Ferry Services

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 22 May 2013.

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Photo of Keith Brown Keith Brown Scottish National Party

Again, there was no answer from Rhoda Grant as to whether she will commit herself to what I described. If the Labour Party is not committed to it, what is it making a fuss about? That is the big question.

The motion is disparate. To go back to the Hamnavoe, I was asked what the contract says about unscheduled unavailability. The contract with Serco explicitly covers what will happen in the event of vessel failure. It is obliged to respond to that efficiently and effectively by making best use of its existing maritime expertise and industry contacts. That is a fairly standard provision in such contracts.

We have seen the efforts that Serco has made to get the Hamnavoe back as quickly as possible. As I mentioned when I said that I would try to update the Parliament, we have the chance that the Hamnavoe will come back into service tomorrow, which is a day earlier than was originally intended, because a great deal of work has been done. There is no question but that the failure was substantial. Playing with words such as “debacle” does no credit to the members who have done that.