§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give consideration to the principle that ferries to the Scottish islands should be regarded as forming part of the highway system.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellI would draw the hon. Member's attention to my statement in the House on 18th April 1972320W —[Vol. 835, c. 85–8]—which set out the Government's policy towards shipping services to the islands. In this I emphasised that the operating costs of sea transport services must continue to be the basis for charging policy in order to secure the most efficient provision of services and to prevent resources from being misdirected.
The roll-on-roll-off services being introduced, with shorter sea routes and simpler methods of charging applied to lorry loads, are bringing the shipping services into a close relationship with the highway system.