EU official to work with Councils and Scottish Government on Dunoon ferry

It has been confirmed that an EU official is to be appointed to work closely with the Scottish Government’s Transport Department and the two councils with an interest in the Dunoon-Gourock ferry: Argyll and Bute and Inverclyde. Any subsequent tender will also be monitored by an independent regulator to guarantee that public need is prioritised. A press release issued by Stewart Stevenson, the Transport Minister who recently met to discuss the matter with Argyll and Bute Council Leader, Dick Walsh, points out that the pace of progress is governed by EC legal requirements which cannot be short-circuited without a negative hit on the ferries budget. Alongside this note of caution, Mr Stevenson made it clear that it is the Government’s intention to move to tender without delay.