Lifeline Ferry report launched

13 June 2023

RMT Press Office:

The report by Professor Jeanette Findlay of the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow is on the future financing and delivery of lifeline Scottish ferries.The report event is on Tuesday 13th June 2023, Scottish Parliament Committee Room 6, 1730-1930. Food and refreshment will be provided.

Professor Findlay’s work, commissioned by the RMT, is a critique of the controversial ‘Project Neptune’ report on ferry governance by Ernst & Young for Transport Scotland. The findings are a stark reminder of the clear public interest in retaining CalMac ferry services in the public sector, in the face of a resurgent privatisation lobby exploiting the Ferguson Marine fiasco and legitimate passenger concerns.

Public ferries in Scotland are in crisis, with the procurement failure on the Clyde and Hebrides contract now affecting services and staff on the Northern Isles contract. Ageing ships, fragile resilience, overworked ferry staff and activist private interests mean that lifeline ferry services for island and mainland communities are at the top of the in-tray for the new First Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP and the next Transport Minister to be appointed, following the recent resignation of Kevin Stewart MSP, for health reasons.