CalMac

[islaydarkblue]

I think you are right in believing that the problems with ferries to Islay is going escalate, and that will bring some changes to the way these matters are being handled by the SNP and Greens. For example could it be shown that the engines which were chosen and seem to be problematical, were chosen as a result of Green MSP involvement in the procurement process? There might be some value for the SNP and Calmac in properly apportioning the responsibility for this decision to the MSP Greens.

you get flak on here because you only worry about and talk about Islay but the Isle of Arran has possibly a greater profile and perhaps all the island communities need to work together to try to bring about a change in attitude and support for island communities. you would think that levelling up funding could easily be justified and a coordinated campaign might shake things up and break the cosy cycle of poor performance and underinvestment.

I have mentioned the Isle of Arran in a subsequent post.
You are possibly not aware that the two new ferries currently being built in Turkey do not fit any of the piers on the Kennacraig to Islay route plus the pier at Colonsay where the 99 metre long MV Clansman can safely dock. The two new ferries which are too wide, too long and their draught is too deep to dock at Kennacraig, Port Askaig and Port Ellen.
Their draught is also too deep to dock at Colonsay pier.
Work costing £16.4 million (2021) prices will have to be carried out at the piers before the new ferries which are due to come into service in late 2024 can sail on these routes.
Worse than that the design for these new Islay ferries is to become the standard for all new large car ferries sailing on the Clyde and Hebridean ferry routes.
It will be interesting to see how many piers have to be altered at a considerable expense to allow new large car ferries to dock at them.
Most people are asking why CMAL did not instruct that the design for the new Islay ferries ensured that they fitted the current piers.
However that seems too obvious for the Scottish Government owned CMAL bosses who have been promoted to their level of incompetence.

[BCram]

I have mentioned the Isle of Arran in a subsequent post.
You are possibly not aware that the two new ferries currently being built in Turkey do not fit any of the piers on the Kennacraig to Islay route plus the pier at Colonsay where the 99 metre long MV Clansman can safely dock. The two new ferries which are too wide, too long and their draught is too deep to dock at Kennacraig, Port Askaig and Port Ellen.
Their draught is also too deep to dock at Colonsay pier.
Work costing £16.4 million (2021) prices will have to be carried out at the piers before the new ferries which are due to come into service in late 2024 can sail on these routes.
Worse than that the design for these new Islay ferries is to become the standard for all new large car ferries sailing on the Clyde and Hebridean ferry routes.
It will be interesting to see how many piers have to be altered at a considerable expense to allow new large car ferries to dock at them.
Most people are asking why CMAL did not instruct that the design for the new Islay ferries ensured that they fitted the current piers.
However that seems too obvious for the Scottish Government owned CMAL bosses who have been promoted to their level of incompetence.

Surely bigger ports to handle bigger ferries is the way forward. The RET formula for calculating fares is a combination of a fixed element (to ensure services remain sustainable and to cover fixed costs such as maintaining harbour infrastructure and vessels) and a rate per mile (calculated by Transport Scotland analysts using contemporary independent research by the RAC).

The RET formula is reviewed annually by Transport Scotland.

What I don't understand is why this system is unfair. It seems sensible but I am sure there must be a level of government subsidy as I don't believe that the ferries could be run solely on the income generated by the ferry users. Would be handy if someone could tell us the level of subsidy given to Calmac and relate that to the number of people who use the ferries.

[islaydarkblue]

Surely bigger ports to handle bigger ferries is the way forward. The RET formula for calculating fares is a combination of a fixed element (to ensure services remain sustainable and to cover fixed costs such as maintaining harbour infrastructure and vessels) and a rate per mile (calculated by Transport Scotland analysts using contemporary independent research by the RAC).

The RET formula is reviewed annually by Transport Scotland.

What I don't understand is why this system is unfair. It seems sensible but I am sure there must be a level of government subsidy as I don't believe that the ferries could be run solely on the income generated by the ferry users. Would be handy if someone could tell us the level of subsidy given to Calmac and relate that to the number of people who use the ferries.

