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I am happy for Chris Wilcock to come in.

I do not want them to be in service for 30 years. We want to reduce the average age of the fleet, so that is absolutely not my intention.

Obviously, CMAL will look at mitigation in that regard. There is a solution for the small vessel fleet, which relates to batteries, but it is true that there are more challenges with larger vessels. We now have LNG for vessels 801 and 802. I think that Jim Anderson described that as a transition fuel. We need to think about how we will provide, in the future, cleaner ferries that meet our net zero aspirations. That applies particularly to larger vessels, because the technology for them is just not there yet. We need to keep pace with the technology. That goes back to the point that Ms Lennon made about experts. We need to engage with experts and academics to ensure that we are abreast of all the latest developments and that CMAL has the relevant data to ensure that the design spec keeps pace with those developments.

My officials might want to say more about the specifics.

I very much recognise the challenge to the Government there. The existing arrangements are historical—they have been in place for a number of years, as Ms Lennon will know. The Government will need to look at that, although I have not been presented with any suggestions on how we might change that arrangement at the current time. However, that is something that we will need to consider.

I have recently heard from other members on that point. That is a convention that has existed historically, but we will need to look at that in the longer term.

Yes—absolutely. I am not going to disband Transport Scotland at the committee’s meeting this morning, convener. However, to get into the detail of Ms Hyslop’s question, it is important that we recognise some of the challenges with the current tripartite structure. I am sure that committee members have read the project Neptune report and they will know that the tripartite structure comes with a number of challenges. There is a line in the report that says that the role of ministers is often quite detached from the tripartite structure. That is problematic, because I answer parliamentary questions in the chamber and I appear before the committee, yet ministers can feel very detached from that process.

Ms Hyslop asked whether some of the responsibilities could be transferred within the Scottish Government. Yes, they could. Could that strengthen the relationship between Transport Scotland and the Scottish ministers? Yes. Ultimately, following project Neptune, the community consultation work will tell us where the community wants us to go in that regard, and I am keen to hear from it. I do not want to prejudge that, but Ms Hyslop makes an interesting point.

It is interesting. The Norwegian experience is very different from what we have in Scotland, given the number and type of routes that are run and the type of vessels that are used. If we look at project Neptune, we can see that Scotland is quite unique in how we deliver ferry services. No other country in the world does things as we do them in Scotland. Maybe that is a good thing and maybe it is a bad thing—I will allow the committee to judge that. Nonetheless, I do not think that unbundling would provide us with the answers that we need here.

I return to Ms Hyslop’s observation in her question that the main challenge for the fleet just now is resilience and reliability. How do we improve that? That is what I am absolutely focused on, as transport minister, at the current time. It is about bringing in extra tonnage where we are able to do that, making sure that there is the investment that Mr Kerr spoke about—we have done a lot of that work in the past year—and ensuring that passengers’ lived experience of the network improves. It will need to improve markedly in the interim.

I would be happy to do that.

The member has asked a fair question. On the vessels that have been procured and are being built in Turkey, that was a free and open competition, and we could not dictate such terms in that competition. I am prepared to be wrong about that—I am looking at officials in case they are going to correct me. We could not dictate in that competition where the award was made, because it was an open competition.

The point about the supply chain issue is well made. As far as I understand it, there will be benefits to the UK supply chain in relation to the vessels that are being built in Turkey.

Obviously, we will have to do that as a matter of urgency, but I reflect to committee members that that is the first time that I have heard that statistic. I do not know whether officials have heard that previously in relation to inflationary impacts. It is also important to reflect that we have already leveraged £580 million into ports and vessels, so the additionality, which has been brought in the past financial year, joins that contribution.

In answer to Mr Kerr’s wider point in relation to inflation, of course, we will need to work with CMAL on mapping out what those inflationary impacts actually mean for the current fleet and the deliverables, which are absolutely key.

However, today was the first time that I had heard that particular statistic in relation to the inflationary impacts on the fleet. I am happy to hear officials’ views on that, but I think that we will need to look at the point that Mr Kerr has raised.

Yes, absolutely; I would.