Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has for many years called on Government to review its approach to appointing Board Members to the Boards of Caledonian MacBrayne and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL). These are organisations whose sole responsibility is to deliver ferry services and their associated vessels and infrastructure to island communities. Despite the singular nature of the communities served both organisations have spectacularly failed to reflect this by not appointing islanders to the Boards of Directors to whom their management is accountable.
The latest insult to island communities is the appointment of another two mainland-based Board Members to CMAL who appear to have no connection to the islands CMAL is serving. This follows hot on the heels from the reappointment of two Board Members and a Chair to the Board of CalMac with each having no connection to the islands served by the company. Indeed, the Chair of CalMac who has been reappointed is not even a resident of the UK. Instead, Mr Erik Oostergaard resides in Denmark.
The Chair of Transport and Infrastructure of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar had already written to Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP jointly with the Chair of the Ferries Community Board to express their frustration at the reappointments to the CalMac Board and had advised that they would be looking closely at the outcome of the advertisement for CMAL Board Members as a test of Government’s true commitment to addressing the lack of islanders on the Board of both organisations.
Announcing the appointments Ms Hyslop said
“There is more we still need to do to ensure that CMAL and other Boards represent people with an islands background, but also other protected characteristics, including having more women on these Boards. I understand why calls will continue for greater island representation on the Boards of ferries bodies. I will continue to press the Chairs of all the transport bodies with relationships with island services to do more to encourage applications from residents who can bring experience of living and working on islands to Board appointments, along with the required skills, knowledge, and experience.”
Commenting on this latest set of appointments Cllr Uisdean Robertson said,
“It is not lost on any of us in the islands when we read political comments made about the appointment of a Manchester-based Chair to the newly formed GB Energy when Scottish Government has continually failed to appoint islanders to the Boards of Scottish Government companies whose sole purpose is to serve our islands. In the case of the CMAL appointments we are aware of extremely capable and competent applicants living and working in our communities who have been overlooked. This is unacceptable. The time has come for the appointment process to be overhauled, and we would suggest Ministers consider this as an urgent action to be taken forward in partnership with Island Councils.”
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar supports a complete overhaul of the appointments process to the Boards of both CMAL and CalMac, and for it to be shaped by islanders with islanders involved in any interview question setting and panel. Island-based representatives had been involved in a previous round of appointments and it is disappointing to see that the practice has not been continued Ministers should act to undertake an advertisement of all Board vacancies with a firm promise on the proportion of the Board of each company to be made up of island residents.