Scotland’s first minister insisted the government is ‘absolutely committed’ to delivering two new ferries for services to island communities, despite them being at least five years late and the building costs soaring, writes Chris Tindall.
Giving evidence to the public audit committee, Nicola Sturgeon also denied that the awarding of the contract in 2015 to Ferguson Marine was cronyism after questions were raised about the government’s economic competence and judgement.
Haulage operators have complained about a lack of adequate ferry services to Scottish islands and said the decision to pull boats off other routes to try to resolve capacity issues has been mismanaged.
David McCutcheon, chief executive at Glasgow-based Bullet Express, said it relied largely on firms for groupage services to Scottish islands and they were having a ‘horrendous time’.
Transport News will have more on this in the next issue.
