HC Deb 19 January 1993 vol 217 cc229-30W
Mr. Charles Kennedy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what has been the public subsidy given in each of the last 10 financial years to Caledonian Macbrayne Ltd.; what proportion this subsidy represented of the total income of the company; and if he will make a statement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

The information requested is set out in the table:

Year Deficit subsidy Turnover Deficit subsidy as percentage of turnover
1981–82 5.800 17.5 33.1
1982–83 6.115 17.6 34.7
1983–84 6.650 19.2 34.6
1984–85 6.987 21.0 33.3
1985–86 7.500 22.3 33.6
1986–87 7.400 23.1 32.0
1987–88 6.900 23.8 29.0
1988–89 6.540 25.4 25.8
1989–90 6.280 26.9 23.3
1990–91 5.722 28.6 20.0
1991–92 5.800 31.7 18.3

Mr. Charles Kennedy

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information is made available to him by Caledonian Macbrayne Ltd as to(a) the profitability of individual ferry routes and (b) the extent to which there is cross subsidisation of fares within the network; and if he will make a statement.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

The scale fare system which has been operated by Caledonian MacBrayne since 1975 generalises costs across the network as a whole and produces network-based information about costs, fares income and deficit subsidy requirements. The new CFARES fares setting system which the company is in process of introducing will be based upon route-specific infomation about costs, surpluses and deficits.

As a consequence of this change from network-based information to route-specific information, Caledonian MacBrayne makes available to my right hon. Friend an increasing amount of information about costs, surpluses and deficits incurred on individual routes. Since deficit subsidy is paid to meet the operating loss incurred by the company in providing a network of approved services, there is some cross subsidisation of services within this arrangement.

However, the overall deficit of £6,050,000 likely to be incurred by the company this year in operating the network indicates that the majority of the company's routes are unprofitable. My right hon. Friend does not consider it desirable to make public commercially-sensitive information about operating costs, surpluses or deficits incurred on individual routes.