Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Jim Hume.

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Contest for ferry services delayed

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