West Highland Free Press | Friday 20 March 201516

naidheachdan newsbeachd comment

We used to hear a lot, most of itbad, about the Private FinanceInitiative (PFI) and its alter ego,Public Private Partnerships (PPP)to the point at which it becamereceived wisdom that these wereiniquitous schemes, designed toexploit the public purse for vastprivate profit.

I never bought into that blanketcondemnation. In fact, I stronglysupported the use of PPPs to fund, forexample, new schools when Labourwas elected in 1997 and found anurgent need for a massive buildingprogramme far beyond the means ofconventional public procurement.Many communities benefited hugelyfrom the approach taken.

Critics liked to play off the life-timecosts of PPP against the price ofpaying a contractor up-front. Thecomparison was, of course, over-simplistic because it did not takeaccount of what the taxpayer, localand national, has long had to stump upfor, decade after decade, once thejerry-builders walked away or wentbust. There were a few prime localexamples of that.

Each PFI/PPP deserved to be judgedon the merits of the specific dealnegotiated. For that to happen, thereneeds to be transparency. There is apublic right to know the terms of thesecontracts including the key questionof where responsibility lies for repairsonce the shine has worn off and roofsstart to leak.

That is all by way of preamble to thefact that, unknown to most of the WestHighlands and Islands, a massive newPFI/PPP has, quite literally, sailed intoour midst. For the first time inCaledonian MacBrayne history, avessel bearing the companys livery isnot owned by the public sector but byLloyds Banking Group. The LochSeaforth is leased to CaledonianMaritime Assets Ltd and sub-leased toCalMac.

The implications may prove to berelatively minor or extremely major. Ido not take the Loch Seaforths earlyglitches too seriously. But if, at somefuture point, small irritations give wayto large problems, where doesresponsibility lie for remedying them?The absolute certainty is that the SNP-run Scottish Government once theholier-than-thou scourges of PFI/PPP -have absolutely no intention of tellingus.

In response to Free Press inquiriesabout the terms of the leasing deal, theanswer was: The MV Loch Seaforthwas purchased and financed by LloydsBanking Group whose financialarrangements with the shipyard arecommercially confidential Theresponsibility for day-to-daymaintenance of the MV Loch Seaforthrests with the operator, CalMac FerriesLtd. It is an answer designed only toevade.

Nobody asked about the financialarrangements between the shipyardand Lloyds Banking Group. Andneither, frankly, is day-to-daymaintenance the big issue. The realquestion involves the leasing chargeswhich CalMac, via CMAL, must payto Lloyds Bank and over what period?They will not say. And what do thesecharges cover, if and when things gowrong? Again, the SNP governmentwill not say. Commercialconfidentiality, dear boy.

I took a look at the CalMac accountswhich reveal another little knownfigure. They are already paying 22.5million a year to CMAL in leasingcharges. That is before the LochSeaforth which, we can reasonablyassume, will add another 5 million orso a year, in order to fund theexpectations of Lloyds Bank investors.All of this money comes out of theCalMac subsidy, so that boasts aboutincreases in that figure are wildlymisleading.

With over 27 million of taxpayersmoney spent on alterations to the twoferry terminals, 42 million as theheadline cost of a ferry which willcertainly rack up two or three timesthat cost over the period of the lease,and millions more resulting fromdelays, the sums involved inintroducing the Loch Seaforth arealready eye-watering. But there isabsolutely no transparency about whathas been agreed or what lies ahead. Itmight be the worst PFI/PPP deal inhistory but it is a secret.

The frightening point is that CalMacare now powerless to influence theseevents. They had nothing to do withcommissioning the vessel. They do notown it. They have no responsibility forthe terminals or the delays whichinflicted both costs to be met fromsubsidy and reputational damage.The structure created to facilitateprivatisation has left CalMac as mereoperators at the mercy of others.

Who negotiated the PFI/PPP, call itwhat you will, with the LloydsBanking Group? Which politicianslooking for votes in the WestHighlands and Islands will support thecall for full transparency over the termsof that agreement? Is there any ofHolyroods feeble committees whichwill investigate this wholetransformation in how west coast ferryservices are structured and funded?Does anyone there care about value formoney?

