News / RET discussions ongoing
DOUBTS emerged whether roads equivalent tariff (RET) will be delivered for the Northern Isles in the first half of the year, as promised by Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf.
Transport Scotland’s head of policy and contract management Margaret Horn told the Shetland External Transport Forum on Thursday that officials were still embroiled in “hot” discussions with private ferry operators on the Orkney to Caithness route, but still hoped to be able to roll out RET by the end of the month.
She said: “We hope to still have that, but the difficulty is with commercial operators in the Pentland Firth.” The government had to reach an accommodation with them without breaking state aid rules.
Forum members were critical of the lack of detail about freight in the supposedly comprehensive STAG report that will inform the terms of the next Northern Isles ferry contract due to start in November next year.
Horn explained that the concentration on RET had been at the expense of commercial detail, but all would be re-considered before the tendering process begins.
Lerwick Port Authority chief executive Sandra Laurenson said the STAG report was already two years out of date and needed to be looking at the situation in two years time, when the town’s new white fish market would be complete. RET was also set to increase pressure on the route by making travel more attractive.
But Horn sought to assure her that enough flexibility would be built into the contract to allow sufficient expansion of service and that consultation was continuing with freight operators so that the contract would deliver a service appropriate for isles’ needs.
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