New Isles of Scilly ferries could be 'at risk due to red tape'

Chairman Robert Francis appealed to councillors and MPs to help ensure the new ferries are delivered

New ferries in the Isles of Scilly "could be at risk of significant delays" due to Government red tape, the chairman of the council has claimed.

Councillor Robert Francis claimed the Department for Transport (DfT) was "holding up" delivery of the £48m project.

He appealed to councillors and MPs to help ensure the scheme is delivered.

The money will be used to build three new vessels for the isles and to improve harbour infrastructure.

The project was the only Levelling Up funding bid submitted by Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the first round of bidding.

In a meeting on Friday, Mr Francis said the funding announcement had been warmly welcomed but there had been problems in moving the project forward.

The current passenger ferry, the Scillonian III, was purpose-built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group in 1977

He said: "The rules around procurement in the Department for Transport are making it extremely difficult to get this done."

Any further delays to the project could push the scheme further back due to availability of contractors to build the new vessels, the council chairman explained.

He added: "We are desperately hoping that we will get some movement now over the next few weeks to get this project delivered.

"If we can't do that then we are going to lose another year and I don't need to tell you how important this lifeline is for Scilly. It is a very fragile situation at the moment with the ships."

Mr Francis reminded councillors the project would also bring jobs and economic opportunity to Cornwall as well as the Isles of Scilly.

Derek Thomas, MP for St Ives, which includes the Isles of Scilly, said that while there were issues to be overcome, he did not think that the funding was at risk.

Mr Thomas said the issue was with "how long it is taking", and that the delay was "with the government".

Mr Thomas said it was hoped all three vessels would be ready by 2025 but if this was not secured by the end of July, it would be pushed back a year.