I do not agree that bigger piers to handle bigger ships is the way forward for Calmac ferries.
Most island residents would prefer having a new ferry which fits the piers on their ferry route. Somebody has to pay for the projected £16.4 million (2021 prices) cost of these major alterations to the piers on the Kennacraig to Islay route and that will be partly through increased fares with the remainder paid by the Scottish taxpayers.
I know how the RET formula is calculated.
However shortly after it was introduced a Calmac pier manager told me that on some occasions the RET formula resulted in the fares being dearer than the existing Calmac fare.
He told me that in these cases the Scottish Government reduced the existing fare by 50p per sailing to make look like their ‘flagship’ RET scheme had reduced fares on every Calmac sailing.
Now to the reason why RET is unfair and the Scottish Government if they had a will could reduce the fares for island residents served by the Calmac Ferries.
I enclose details of the Islander Card scheme operated by Northlink Ferries which is available for all residents living on Orkney and Shetland including incoming workers who stay on either of these islands. I have known about the Islander Card scheme since December 2011 as I know someone who obtained a job with Shetland Islands Council and on their first day working for the Shetland Isles council they were given an application form to complete to obtain an Islander card for the Northlink ferries. https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/booking-info/fares/
I suggest that you look at the normal fares for everyone and then look at the fares for the Orkney and Shetland residents who have an Islander Card.
Northlink ferries are able to issue the Islander Card because they do not use the ‘one size fits all’ RET scheme to calculate the fares on their ferries.
The Calmac pier manager previously told me that if the RET scheme was introduced on the Northlink ferry routes the cost of the fares would increase by about 40% and the Islander Card would have to be scrapped resulting in higher fares for Orkney and Shetland residents.
The Lib Dem MP for the Orkney and Shetland Isles is Alasdair Carmichael was born on Islay and he still has relatives living on Islay.
When RET was introduced on the Calmac Ferry routes he was shouting for RET to be introduced on the Northlink sailings.
Alasdair Carmichael is another politician who had not done his homework because the taxpayers pay for his ferry journeys on the Northlink sailings.
I remember reading in the media about Alasdair Carmichael’s demand that RET be immediately introduced on the Northlink sailings and I took the opportunity to have a letter published in the Islay Community newspaper The Ileach explaining the benefits of the Islander Card which gave Orkney and Shetland residents a substantial reduction on the listed price of ferry fares on the Northlink sailings.
I was hoping that some of Alasdair Carmichael’s relatives might advise him to give up demanding that the Scottish Government immediately introduce RET fares on the Northlink ferry sailings.
I do not know if my letter had the desired effect but I have not read Alasdair Carmichael mentioning anything about wanting RET introduced onto the Northlink Ferry routes for a long time. Perhaps the penny has dropped!

[islaydarkblue]

Surely bigger ports to handle bigger ferries is the way forward. The RET formula for calculating fares is a combination of a fixed element (to ensure services remain sustainable and to cover fixed costs such as maintaining harbour infrastructure and vessels) and a rate per mile (calculated by Transport Scotland analysts using contemporary independent research by the RAC).

The RET formula is reviewed annually by Transport Scotland.

What I don't understand is why this system is unfair. It seems sensible but I am sure there must be a level of government subsidy as I don't believe that the ferries could be run solely on the income generated by the ferry users. Would be handy if someone could tell us the level of subsidy given to Calmac and relate that to the number of people who use the ferries.

I will need to obtain the information about the annual subsidy from the Scottish Government from the Calmac Ferries Limited annual accounts which are listed on the Companies House website.
The last time I looked which was about 4 years ago the Scottish Government handed over £128 million which resulted in Calmac Ferries Limited making a profit of £4.4 million at the end of their financial year on which they had to pay Corporation Tax.
I would have thought that the Scottish Government would have only handed over sufficient funds to balance the books not for Calmac Ferries Limited to make a profit of over £4 million resulting in them having to pay Corporation Tax.

