§ 20. Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings he has had with representatives of Caledonian MacBrayne to discuss this year's increases in ferry fares. [81009]
§ Mr. MacdonaldI met with the Chairman and Managing Director of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd. on 20 October 1998 to discuss a number of matters, including the company's proposals on the level of fares increase. In November last year CalMac announced its fares increase for 1999–2000 of, on average, 2.7 per cent. This took effect in April and represents the lowest network-wide increase for 10 years.