Freight

Issue

The consultation paper noted that the NZET Committee recommended reconsideration of wider policy on the provision of freight capacity on Scottish ferry routes and the point at which profitable businesses should no longer be reliant on public subsidy of their freight costs. Consultation respondents were concerned about the negative impact of freight fare increases. 

Response

We recognise concerns about the negative impact that a blanket increase in freight fares could have on small island businesses and on on-island consumer prices.

We will revise the Strategic Approach section on freight to clarify that the proposal for a different way of sharing these costs, as suggested by the NZET Committee, is not intended to increase the cost of goods for island residents, noting the potential for unintended consequences. 

We will continue to explore the feasibility of this proposal as part of the planned revisit of the Freight Fares Review and set out in the final Strategic Approach how we intend to consider freight issues including meeting capacity, fares and reliability/resilience in partnership with operators and industry. This work will include consideration of the significant but time-limited freight requirements of major development projects.