Scottish Government must respect will of parliament after it backs ferry compensation for coastal areas

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands Morven-May MacCallum has today said that the SNP government must now “do the right thing” and compensate coastal communities impacted by ferry disruption, after parliament backed a Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment calling for this funding.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat amendment called for the Islands Resilience Fund “to offer more funding, and sooner, to both island businesses and the coastal communities that have been consistently excluded from the scheme.”

Scottish Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for the fund to cover coastal communities like Dunoon, Ardrossan and Mallaig, but the Scottish Government have so far refused to extend it.  

Scottish Liberal Democrat Highlands and Islands MSP Morven-May MacCallum said:

“I am extremely glad that the Scottish Parliament has backed my party’s call for ferry compensation to be extended to coastal areas.

“It was Scottish Liberal Democrat campaigning on this issue that led to the Scottish Government introducing the Islands Resilience Fund in the first place, but we were concerned to see gaps in its eligibility.

“As it stands, towns like Dunoon and Mallaig have been forsaken. They don’t see a penny in compensation, despite delayed and cancelled ferries hitting their local economies hard.

“The Scottish Government must now do the right thing, respect the will of parliament and deliver this funding for coastal communities.”