SNP under pressure to extend ferries compensation fund to Scottish coastal communities
Towns such as Dunoon and Mallaig must be supported when ferries are disrupted, say the Scottish Liberal Democats
SNP ministers are facing pressure to extend a resilience fund to cover mainland coastal communities impacted by Scotland’s ferries fiasco.
The appeal, from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, comes amid fears communities including Dunoon, Ardrossan and Mallaig “don’t see a penny in compensation, despite delayed and cancelled ferries hitting their local economies hard”.
The First Minister pledged a £10 million island resilience fund during the spring 2026 election campaign to support businesses impacted by disruption on the CalMac network.
John Swinney’s government is now being urged to extend its ferry compensation scheme to those mainland communities impacted.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats want the Scottish government to extend its island business resilience fund to cover those coastal mainland towns that are currently excluded from the compensation pot.
READ MORE: Brand new CalMac ferry Isle of Islay out of action for repairs just 3 months after entering service
In June, the First Minister said that his government would “shortly announce the details of how the fund will be taken forward and distributed”.
Mr Swinney admitted that “there will be challenges on the ferry network”, but stressed that “we are in a more robust and stronger position than we were”.
He added: “We have to make an assessment of where the patterns of disruption have taken their course.
“I accept there is an aspiration for there to be compensation in all circumstances but, as part of the assessment, there has to be a recognition of the scale of disruption.
READ MORE: CalMac needs a new ferry every 18 months to maintain reliability - chief executive Duncan Mackison
“We will shortly announce the details of how the fund will be taken forward and distributed.”
Liberal Democrat MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Morven-May MacCallum, has now formally tabled a parliamentary question asking the Scottish government to confirm whether it will extend the resilience fund to include coastal communities.
She said: “Scottish Liberal Democrats have long campaigned for the government to fairly compensate the islands and coastal towns affected by the ferries fiasco.
“It was that campaign which led to the government bringing forward the island business resilience scheme, but we were concerned to see gaps in its eligibility.
“As it stands, towns like Dunoon and Mallaig don’t see a penny in compensation, despite delayed and cancelled ferries hitting their local economies hard.”
She added: “The First Minister hinted that he was addressing these shortfalls, but that was more than a month ago.
“Coastal communities have been messed around for long enough. The least they deserve is a clear answer about whether this compensation will be extended to them and, if so, when that will take place.”
The Scottish government launched the islands business resilience fund in July 2025 in response to persistent ferries disruption including constrained capacity, breakdowns, repairs and delays in replacing vessels - leading to an increase in cancelled journeys.
The fund aimed to provide targeted financial support to island businesses that have been most disproportionately impacted by the ferries fiasco with a one-off award of compensation. But no such assistance has been offered to those in mainland coastal communities.
Jim Fairlie, Minister for Islands, said: “In 2025-26, our Islands Business Resilience Fund provided £4.4 million of targeted support for those island businesses most disproportionately affected by ferry disruption.
“We are committed to implementing the £10 million Islands Resilience Fund within the first 100 days of Government and further information will be announced in due course.”
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