PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
FUTURE OF CLYDE AND HEBRIDES FERRY SERVICES (5 July 2015)

That this House is concerned that publicly owned lifeline ferry services to the Clyde and Hebrides communities are being put out to tender and may be privatised if the contract for ferry operations is passed from publicly owned Caledonian Macbrayne to corporate giant Serco; notes that the decision as to whether this service will be privatised will be a matter solely for the Scottish Government; believes that those who rely on these services and those who work on them are justifiably concerned for the future, as the Scottish Government privatised the Northern Isles ferry services in 2012 when it handed the contract to Serco, resulting in attacks on services, jobs, manning levels and pensions; is further concerned that, despite doing such a tremendous job, Caledonian MacBrayne workers have yet to receive a positive response from the Scottish Government to their entirely reasonable demands to protect their jobs, conditions and pensions; calls for those concerns to be met; and supports Clyde and Hebrides ferry services remaining in the public sector.

Sponsored by:
Ian Lavery (Labour)