Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care will be aware of Scottish Labour’s proposals to axe local health boards such as NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland, NHS Western Isles and NHS Grampian in favour of three health boards for the whole of Scotland. In my Highlands and Islands region, our local boards, particularly the island boards, remain a valuable means of local accountability in response to local needs, while a north-of-Scotland approach would significantly reduce decision making by people who live and work in the communities that they are supposed to serve.

Although the Scottish National Party, too, has a track record of centralising health services away from local communities, does the health secretary at least agree with me that Labour’s plans to axe health boards across the Highlands and Islands would be a backwards step? Does he accept that, as well as more local delivery of services, communities want local decision making and accountability to be protected in our NHS?

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of local decision making and local accountability in the national health service. (S6O-05633)

The cabinet secretary will be aware of the unique challenges of the Highlands and Islands, the challenges that customers face in accessing hub airports when there are limited public transport or other options available and the long journeys that those customers often have to make. I was contacted by constituents who sometimes travel hours to use Inverness airport and are offered only a 15-minute free drop-off and pick-up window to collect family and friends, with the risk of incurring significant charges if they stay longer. Those charges start at more than £10 for under an hour and apply even if the flight that they are meeting is delayed or has been cancelled, as it sometimes is before they have left. I have raised the issue with HIAL, which seems indifferent to my constituents’ concerns, so will the cabinet secretary raise it with Government-owned HIAL and ensure that my constituents are not penalised for matters that are outwith their control?

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd airports are as accessible as possible to all residents and users. (S6O-05598)

I remind members of my entry in the register of members’ interests, which states that I am a partner in a farming business.

The Scottish Government found itself forced into providing a drip feed of information about the chaotic introduction of round 1 of the scheme, whether through parliamentary questions, freedom of information requests or information that came directly from applicants. Does the minister intend that to be the case with round 2, or will he commit to proactively publishing—in good time—the sort of data on round 2 that I and other colleagues attempted to compel through amendments to the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, which he and his party colleagues joined in voted down?

I feel like Dr Allan is looking for an endorsement ahead of the election. I recognise that there is some good news—

It would not be a debate without Kevin Stewart shouting something from a sedentary position, would it?

We welcome the good news, but it does not make up for 19 years of complete failure on our ferries. We have heard about the many procurement issues. The truth is that the future of our ferry routes is shrouded in mystery. There is no forward planning for the capital expenditure that is needed to keep the fleet afloat or for the billions of pounds that is required across Scotland, and there is not even clarity about what the Scottish Government intends to pay for.

We have ferries that are run by private enterprises—although certain members of other Opposition parties are not great fans of that—by local authorities, by the Scottish Government through CalMac, and, in the case of NorthLink, through competitive tendering. The argument about fair funding between the CalMac interisland fleet in the Western Isles and the interisland routes in the northern isles, which are run by Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council, was ostensibly accepted by the SNP. However, does the Government equally accept the argument that capital expenditure and vessel requirements for council‑run services must, as a matter of principle, be treated equitably? Will fixed links be seriously considered on a sensible basis that reflects the additional benefits of a tunnel or bridge on routes where that is realistic and wanted?

In the Highlands, the locally run Corran ferry was again suspended a fortnight ago after the MV Maid of Glencoul, the half-century-old ferry that serves as its back-up vessel, required maintenance. Highland Council will have to seek an extension to its maintenance schedule in order to keep it running, while the MV Corran, the main vessel, sits awaiting parts.

As has been highlighted, the problem is that we have ageing vessels and absolutely no resilience or flexibility in the system for when they fail. A new electric vessel for the Corran Narrows crossing is due for delivery in 2028-29, but a replacement is desperately needed now. As Scotland’s fleet gets older, those issues will become the reality on more and more routes. More vessel failures means greater costs for repairs and servicing.

We have heard from my colleagues Sue Webber and Edward Mountain about the delays to the MV Glen Rosa at Ferguson Marine, which is a saga that continues to roll on but not roll off. Yesterday, when SNP ministers were back-slapping themselves about the Ferguson Marine news, the island communities that the boats will serve seemed of secondary importance to them. Those communities would be justified in their concerns that their new vessels are to be built by a company in which the Scottish Government clearly has more confidence than the Scottish public or islanders themselves do.

Confidence in Ferguson Marine or this SNP Government is a luxury that my constituents do not have. They suffer the economic and social costs of unreliable services, ancient vessels and reduced timetables now, and costs are falling on the communities that are least able to shoulder them. As my colleague Sue Webber highlighted, the fiasco was not inevitable; it was the result of this SNP Government’s mismanagement. Edward Mountain laid out that failure in detail. He said that no one has lost their job and that ministers should hang their heads in shame.

I have no doubt that islanders and others in ferry-dependent communities have lost out and suffered real harm because of the SNP Government’s failures. Although jobs and businesses have been lost, it is telling that not a single SNP minister has lost their job. Ferry-dependent communities, like everyone in the chamber, know that the blame does not lie with council headquarters, the workers at Ferguson Marine or the ferry operators and their hard-working crews. It lies squarely at the Government’s door.

16:54

I always enjoy listening to Richard Leonard speak. However, I tell him as an islander—I think that I speak on behalf of many islanders in the northern isles—that we would be worried about having CalMac Ferries run the ferry service in the northern isles. We do not want a public organisation such as CalMac to run it.

Will the member take an intervention?

I add my thanks to Fiona Hyslop for all her work, although there are a few things that I need her to sort out before she rides off into retirement.

One of the most important things that we have heard voiced in today’s debate is how communities have been affected year after year by ferry disruptions. Many of us—particularly those who represent the Highlands and Islands—have too often heard at first hand about the direct consequences of the Government’s failure for our communities and constituents. Perhaps it is easy to forget down here in Edinburgh how many of the communities that rely on lifeline ferry links are already disadvantaged. Such rural communities, which are generally remote and often on islands, deal with the challenges of geography, distance and low population density. Some must deal with depopulation while others struggle to attract working-age people and businesses to their communities. Businesses in the places that I call home work on lower margins and struggle more to get deliveries or, in the case of the visitor economy, to attract customers.

The blow of an unreliable ferry service and the resulting increase in isolation and economic harm are extra burdens for those communities to bear at a time when the Scottish Government talks in grand terms about making them attractive and sustainable places to live and work. Too often, SNP members have dismissed those concerns. Plenty of times, Opposition members have risen to ask a question about ferries and been met with groans from central belt MSPs, who simply do not understand or care about our island communities.