Question reference: S3W-00634
- Asked by: Liam McArthur, MSP for Orkney, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 6 June 2007
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Current status: Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 19 June 2007
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the introduction of the new cassette system for transporting livestock to and from the North Isles will be on the cost of such transport.
Answer
Freight and livestocktariffs are charged on the basis of the lane meterage used per journey and the agreementbetween Scottish ministers and NorthLink Ferries Ltd provides for annual index linkedincreases to those tariffs. The charge per head of livestock shipped will dependon how effectively the container space is used. As the new system will incorporateprovision for some “double decking”, average charges per head should fall, againassuming that container space is used effectively.