Meanwhile, last Fridays Press andJournal carried the heading SNPMinister defends states ferryservices. At first sight, it looked likestandard political knockabout. Oncloser inspection, the story containedan extremely important sentenceattributed to Mr Mackay: Let me beclear on this point, the Clyde andHebrides ferry services will remainunder public control through Scottishministers for the term of the nextcontract and will not be privatised.

The significance lies in the fact thatMr Mackay seeks to defineprivatisation in a way that nobody elsedoes and the SNP certainly has notdone until now. Given that he has justlaunched a tendering process, MrMackay obviously cannot beannouncing that a private company isnot going to win it. And 99 per cent ofthe population would say that, if aprivate company does win it, thatwould mean privatisation.

Mr Mackay (or, more accurately, thecivil servant who provided him withthis formulation) is getting hiscasuistry in first. Privatisation,according to this new doctrine, nolonger describes who is running apublic service but who sets the termsunder which it is run. On that basis, therailways to take just one obviousexample have never been privatisedsince they too operate under the termsof public contracts.

So if Serco displace CalMac nextyear, then proceed to attack the termsand conditions of the workforce, andgenerally behave as private companiestend to when maximisation of profit istheir objective, are we all to takecomfort from Mr Mackays weaselwords The services will not beprivatised because they remainunder public control through Scottishministers?

For anyone who did not believeuntil now what they are up to, MrMackays redefinition of what doesand does not constitute privatisationshould lift scales from their eyes. Intodays Scotland, there will be plentyso blind that they have absolutely nowish to see. Neither will they questionwhy the MV Loch Seaforth is amoney-making machine for LloydsBank, on terms that are totallyunknown to communities which mustnow depend on the service it provides.

BRIAN WILSON

writes Controversial Plockton houseplans to be studied by council

A Give and Take day was held in the Skeabost Memorial Hall on Skye last Saturday as part of the nationalGive it Away week. Everyone attending the event in the hall cafe had the opportunity to give away unwanteditems and then, if someone elses donation caught their eye, they could take that away. The cafe which isopen from Tuesday to Saturday, and provides revenue for ongoing maintenance of the hall had a busy day.Jacqui Murchison from the hall committee and Sandra Bain from the cafe are pictured getting organised forthe days proceedings.

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BY LISA FALCONERlisa.falconer@whfp.co.uk

Plans to build two new homes inPlockton which would rob theprimary school of a playground will be considered by HighlandCouncil shortly.

The application by the Trustees ofthe Church of Scotland seekspermission for two semi-detachedcottages, an access road, turning areaand parking for four vehicles in thegarden of the Old Manse, Innes St.The site is encircled by the church,

manse and a wall, all of which weredesigned by Thomas Telford and arelisted buildings sitting within theconservation area of Plockton. Anadditional application to take downfour metres of the stone wall to allowaccess has also been submitted.

The plans are the latest to besubmitted by the Trustees of theChurch of Scotland for the site. Theiroriginal application in 2012 soughtpermission for four houses butattracted widespread objection andwas subsequently dropped.

In the current planningapplication, which was submitted

last year, the site is described assurplus to requirements and onewhich could be put to better use byproviding housing preferably forretired persons from Plockton.

In addition to being one of the fewgreen spaces in Plockton, the site hasbeen used by Plockton PrimarySchool for sports, recreation andenvironmental studies since 1917and the community also make use ofit for various events. Upkeep of theland is paid for by the JT NicolsonDiscretionary Trust, with theNicolson family having leased thesite for over 60 years. The trust also

own the manse and part of the glebeland.

Over 20 objections to the planshave been submitted, citing loss ofopen space, road safety and access,the impact on the historic buildings,and fears the houses will becomeholiday homes.

Among those objecting are thePlockton Primary School ParentCouncil, who said visibilityapproaching the primary school isalready very poor; adding a junctionwill make this road even moredangerous for children arriving andleaving the school.

LibDems selectisles candidate

team members are all too often calledupon, at a moments notice, whenthings go wrong. They are anexcellent example of dedicated andhighly-skilled volunteers whoperform a valuable public service.The additional funding recognisesthat service.

