Highland's 'sloppy' case criticised
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• Highland Regional Council has been severely criticised by Scottish Traffic Commissioner Hugh McNamara for the way in which it introduced competitive tendering for local services.
At a hearing in Inverness it was told it could have cost the ratepayer unnecessary expense. It had objected to road service licence applications by Highland Scottish in Thurso, Dingwell and Nairn. McNamara threw out the objections and reprimanded the Council for the "sloppy" way it presented its case.
The Council was the first in Scotland to complete its tee dering round with new services beginning on August 11. McNamara believed it might have made mistakes in its haste to implement changes and questioned whether it had consulted fully enough in formulating its policy.
McNamara noted that the council had awarded contracts to Dunnetts, Spa Motors and Rapsons at Thurso, Dingwall and Nairn, knowing that Highland Scottish had registered the routes to run without subsidy (see page 13).