► Scottish Government “committed” to supporting ferry networks
Spending on Scotland's ferry services has more than doubled in nearly ten years but the full extent of future spending requirements is not known and could be substantial warns a report.
Audit Scotland says Transport Scotland, the Scottish Government agency in charge
of national transport spending, needs a new long-
Transport Scotland currently supports 32 ferry routes through three main contracts and, overall, the operators of these contracts are performing well.
More than £209 million was spent on ferry services and assets in 2016/17, an increase of 115% cent since 2007/08.
This is mainly due to an increase in services, new boats and the impact of the Road Equivalent Tariff, which has reduced the cost of ferry travel in the Clyde and Hebrides.
The report says Transport Scotland has made significant progress in its current ferries plan although this is largely focused on the Clyde and Hebrides routes.
Major developments lie ahead, including reducing fares to the Northern Isles from 2018, but the full costs of these are not known. Substantial investment is required in harbours, but the full extent of this is also unclear.
All of this underlines the need for a new, long-
The report says Transport Scotland does not routinely measure the social and economic impact made by ferries. Ferry users are generally happy but want to be better informed and involved in decisions which affect their services.
The report recommends that Transport Scotland improves its procurement arrangements for ferry services, after finding weaknesses in the arrangements for the recent Clyde and Hebrides contract.
As Transport Scotland only received one compliant tender, it was not required to analyse the 350 commitments made by CalMac in its successful bid. This means it cannot fully show the added value that the new contract will provide.
The contract was awarded from October 2016 at a cost of £868 million over eight years. Transport Scotland expects this to increase to reflect planned timetable and other changes and estimates the current cost at £975 million.
► Scottish Government “committed” to supporting ferry networks
Fraser McKinlay, Audit Scotland's Director of Performance Audit and Best Value, said:
"Ferries provide vital links for Scotland's island communities and overall they are
performing well. But it's critical that they provide value for money at a time when
all public spending -
"As it stands, Transport Scotland does not know the full extent of future spending requirements on ferry services and assets and it will find it difficult to provide these services within its allocated budget.
"With so many developments ahead, Transport Scotland needs to make important spending decisions. Its future investment priorities must be based on ferry users' needs and good information on the benefits that services provide."
Audit Scotland said there are 66 ferry routes across Scotland, managed by a number of public and private operators.
The audit focused on the 32 routes that Transport Scotland subsidises and did not review ferry services operated by councils or the private sector.
New long-
19 Oct 2017
