Transport / Government signals willingness to talk about ferry replacement programme
THE SCOTTISH Government has for the first time signalled its willingness to get round the table to talk about the council’s unfunded ferry replacement programme.
The move is seen as a major breakthrough and comes following transport secretary Jenny Gilruth’s visit to Shetland last summer.
The government has up until now insisted that operating the internal ferry network was the job of the local authority and had nothing to do with central government.
Over recent years and following some intense campaigning, the island councils in Orkney and Shetland have been successful in convincing the Scottish Government to at least fully fund the revenue cost of running the inter-island ferry fleets.
Towards the end of last year, the Scottish Government agreed to talks with Orkney Islands Council about replacing its ageing fleet, and similar talks have now been offered to the SIC.
Speaking to Shetland News, council chief executive Maggie Sandison confirmed the government was “willing to talk about options” but warned that this does not necessarily mean Transport Scotland would agree to fund new ferries.
However, the move signals for the first time a softening of the government’s previous stance.
Sandison said she expects that different models of funding would be discussed, such as the ‘hub model’ that was used to pay for the new Anderson High School.
She said: “Importantly, we want to include in that conversation not only ferries but also how could fixed links be part of a better solution in the long term.”
Sandison added that the transport secretary’s visit last year was the first time that someone from Scottish Government acknowledged that the council should not be left dealing with the ferry replacement programme on its own.
“That was a really significant move,” she said.
The development could give rise to speculation that the Scottish Government’s willingness to talk comes in response to UK Government’s decision to grant almost £27 million of Levelling Up funding for a new Fair Isle ferry plus associated harbour works.
Sandison said she thought this was unlikely because the council received the ferry talks correspondence before the Levelling Up announcement last month.
A spokesperson for Transport Scotland said: “The first meeting of the Orkney Ferry Replacement Task Force was held on 31 January with the Orkney Islands Council. We look forward to facilitating a similar meeting with the Shetland Islands Council.
“We recognise the importance of the other ferry services in Scotland, including those internal ferries which are the responsibility of our local authorities. We also accept the challenge for local authorities that have responsibility for ferries, and have provided more than £136m over the last 5 years to support the running of these services.
“For 2022-23, we, with the agreement of COSLA, have also met local authorities’ request for the elements of ferries revenue support to be brought together into the ‘Support for Inter-Island Ferries’ Specific Grant. Over £33 million has been made available to support local authority ferries.”
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