Western Isles Ferry Services
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE 16 APRIL 2014 WESTERN ISLES FERRY SERVICES Report by Director of Technical Services PURPOSE OF REPORT To provide the Comhairle with an update on matters associated with the delivery of ferry services to the Western Isles. COMPETENCE 1.1 There are no legal, financial, equalities or other constraints to the recommendations being implemented. SUMMARY 2.1 The inaugural meeting of the Outer Hebrides Ferries Task Group, facilitated by the Comhairle, was held on Tuesday 11 March 2014 at which it was agreed that the remit of the Group was to develop and implement a coordinated, structured, fully-informed and evidence-based strategy to engage with Scottish Ministers, Transport Scotland, Caledonian Macbrayne (CalMac), Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and other relevant stakeholders seeking to improve the standard, the capacity, the scheduling and the affordability of ferry services to the Outer Hebrides ensuring the demands and aspirations of all sectors of the community are met. 2.2 The Draft Minute of the meeting and the proposed Action Plan are included at Appendix 1 and 2 respectively to the Report for the information of the Comhairle. 2.3 In addition to the meeting of the Task Group, a meeting of the Hebrides Ferry Users Group, facilitated by HITRANS, was held later that same morning and was attended by senior representatives from Transport Scotland, CalMac Ferries Ltd and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL). The recurring themes between the two meetings were: • The lack of information from and consultation by the ferry operator regarding services to be in place following the introduction of the MV Loch Seaforth on the Stornoway Ullapool route • A significant concern regarding the capacity of the new vessel, particularly in the context of the HITRANS/OHTIA study • The adequacy of the pilot trial of the Mallaig Lochboisdale service 2.4 The Scottish Government Ferries Plan, published in December 2012, gave an undertaking to carry out a comprehensive review of large commercial fares.
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