Clarity sought over ferry tender delays

The Scottish Government has today announced a delay to a policy review looking at the future procurement of ferry contracts, which includes for re-tendering Orkney’s lifeline shipping contract.

The government has said the extension will allow further consideration of the full impact of EU state aid rules, however Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has called for further clarity on the timetable of the delay.

In his announcement, minister for transport and the Islands Humza Yousaf said the additional work will focus on whether the direct award of the contract would comply with the complex regulations governing state aid, whilst also satisfying the so-called “Teckal exemption.”

The Transport Minister attributes the delay to the need to further consider the full impact of EU state aid rules. The policy review, announced in February this year, was originally planned to finish in the autumn.

Mr Yousaf said that since the review was launched in February, officials have carried out extensive engagement with the European Commission and key stakeholders across our ferry networks coming to the conclusion that a direct award to a body that is compliant with the Teckal exemption would be allowed under EU legislation.

However, he said that before a direct award can be made, the government also needs to make sure an award would comply with complex state aid rules.

He said: “This will require further engagement with the commission and will almost certainly extend the timeline for the policy review beyond the autumn period. We will publish a report on progress to date in the autumn and aim to complete the full review process as soon as possible.

“It is the Scottish Government’s preference to make a direct award to an in-house provider, but it’s important that the outcome of this review is not prejudged.

“This extension means we will have to further 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 of these contracts in due course.”

Following the transport minister’s announcement, Mr McArthur said: “The Scottish Government appears to be suggesting that there will be a further delay in re-tendering Orkney’s lifeline shipping contract but there is no clarity about the extent of that delay.

“I have therefore written to the Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf asking him to set out in more detail his revised timetable.

“Mr Yousaf does at least recognise that Orkney and Shetland have a different perspective from the west coast, which I welcome. I am not sure that a Calmac/RMT service run by civil servants in Edinburgh will produce a better service for Orkney and Shetland.

“Meantime, this internal government exercise has already lasted five months with still no end in sight. The sooner we have clarity the better for all involved.”