News / Northern Isles ferry tendering further delayed
LOCAL politicians have called on the Scottish Government to give a clear timeframe after it emerged that the current Northern Isles lifeline ferry contract will have to be further extended.
In a written parliamentary answer on Thursday, Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf confirmed that the current review “on the future approach to the procurement of lifeline ferry services” would take longer than initially expected.
Announcing the policy review back in February, the government said it needed to consider whether under certain circumstances public ferry services could be awarded to an in-house operator without the need for a tendering process under European regulations.
The tendering processes for the Northern Isles service, currently operated by Serco NorthLink, was due to go out to tender this spring with a view to having a new contract in place by summer 2018.
This was pushed back to 2019 earlier this year and it is now likely to slip even further.
“The level of engagement and detailed information required will almost certainly lead to an extended timeline to that initially envisaged for the full consideration and completion of the review,” the minister said.
“This will extend the timeline for the review beyond the autumn period, when a report on the emerging findings of the review is due for publication.
“This extension means that we will have to consider the implications for the next contracts for the Gourock-Dunoon and Northern Isles ferry services, and we will lay out the way forward for both contracts in due course.”
Chairman of the Shetland Islands Council’s transport committee, councillor Ryan Thomson, said the situation “wasn’t ideal” and added that more information was urgently needed to assess what impact the delay might have on the Shetland service.
“The statement from the minister poses more questions than answers, and we are in limbo until we hear from Mr Yousaf exactly how long the process is going to take,” he said.
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott added that he is asking the minister to clarify the timetable as a matter of urgency.
“The sooner we have clarity the better for all involved,” he said.
“He [the minister] does recognise that Shetland and Orkney have a different perspective from the west coast. That is good. I am not sure that a Calmac/RMT service run by civil servants in Edinburgh will produce a better service for Shetland.
“Serco NorthLink has introduced improvements, notably on freight which underpins the islands economy. So I would need some convincing that ministers and civil servants would provide Shetland with a better service.”
Serco NorthLink managing director Stuart Garrett said the company was in dialogue with the Scottish Government.
“NorthLink Ferries intends to contribute positively to the Ferry Service Procurement Policy Review. We are in dialogue with Transport Scotland as to the likely impact of the timetable of the review on our contract.”
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