Executive Summary

The Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) sets out the Scottish Government’s long-term objectives and policies for ensuring necessary and sustainable transport links for our islands. It comprises an overarching Strategic Approach supported by a number of delivery plans, of which this is one.

This Vessels and Ports Plan provides detail on the Scottish Government’s objectives for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) and Northern Isles Ferry Services (NIFS), for which the Scottish Ministers are directly responsible.

Engagement with key stakeholders during the development of this Vessels and Ports Plan indicated that reliability and resilience are their key priorities for vessel and port investment.

Meeting objectives to address these priorities will primarily be realised by upgrading existing infrastructure and replacing the existing vessels with an efficient and sustainable modern ferry fleet. This Plan sets out the recommended investment programme needed to maintain and safely operate lifeline ferry services, including measures to:

• renew the fleet and upgrade ports in response to asset age and condition;
• improve weather resilience and technical reliability when investing in new vessels and port upgrades;
• improve accessibility in the fleet and ports;
• improve resilience through an expansion in the major vessel fleet and through increased inter-operability and standardisation of vessels and ports;
• retain a major vessel in the fleet to operate on a resilience basis until at least 2030.

This Plan outlines the need for significant and sustained investment to achieve its delivery as an integral part of progress towards establishing a secure and sustainable long-term financial foundation for our ferry networks, as set out in our Strategic Approach. It will inform transport investment in Scotland for around the next 20 years (2025-2045) by providing evidence-based recommendations on which Scottish Ministers can base future ferry investment decisions.

Delivery of this Plan will also require decisions to be taken as part of annual budget reviews going forward. The Plan proposes an objective and transparent approach to “investment prioritisation”, that will guide those difficult prioritisation decisions.

To ensure this Plan remains up to date, we intend to refresh it every two to three years and fully update it every five years. This will enable it to be shaped in light of consultation responses and the outcomes of the refreshed needs assessments that we intend to undertake for each community served by CHFS and NIFS services.