Figures from Scottish MountainRescue show that, during 2013, therewere 586 mountain rescue incidentsand 55 fatalities, including eightrelating to avalanche incidents.Assistance was provided to a

total of 721 people 232 of

whom were injured.Simon Steer, chair of Scottish

Mountain Resue, said: We aredelighted that Police Scotland hassecured this funding for Scotlandsmountain rescue teams. Ourvoluntary mountain rescue teamsprovide a world class service, free atthe point of delivery, that is availableany day, at any time and in anyweather. Our teams are, however,increasingly stretched as the numberof incidents we respond to hasincreased, whilst fundraisingbecomes ever more challenging.

The Liberal Democrats haveselected their Western Islescandidate for the forthcomingWestminster Election. He isRuaraidh Ferguson from Tong inLewis.

Mr Ferguson, originally from theScottish Borders, moved to theisland in 1989 and stood for theLibDems in the 2007 Holyroodelection.

Much of the party manifestos onoffer for this election will be largely

irrelevant to the constituents of theWestern Isles and Scotland, as theelected MP will have no direct votein Westminster on the health,transport and education issueseffecting the Western Isles andScotland, he said.

These along with many othermatters are quite rightly thedevolved responsibility of theScottish Government in Edinburgh,yet surprisingly seem to haveformed most of the current islandsdebate on the forthcoming election.

Barra YouthCafe awardedLottery fundsBarra Youth Cafe have beenawarded 10,000 from the BigLottery Fund to conduct afeasibility study and secure landfor new sports facilities for thecommunity of Barra andVatersay.

Part of the funding will be used tocomplete a feasibility study whichwill identify a site for thedevelopment, investigate thesustainability of the project, gainspecialist advice on theenvironmental impact of the projectand draw up a business plan.

The rest of the funding willinvestigate requirements for land lease or purchase and to producetechnical drawings for the proposeddevelopment.

To that end, the cafe are lookingfor a person to complete thefeasibility study. The funding theyhave set aside for completing thiswork is 2,000.

The successful applicant must becomputer literate and haveexperience of research work andconducting feasibility studies. Workneeds to be completed by June 2015.

Anyone interested should submita letter of interest outlining theirexperience and why they are suitablefor this work to Katiedenehy@cne-siar.gov.uk or phone Katie Denehyon 01871 810443.

Isles MSP keento promote signlanguagesWestern Isles MSP AlasdairAllan this week appeared in frontof the Scottish Parliamentseducation and culture committeeto help promote legislation tosupport the use of British SignLanguage.

Dr Allan was giving evidence onthe Scottish Governments responseto the British Sign LanguageMembers Bill being put forward byMark Griffin MSP.

I know from meeting with thedeaf community in the Western Islesthat there is a great unmet need whenit comes to the provision of servicesthrough sign language, he said.The Scottish Government has donea lot to help change this bysupporting services like StornowaysSensory Centre, which helps deafpeople access many of the publicservices we take for granted.

However, there is clearly a lotmore that needs to be done. AsLanguages Minister I will continueto work with other MSPs to ensurethat an increase in the status ofBritish Sign Language becomes law.I also hope to get a chance to meetwith deaf constituents in the islandsto seek their views on this legislationand how it can be improved.

The London banking scandal isto benefit Scottish mountainrescue teams, with 60,000 paidin fines being awarded to thesector.

Police Scotland have securedmoney released by the Governmentfrom the London Interbank OfferedRate fines, in recognition of thevaluable role volunteers from allwalks of life play in responding toincidents.

In October 2014, HM Treasuryannounced that the UK Governmentwas allocating nearly 10millionsourced from the Libor fines to helpsupport emergency servicespersonnel.

The extra funding doubles PoliceScotlands support for ScottishMountain Rescue in 2014/15, andwas welcomed by Assistant ChiefConstable Bernard Higgins, leadofficer for Police Scotlandoperational support. He said:Mountain rescue teams perform avital task in helping to keep peoplesafe in Scotlands incredible outdoorenvironment.

They work closely alongside theemergency services and otherresponse agencies such as themilitary and often operate in the mostdifficult of conditions on thetoughest terrain in the country.

While thousands of people taketo that terrain in the pursuit of leisureand enjoyment, the mountain rescue

London banking scandal tobenefit mountain rescue