Council offers to mortgage new ferries 24/6/10
The Comhairle could use its cash borrowing powers to raise loans to purchase new ferries it has been mooted.
A huge stumbling block to building a fleet of modern ferries for the west coast is funding a ship building programme.
The Scottish Government relies completely on its getting its budget allocation from Westminster and, under the Devolution Act, is legally banned from long term borrowing money to develop infrastructure.
But local authorities aren’t and often borrow finance for major projects like roads and schools.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has told the Scottish Government it is willing to participate in a scheme where the islands’ council would take out a mortgage from a commercial maritime lender on a new vessel to serve the Western Isles. The repayments could be met by extra funding the council receives from central government.
The Scottish Government does not seem keen on the idea but the Comhairle believes it is a practical solution to invest in modernising the aging Minch ferry fleet.
Council leader Angus Campbell points out that under the current methods the Scottish Government can only afford £10 million a year towards new ships.
Thus it would take another four years at least to find the the £30 to £40 million
cost to replace the MV Isle of Lewis for example. A mid-
Mr Campbell said: “The Scottish Government has a fixed capital budget for ships and has no powers to borrow money.
But if it gave the council “extra revenue to pay back a loan then this would speed up the aquisition of new ships.”
The new ship would be controlled by asset-
Meanwhile, sailings out of Tarbert are fully booked on Saturday mornings for the
next two months. The success of RET has led to increased holiday bookings and the
weekend change-