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Crown Estate Scotland (CES)is responsible for all seabed leasing arrangements, including lease periods, for the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) projects.As part of the INTOG planning process, Marine Scotland Directorate will undertake a full plan-level Sustainability Appraisal, including a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Appraisal, to assess the potential effects of the plan on the marine environment and ecosystem. These assessments will consider the potential for impact from the full lifetime of a project, from construction through to decommissioning.

The Sustainability Appraisal and public consultation will help inform the adoption of a final INTOG plan. CES will only offer seabed lease options to projects that form part of the adopted plan.

Any project which is awarded a lease option will then need to apply for relevant marine licences and consents, and complete any further required environmental assessments before they can progress.

Information on the organisations that were invited to tender for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract on each occasion that it was put to tender is already in the public domain and is below

For CHFS1 tender in 2005 - Three organisations (Western Ferries, Caledonian MacBrayne and V-Ships) completed and returned a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire by the closing date of 15 December 2005.

For CHFS2 tender in 2016 - CalMac Ferries Limited and Serco Caledonian Ferries Limited both passed the pre-qualification stage of the process and were invited to submit tenders.

Fampridine (Fampyra ®) was accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) as a treatment for improvement of walking in adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with walking disability, with a score of 4-7 on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) in April 2020.

There is also an alternative route of access to fampridine out with the SMC advice through the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two process, where a doctor considers there would be a clinical benefit for an individual on a case-by-case basis. Individuals can discuss this option with their treating clinician.

It is worth noting that the decision to prescribe any medicine for an individual, and which medicine to prescribe, is entirely one for the clinician in charge of the individual’s care to make, having taken into account their clinical condition.

Discussions with the Chair of the Ferries Community Board remain ongoing to develop the scope of work to be undertaken. I will next meet with the Chair on Wednesday 5 th October.

Any period of disruption will be considered on a case by case basis.

The tender design stage is ongoing, and further work is required prior to the publication of the Invitation to Tender document. However I am hopeful that significant progress on this will be made this year and I will of course continue to keep the member and Parliament updated of any significant developments.

P&O Ferries is not a member of the Scottish Maritime Cluster Limited and therefore has not benefited from funding granted to the Cluster by Transport Scotland.

We are aware from other infrastructure projects that construction costs have been impacted by increases in inflation, as well as a rise in materials, fuel and wages as a result of the pandemic, exit from the European Union and the situation in Ukraine. The full impacts will not be known until the tender bid and evaluation stage for the Ardrossan project has been undertaken.

I met with Cumbrae ferry stakeholders on 1 June 2022 to discuss a range of ferry issues. It was agreed that Transport Scotland and CalMac would consider if books of tickets could be offered to islanders under the new ‘Ar Turas’ ticketing & reservation system.

The intention is to provide users of the Largs-Cumbrae service with the option to purchase a convenience 10-journey ticket product online or at the Largs ticket office. I await an update from my officials in Transport Scotland and CalMac on this matter.

I slanders who are eligible for a Young Scot National Entitlement Card currently receive two free return journeys to the mainland each year.

The introduction of the Road Equivalent Tariff on CalMac ferry services delivered an estimated average 34% reduction in passenger fares and 40% for cars and it continues to save passengers around £25m a year.

The young persons’ free bus travel scheme applies to all young people across the country, including those who live on Scotland’s islands. However, it is important that Government reflects on policy implementation in rural areas and in our island communities. To that end, ferry fares policy and specifically the issue of young people’s access to public transport, will be considered as part of the Fair Fares review.