Amid news that the price of Northlink ferry fares to Orkney will be frozen for the rest of winter, one MSP has criticised the Scottish Government for missing its road-equivalent tariff (RET) deadline by “well over four years.”
Yesterday, Transport Scotland announced that ticket prices will be held at current levels until the end of March to help people and businesses to combat the ongoing cost crisis.
Beyond this, the transport minister, Jenny Gilruth, said that a couple of reviews are in progress to ensure the policy will “address the needs of island communities.”
Announcing the fare freeze, she said: “At a time where many people are facing rising costs in all areas of their lives – from heating their homes to the cost of the weekly shop – the Scottish Government is working hard to help them where we can.
“We want our transport system to be affordable and accessible. This is especially important for island residents and communities who rely on our lifeline ferry services, so we are freezing fares on the Northern Isles network until the end of March.
“In the longer term, the Islands Connectivity Plan will include a review of ferry fares, alongside our wider ‘fair fares’ review, to ensure that our fares policy continues to address the needs of island communities.”
Responding to this news, Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said that, while this was welcome, “we shouldn’t forget that it’s now well over four years since the SNP Government’s missed deadline to introduce the road-equivalent tariff (RET) on Orkney’s Northlink services.
“Publicly we seem to be no further forward, with the transport minister suggesting that any further changes would simply be ‘in due course’.
“Throughout this whole process, Orkney has been treated with indifference by an administration in Edinburgh seemingly unwilling to engage on the situation or take concrete steps to resolve it.
“This has left Orcadians and visitors to the islands at a real and enduring financial disadvantage, with the resources simply flowing back into the Scottish Government’s coffers rather than being used to benefit our communities here in the islands.”