Northern Isles ferry contract tender: politicians react

The political reaction to yesterday’s news, that the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract is to be put out to tender, has been mixed. On one hand, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has welcomed the decision while Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands John Finnie has stated his “bitter disappointment” at the news.

It was announced yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that the next contract to operate the Northern Isles ferry services will put out to tender, with the procurement process to get underway in June and an award being made in summer 2019.

Responding to the announcement from Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP, Mr McArthur welcomed the decision, also calling for assurances that lessons would be learned from the previous contract process.

The Orkney MSP said he has highlighted what he said was a lack of transparency and effective involvement of local stakeholders when the last contract came up for tender, and he has pressed the minister to make sure there was no repeat this time round.

Mr McArthur said: “Tendering the Northern Isles shipping contact is the best way to deliver a shipping service that meets Orkney’s needs. It is essential, however, that the tender specification fully reflects the interests and future needs of our island economies and local people. 

“That will require immediate and ongoing engagement throughout the tendering process with key users of the service, as well as the local authorities. I welcome the Minister’s assurance to me that this will happen, unlike during the last previous procurement.

“Increased capacity on these lifeline services, of course, will be crucial, especially once RET is finally put in place. The evidence from routes where RET already applies suggests that additional capacity will need to feature prominently in the forthcoming contract negotiations.

“Looking further ahead, it was disappointing to hear the Minister insist that the government would not look to tender future contracts. Having made a virtue of take account of the views he heard on his recent visit to Orkney and Shetland, it seems that these will carry no weight in future. This is hardly the message Mr Yousaf should be sending out as parliament prepares to pass his Islands Bill, which commits the government to “island proofing””.

Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Jamie Halcro Johnston, also welcomed yesterday’s outcome, saying he recognised that the extension granted last year for existing operator Northlink to provide the service until October 2019, and the government’s previously stated ambition to appoint an in-house public sector operator for the routes was “just a stay of execution”

Mr Halcro Johnston said: “As Humza Yousaf recognised today, the local communities in Orkney and Shetland have recognised the benefits and improvements to the ferry service that an open tendering process has delivered.

“However it is clear that the Minister’s hand has been forced by the European Commission, who have told him that getting rid of tendering would be ‘significantly challenging’. Any sense that he was listening to the concerns of the people have been shown to be tenuous.

“However this is just a stay of execution, with the Minister telling us today that he is still ‘fully committed’ to an in-house operator for our ferry services directed by the SNP Government in Edinburgh — despite the views he has heard from local representatives.

“That is why I have today questioned him on future commitments to consult with and take on board the views, not only of local representatives, but of the people of Orkney and Shetland directly before any future changes to the service are considered. I will certainly be holding the minister to the commitments that he has made, given the SNP’s record on engagement in the past.”

Not sharing the other two politician’s sentiments, Highlands and Islands Scottish Greens MSP John Finnie, who is also his party’s spokesperson for transport and islands, has said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the Transport Minister’s announcement.

The Scottish Green Party has stated its support for the RMT Union in advocating that the service should be publicly run.

Mr Finnie said: “I am bitterly disappointed by the Minister’s decision to put the Northern Isles Ferry Services out to tender. The Scottish Government has missed a real opportunity to deliver a publicly owned service, run in the interest of communities in Orkney and Shetland. Instead, the service will continue to be run for the benefit of private shareholders.

“This decision will come as good news to the likes of Serco, who will no doubt be queuing up to reap the subsidy and profits that come with running these lifeline services, in the full knowledge that if anything goes wrong it will be the public finances that bear the brunt.

“If this is the direction of travel from the Scottish Government then it is extremely concerning and brings into question how serious it is about bringing forward public bids for other major transport services such as ScotRail.

“The Scottish Green Party has long championed the public ownership of our vital transport services; it seems this government is quite content to let the private sector cherry pick the profitable bits, hardly the actions of a progressive government.”