Co-
Western Isles Council is considering launching a taskgroup to fight massive increases on shipping essential supplies to the Hebrides.
Today councillors unleashed their fury on Scottish Government transport officials for abolishing the road equivalent tariff (RET) cheaper ferry fare scheme for lorries on lifeline sea routes.
Transport minister Keith Brown is not convinced that hauliers passed on the RET savings following complaints from islanders that shop prices had not lowered during a trial period.
Commercial traffic will lose out after the £6.5m budget for RET was reduced by £1.5 million due to cuts imposed by Westminster.
Mr Brown proposes a scheme of enhanced discounts or rebates to compensate for the loss of haulage RET.
It is understood he will order a full appraisal of how commercial fares are structured with a view to eliminating the variation between the Hebrides and the Northern Isles.
Dubbed the “haulage tax” by islanders, dramatic hikes of up to 172% to ship essential supplies on some sea routes will be passed on to islanders through higher shop prices it is feared. Uist and Harris would be the worse off.
Over 90 firms are backing an industry-
It was a case of bad timing for two unfortunate transport civil servants who faced
the Western Isles Council’s transport committee today -
The Scottish Government insists it will not reverse its decision to axe RET for lorries
and Mr Brown’s officials -
Western Isles Council wants the present scheme to continue until the full economic
effect can be determined. It seeks to collaborate with the hauliers’ campaign body,
the Outer Hebrides Transport Group, to launch a co-
Cllr Donald John Macsween said the consequences of increased commercial fares was effectively an extra tax on every islander.
He stressed: “This was crept in by stealth on the back of extending RET to other islands. It will be a tax on every household in the Western Isles. This will cost jobs and have a major impact on the local economy.
Council leader Angus Campbell, said: “The removal of RET for commercial vehicles will have a highly detrimental effect. This issue is not just of importance to hauliers; it is of importance to everyone who lives and works in these islands.
“We’ve seen an overwhelming response from the local business community condemning the proposals to remove RET on commercials as having a serious economic detriment in terms of job losses across a range of sectors.”
Cllr Campbell added: “I have asked the Outer Hebrides Transport Group for further discussions so that we can take stock and decide the best way forward. They have mounted a great campaign so far and members made clear that they have the full support of the Council.”
He stressed that even with new lorry discounts, “there will likely remain a significant increase in fares” as most of the transport firms would not achieve a high enough volume booking.
Thus the “new scheme would institutionalise discrimination against smaller islands, smaller communities and smaller firms which is, leaving aside the massive economic impact on these islands, is hardly likely to encourage smaller firms to survive and expand, or the presence of a competitive market in the Outer Hebrides.
“Some vehicles, for example, those used for transporting shellfish, and livestock, are specially adapted, and therefore necessarily do not undertake large numbers of journeys. They are, however, absolutely essential to the sustainability of these fragile economies.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The Minister heard community concerns over changes to ferry fares and the problems of previous discount schemes and was pleased that the community clearly understood the budgetary pressures faced by the Government.
“The Scottish Government does and will continue to invest £5m in RET for the Western Isles, Coll and Tiree.
"While all those at the (Edinburgh) meeting agreed that RET was designed to equalise the cost of ferry and road travel for hauliers moving goods there was a clear acknowledgment that increases like fuel prices, VAT and insurance, all of which are impacting on hauliers' day to day business, are all pressures outwith the Scottish Government's control.
"The Minister confirmed an early response and that we would come forward with a revised approach which will seek to reduce the impact of fare increases for larger commercial vehicles, and that he would consider requests for the impact of ferry fares to be assessed.”