RET hit by island ferrymen
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ROAD Equivalent Tariff could have an adverse effect on the financial management of Scottish ferry services, Scottish Transport Group managing director Ian Irwin told the House of Commons Scottish affairs committee last week.
He said that the STG, which manages the Caledonian MacBrayne shipping service, supports the Government's proposals to provide financial support to help island communities. However, the use of road vehicle operating costs for shipping routes would not be based on the cost of operating the ships.
Mr Irwin said he felt that the Government may move away from pure RET for the ferry routes, and added that he believed that the existing CalMac rates scales are close to what the Government wants to achieve.
And STG deputy chairman John Whittle, who has direct responsibility for CalMac, said he believed that the existing tapered scale, with the rate of increase diminishing on longer routes, would meet the objec tives. This system reflects the lower operating costs per mile on longer crossings.
CalMac charges now reflect the economic importance of lorry traffic, and freight rates have been increased at a rate well below that of inflation. Other regular users receive discounts, and there is some element of premium charging for summer tourist traffic.
Mr Irwin told committee chairman David Lam bie (Labour, Central Ayrshire) that he hoped that there would be a "good announcement" about CalMac charges very soon, but said he had no idea of when RET might be introduced.
He told the committee that the company has been able to lower its manning costs on the Gourock/Dunoon crossing on the Clyde, following agreements with the Department of Trade, and said that similar savings would be made on the Wemyss Bay/Rothesay and Ardrossan/ Brodick (Arran) crossings.
And Mr Whittle told John Carrie (Conservative, Bute and North Ayrshire) that CalMac had reduced its administrative overheads by not replacing one of its directors or its operations manager, and other management savings were being made where these would not harm the company's services.
Mr Irwin told Mr Corrie, after some hesitation, that CalMac would welcome an external efficiency audit, and said he expected that one may be planned for later this year.