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Tender process 'a shambles' as no takers found for ferry route

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Published Date:
14 November 2006
THE tendering process for Caledonian MacBrayne's ferry routes was branded a shambles last night, as it was confirmed that no bids had been received for the first service up for grabs.
The Scottish Executive said it was disappointed it had had no offers to run the Gourock-Dunoon route, the future of which is now uncertain.

Neither CalMac, which received a subsidy of £2.5 million to run the service last year, nor Western Ferries
, which runs a rival service, had bid by yesterday's deadline, saying they could not run it on a commercial basis.

The stalemate has cast doubt on the tendering of CalMac's other Clyde and Hebrides routes which are going out to tender to meet European Commission competition rules.

Fergus Ewing, the SNP's transport spokesman, said: "This is a complete shambles and its beginning to look like the marine version of the Holyrood process and a waste of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money."

David Davidson, the Conservatives' transport spokesman, said: "The time has undoubtedly come for the Auditor General to step in and instigate a comprehensive review of the Executive's conduct in the tendering of all ferry routes."

Three firms were invited to bid when the Gourock-Dunoon route went out to tender in July.

Ministers said then that if this failed to find a suitable operator, they would go out to tender on the basis of a subsidised service.

CalMac said last night that the current service would continue to operate for the time being.

The Executive said it would ensure the service continued until any alternative arrangements were in place and would investigate options for a future subsidised service.



The full article contains 305 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 13 November 2006 10:56 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Caledonian MacBrayne
 
1

Guga,

Rockall 14/11/2006 11:07:57

So, what's liable to happen to the overpriced lifeline services to the islands? We have what are probably the dearest ferries in the world, and the way this bunch of numpties are handling things, they are going to end up pricing us right out of the market.

Still, the Westminster government have been wanting to have a clearance of the islands since the 1920's, and as wee Joke McConnell only does what his masters in Westminster tell him, they may yet succeed.

2

Stewarty,

14/11/2006 11:16:19

We are now beginning to see the consequences of the failure of Nicol Stephen (former Transport Minister) and Tavish Scott (his successor) to stand up to Europe and tell the Transport Commissioner (a convicted embezzler) to go and boil his head when it became apparent that the EU were taking a false and perverse line in seeking to have CalMac services go out to tender.

So much for the acumen of Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament.

Scott is now in a quandary because there is no way that a subsidised service can be justified under EU rules and if this were to continue into the future you can bet your bottom dollar that Western Ferries will cry "foul", not to mention clamourings from the discredited Transport Commisioner, Jacques Barrot, to cease such subsidisation.

It is time for Scottish Ministers to stand up for Scotland and tell the EU where to stick its diktats. We do not want a repeat of (yet another) LD Minister - Ross Finnie - selling Scottish interests down the river.

3

Kenmac,

Argyll 14/11/2006 11:54:09

The Executive here, as "owners" of CalMac on our behalf, have presided over yet another ferry fiasco.

The town centre to town centre operation between Dunoon and Gourock with inter connecting rail services to Glasgow is what is essential for the future of Dunoon for commuters, for holiday makers and for those who need to access centralised services on the lower Clyde and as the southern entry point to the Lomond National Park.

Western Ferries with their "clunky" basic car ferries on the shortest route are not going to attempt to switch to the town centre operation. They own their own terminals and do very well in the present climate.

CalMac operate aged "streaker" roros that are past their optimum service date and are suitable only for the decrepit pier arrangements at Dunoon. There are no plans to replace these old vessels.

At the same time there is a modern link span installed at Dunoon with nobody using it. Costs supposedly around £6m.

CalMac have operated the town centre route for years now under a severe restriction on the service that they can offer. This handicap was introduced by the Tories to assist the private competition and has been preserved by the present Labour Executive.

Hardly surprising that nobody will tender for this route. Western Ferries don't need to and CalMac can't afford to.

The real and present danger is that an inferior passenger service will eventually be introduced to replace the CalMac service and Western Ferries will inherit a vehicle monopoly. It will not be difficult to see who will be the winners in this scenario.

Clearly the losers will be the people of Cowal.

4

Miss H,

14/11/2006 11:57:30

It is rubbish to say that services can't be subsidised under EU rules, of course they can. But the services have to be tendered, and rightly so, otherwise we end up with a monopoly like Calmac.

Take a trip to Scandinavia if you want to see how it is done properly!

5

The Strategist,

14/11/2006 14:23:05

Strange organisation Calmac.. For example I noticed they managed to appoint their new Chairman only a couple of days after final application date.... How did they do that? Did nobody else apply or had they decided who it was going to be beforehand? Or indeed were they told who to appoint?

6

Stewarty,

14/11/2006 19:05:01

Kenmac #3 - a good expose of the situation.

Conversely, Miss H #4 - I am afraid you are very much mistaken in your belief that EU Rules allow subsidisation in the current circumstances -and I talk as someone who was involved officially on the periphery when the spectre of tendering first reared its head.

If the Scottish Executive - and specifically the Lib Dem Transport Minister - tells EU to get stuffed, I will be the first to applaud, but to date Tavish Scott has failed miserably to display that he possesses a spine. I am not hopeful.

You may well be happy with tendering, Miss H, but I wonder if you would continue to be so enthusiastic if you knew how much money it is costing you - the taxpayer. In fact, far more than the current subsidies which they EU is so intent on seeing disappear.

The Calmac situation is the classic case of EU interference for interference' sake. The money-grabbing Barrot has singularly failed so far to spell out what the accrued advantages from tendering are.

Perhaps with your apparent knowledge of the circumstances in Scandinavia you could go one better than the recalcitrant Barrot and regail us with the advantages perceived in that part of Europe which could be applied in Scotland? Over to you!

7

dugi,

Oban 14/11/2006 23:48:40

perhaps ,if wanting to save money with the Cal Mac outfit ,the accountants across in Holywrood should be cutting back on the wasted money being spent within Cal Mac .

Office staff ,company cars ,overseas jollies and fact finding missions .
Fancy computers systems and overpaid staff .
Its tax payers money being spent nae wasted in some areas within this group .
This cut back on waste could help reduce fares to the public --the scottish taxpayers . Maybe Miss H
is correct -go and see how the other countries do it .

And while the catering senior director is looking
along with the other consultants ,he could pick up some ideas on food for the public Cal Mac transports. .

The days of pie and chips have moved on sir . we cater for all tastes nowadays in our groups food
outlets .Give it a try and watch the profits rise !!

8

Stewarty,

15/11/2006 17:39:10

You seem to have a vivid imagination, dugi, in referring to office staff and overpaid staff etc. etc.

In fact the office staff tend to be paid in the lowest quartile (bottom quarter) of comparisons across industry and also work longer hours for a basic week than most transport companies' office staff.

Company cars there may be but which company does not have a surfeit of them? Some company cars will be warranted for visiting the outlying port terminals - since our dear friend Tavish Scott has failed to facilitate reasonable public transport in those areas.

On unnecessary cost it is worth noting that the set-up costs of splitting the organisation prior to tendering was £16m - we can blame the imbeciles in the EU for that and those Scottish politicans without backbone who have failed to fight Scotland's corner and stand up to the EU.

It is interesting that you complain of oversees jollies and fact-finding missions and then suggest that Miss H is correct and people should go and see what happens outside Scotland! A little contradiction here.

I do agree about the food. Calmac's food has been legendary - for all the wrong reasons.


 

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