Introduction
Background
Services delivered under the CHFS contract play a crucial role in Scotland’s transport system, providing vital links for residents, businesses and tourists across the west coast. Scottish Ministers’ preferred route for procurement of the new contract is a direct award to Caledonian MacBrayne Ferries Ltd (CalMac) via a Teckal exemption. This is an arrangement that, in certain circumstances, allows for the direct award of a contract to an in-house operator, without having to go through a competitive bidding process. This would be subject to a satisfactory due diligence exercise, with a final decision reached later in the year.
Early work on CHFS3 has included review of existing feedback from ferry-dependent communities, key stakeholders and reports conducted throughout the current contract. The feedback provided by these sources and further focused discussions with key stakeholders has aided the development of the consultation themes and questions.
The consultation exercise was launched on 15 December 2023 and ran until 8 March 2024. It asked 19 questions that provided an opportunity to contribute to the contract development process and to shaping the future of ferry services.
Where consent has been given to publish the response, it may be found at Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS3) - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space.
Profile of responses
A total of 434 responses were available for analysis. There were a small number of duplicate responses removed before the analysis was undertaken. Most of these (395 responses) were submitted through the Scottish Government’s Citizen Space consultation analysis platform. A further 24 responses were available that had been sent directly to the Transport Scotland policy team, with one further response that was an additional document to a submission already submitted through Citizen Space. Some of these followed the question structure set out in the consultation and a small number were statement style responses. The content of these latter responses has been analysed at the most appropriate consultation question.
In addition, Transport Scotland received a further 15 email messages which, as Respondent Information Forms were not available, these respondents have been included as individuals. These emails did not answer the closed questions set out in the consultation document, and as above, their content has been included within the analysis of further comments.
Respondents were asked to identify whether they were responding as an individual or on behalf of a group or organisation. Group respondents were allocated to one of eleven groups by the analysis team. A breakdown of the number of responses received by respondent type is set out below, and a full list of group respondents appended to this report as Annex 1.
| Type of respondent | Number |
|---|---|
| Community Council or Development Trust | 7 |
| Farming or land management organisation | 3 |
| Ferry Board, Committee or Group | 8 |
| Haulage company or representative body | 3 |
| Local Authority or HSCP | 4 |
| Public Body | 3 |
| Tourism business | 3 |
| Trade Union | 2 |
| Transport Partnership | 2 |
| Voluntary sector organisation | 2 |
| Other business or representative body | 4 |
| Organisations | 41 |
| Individuals | 393 |
| All respondents | 434 |
In addition to undertaking the online consultation, Transport Scotland held a number of engagement events between November 2023 and February 2024. Further information on these events is set out in Table 2 below.
| Network area | Location | Date | Number of attendees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firth of Clyde | Brodick, Arran | 20/11/2023 | 15 to 30 |
| Firth of Clyde | Rothesay, Bute | 29/01/2024 | Fewer than 15 |
| Firth of Clyde | Millport, Cumbrae | 14/02/2024 | 30 or more |
| Southern Hebrides | Port Ellen, Islay | 22/11/2023 | Fewer than 15 |
| Southern Hebrides | Colonsay | 20/02/2024 | 15 to 30 |
| Inner Hebrides | Craignure, Mull | 20/11/2023 | Fewer than 15 |
| Inner Hebrides | Tiree | 14/02/2024 | 15 to 30 |
| Skye, Raasay & Small Isles | Armadale, Skye | 21/11/2023 | 15 to 30 |
| Outer Hebrides | Stornoway, Isle of Lewis | 22/11/2023 | 15 to 30 |
| Outer Hebrides | Lochmaddy, North Uist | 06/02/2024 | Fewer than 15 |
| Outer Hebrides | Lochboisdale, South Uist | 06/02/2024 | Fewer than 15 |
Transport Scotland recorded both verbal and written feedback from those attending the events, analysis of which has also been included within this report.
Analysis and reporting
The report presents a question-by-question analysis of answers to the closed questions. The analysis uses variable bases i.e. includes only those who answered the closed question. Please note that percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
Feedback from the events has been analysed across each of the eight themes covered by the consultation and a summary analysis of views expressed at the stakeholder events is presented in text boxes in some of the chapters.
Although the main analysis focuses on the specific questions asked, a number of respondents provided more general comments on the quality, and in particular reliability, of ferry services. Issues relating to both the strategic and operational management of ferry services were also raised. A summary analysis of these general themes is provided at the beginning of Chapter 3.
Finally, and as with any public consultation exercise, it should be noted that those responding generally have a particular interest in the subject area. Therefore, the views they express cannot necessarily be seen as representative of wider public opinion.