[BCram]

I will need to obtain the information about the annual subsidy from the Scottish Government from the Calmac Ferries Limited annual accounts which are listed on the Companies House website.
The last time I looked which was about 4 years ago the Scottish Government handed over £128 million which resulted in Calmac Ferries Limited making a profit of £4.4 million at the end of their financial year on which they had to pay Corporation Tax.
I would have thought that the Scottish Government would have only handed over sufficient funds to balance the books not for Calmac Ferries Limited to make a profit of over £4 million resulting in them having to pay Corporation Tax.

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

[islaydarkblue]

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

It is not just islanders. All the holidaymakers from all round the world are having their fares subsided by the Scottish taxpayers. This is why the ‘once size fits all’ Scottish Government flagship RET scheme is costing the Scottish taxpayers a lot of money.
Prior to the introduction of the RET scheme the Scottish Government handed over £37 million to Calmac to balance their books.
There are other costs involved.
The fares on the larger Calmac ferries could be lower if the crews did not receive full board and lodgings when they are working their two weeks on stint.
There are also too many staff employed at Calmac HQ in Gourock
I have heard people complaining about this for the past twenty years.
Last September (2021) a Calmac member of staff told me that there were 300 staff employed at the Calmac Head Office in Gourock with managers reporting to managers.
The Calmac staff are all Scottish Government civil servants as Calmac Ferries Limited is owned by the Scottish Government.

[Deeranged]

It is not just islanders. All the holidaymakers from all round the world are having their fares subsided by the Scottish taxpayers. This is why the ‘once size fits all’ Scottish Government flagship RET scheme is costing the Scottish taxpayers a lot of money.
Prior to the introduction of the RET scheme the Scottish Government handed over £37 million to Calmac to balance their books.
There are other costs involved.
The fares on the larger Calmac ferries could be lower if the crews did not receive full board and lodgings when they are working their two weeks on stint.
There are also too many staff employed at Calmac HQ in Gourock
I have heard people complaining about this for the past twenty years.
Last September (2021) a Calmac member of staff told me that there were 300 staff employed at the Calmac Head Office in Gourock with managers reporting to managers.
The Calmac staff are all Scottish Government civil servants as Calmac Ferries Limited is owned by the Scottish Government.

Is subsidising fares maybe not just some prudent investment to draw people into these areas (relatively) cheaply, enable their spending in support of local communities and, ultimately, the national income? Let's face it once a tourist lands on any island in Scotland they're a sitting duck for the local rip off merchants.

[islaydarkblue]

Is subsidising fares maybe not just some prudent investment to draw people into these areas (relatively) cheaply, enable their spending in support of local communities and, ultimately, the national income? Let's face it once a tourist lands on any island in Scotland they're a sitting duck for the local rip off merchants.

The local residents on the Scottish islands are also sitting ducks for the rip off merchants.
Last April (2022) my wife and I were in the Port Charlotte Hotel on Islay.
A pint of lager was £5 and an OVD was £4.50.
A can of Coca Cola was £3.
My wife and I were at the DSA Player of the Year dinner in the Invercarse Hotel ballroom last May (2022).
A pint of lager was £4.80 and an OVD was £3.75.
A can of Coca Cola cost £2.50.
Eating out on Islay is hopeless for local residents as the menus never change throughout the whole year.
That is OK for tourists staying for a week but no use for people living there all the year round.

[islaydarkblue]

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

According to the Calmac Ferries Limited annual accounts for the year ending 31st March 2021 Calmac Ferries Limited received £156,617,000 from the Scottish Government.

[islaydarkblue]

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

I enclose details of the Calmac carrying statistics for 2021. https://www.calmac.co.uk/carrying-st...1-text-version
The figures are a bit skewed compared to pre Covid as there was a reduced timetable until 26th April 2021 with restricted passenger numbers throughout the whole of 2021.