North Isles ferry tender to be reviewed

Details of the future tendering process for the Northern Isles ferry services are to be reviewed by the Scottish Government.

A policy review, launched today by the minister for transport and the islands, Humza Yousaf, will look into tendering for the current Gourock to Dunoon service as well as future implications of the Northern Isles services.

The review comes following advice from the European Commission in the Teckal Exemption, which allows public contracts to be awarded to in-house companies, such as publicly owned bodies like Caledonian MacBrayne.

According to the Scottish Government, the review will look in detail at the implications of the Commission’s response on future tendering, in particular the Teckal exemption and State aid rules.

Mr Yousaf has said the Scottish Government will look at providing ferry services through an in-house company, if possible, but added that “it was highly likely” that Serco’s contract for the North Isles would be extended to 2019.

He said: “As always, our aim is to provide the best possible ferry services to our island and remote mainland communities, and we will take this opportunity to look again at how this is achieved.

“Transport Scotland will undertake this review to address the potential implications of the European Commission’s reply on the procurement of our ferry services.

“It will cover the application of the Teckal exemption in light of the Commission’s latest advice, the requirement to ensure compliance with State aid rules, and all other legal, policy and financial implications relevant to alternative models for procuring the ferry services.

“We cannot pre-judge the outcome of the review. However, should it conclude that it would be possible to apply the Teckal exemption and meet State aid rules then we would be minded to provide ferry services through an in-house operator, taking account of the communities they serve.

Mr Yousaf confirmed that the government are in talks to the current operators the ferry services to discuss the implications of the review.