§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the annual cost of abolishing ferry charges and fares for all public sector ferry services in Scotland. [19796]
§ Mr. McLeish[holding answer 12 December 1997]: As this matter is not under consideration, no estimate of the cost of abolition has been made. The costs of providing public sector ferry services are met through a combination of fares revenue and public subsidies made available by The Scottish Office and local authorities. If no income was raised from fares then all existing operating costs would have to be met by subsidy. In the longer term, the provision of ferry services free of charge to customers could be expected to lead to a substantial increase in demand, with the consequential problems of capacity 76W constraint and ensuing demand, for more frequent services, more and larger vessels and a higher requirement for operating subsidies.