Community voice and transparency

Issue

One of the more frequently raised points was that, although there have already been many surveys and consultations, those who make decisions about ferry services do not listen to communities and that requests and suggestions have not been acted upon. The most frequent suggestion was that there should be more direct, face-to-face communication with members of the community, in the form of public meetings, workshops and drop-in sessions. There was also a view that CalMac’s Ferries Community Board should provide more feedback and communicate discussions directly to the communities themselves. A community representation on boards of public organisations delivering ferry services was also seen as a way to improve community voice and transparency of decision making. 

Response

We recognise that further improvements are required. We will look at ways to proactively engage with island communities. Suggestions from respondents include: visiting them, rather than asking people to attend meetings, providing opportunities for questions at engagement sessions and reaching out those who are more difficult to reach. We are keen to hear from everyone who wants to provide us with their insights and contributions. We have done so during recent face to face community visits where alongside drop-in sessions we have, through a workshop type exercise, explored three of the key themes: community voice and transparency, accessibility, and integration of ferries with onward and connecting travel.

We will be looking in detail at the suggestions provided by those who responded to the consultation and/or attended our engagement events and will include updated plans in the final Strategic Approach.

We consider that the finalised ICP vision, priorities and the Vessels and Ports Plan will provide shared and recognised direction to ferry operators and vessel owners responsible for delivery of CHFS and NIFS services. We will establish meaningful and transparent way of tracking the delivery against agreed performance indicators across all organisations.

CalMac’s Enhancement and Change Plan includes a commitment to increasing the level of engagement with community members including early face to face engagement to discuss timetables and reviewing the consultation process for major service changes.

We will, through the next CHFS contract, enhance the role of the Ferries Community Board and improve awareness of it across communities and its primary purpose to be the voice of the communities.