News / MSPs demand answers on ferry contract
PRESSURE is being put on Scottish transport minister Keith Brown to clear up concerns about the future of the northern isles ferry service after plans to sign a contract on Tuesday were scrapped.
Multinational outsourcing firm Serco were due to seal a £243 million deal to run the Shetland and Orkney lifeline service for six years from 6 July.
However a last minute legal challenge from rival bidder Streamline has thrown that plan into question.
Now local travellers and businesses are concerned about what will happen to the service after 15 July with no contract in place.
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott and his Orkney counterpart Liam McArthur emailed Mr Brown on Monday demanding to know what contingencies are in place and urging the government to make a public statement.
Mr Scott said: “Obviously our constituents are apprehensive about what this challenge might mean for the move to a new operator, given the exceptionally tight timetable we already expected for the transition. We need to know what contingency plans are in place.”
Mr McArthur added: “Tavish and I have been raising concerns since last summer about the timetable for reaching decisions. We are now urging the Scottish government to make a public statement setting out what they expect to happen next. “If fears being expressed locally are to be allayed, it is important that ministers are clear and upfront about what they expect to happen.”
Liam McArthur’s email to Keith Brown can be read here.
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