Northern Isles Ferry Services 4 public consultation

Opens 22 Jul 2025

Closes 13 Oct 2025

Contact

FerriesNIFS4Team@transport.gov.scot

Overview

Ministerial Foreword

I am pleased to launch this public consultation on the future of the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract (NIFS4). The ferry routes linking Orkney and Shetland with mainland Scotland are essential not only for local communities, but for the wider economic, cultural, and social wellbeing of the Northern Isles.

It is essential that these services are reliable, resilient and delivering to the needs of islanders, businesses and visitors alike and it is vital that we listen carefully to the experiences and expectations of those who use and depend on these services as we develop the next iteration of the NIFS contract. This procurement, alongside the programme proposed for the replacement of the 5 vessels set out in the Islands Connectivity Plan to be delivered within the life of this new contract – will help ensure the services remain fit for the future in relation to reliability, resilience and capacity.

The knowledge gained through our existing relationship with NIFS users and the feedback received from last year’s Islands Connectivity Plan public consultation and engagement will help inform the development of the NIFS4 contract, and has been considered in the development of these consultation questions as we seek further views on how the next contract can be used to drive service improvements.

This public consultation provides an important opportunity for stakeholders – from local authorities, community representatives, and operators, to individual passengers and freight customers – to help us define what the future service should look like. We are particularly keen to hear your views on key areas such as capacity and demand, unplanned and essential travel, fares, community voice, transparency and accountability, connectivity needs, integration with other transport modes, accessibility, reliability and resilience, service levels, environmental sustainability, and freight.

Our aim for NIFS4 is not only to deliver a service that meets current needs but is fit for the future, responsive to the climate challenge, to changing patterns of demand, and to future needs to support the development of the Northern Isles.

It is vital that communities have the opportunity to contribute and help us shape the future of these ferry services, and this public consultation will provide an opportunity for those who have asked for change to directly contribute to the contract development process. I encourage everyone with an interest in these services to contribute their views. Feedback to this consultation will help shape a contract that works for our island communities and ensures that these lifeline connections continue to deliver for years to come. 

The public consultation will be available for 12 weeks from 22 July 2025 and until 13 October 2025.  

For more information, please visit our website: Northern Isles Ferry Services 4

Jim Fairlie MSP

Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

 

Consultation questions preview

The consultation questions are included here for your reference. Please click 'Begin consultation' at the bottom of this page to proceed.

(Policy teams please add a copy of your questions here as plain text with no response options. Then delete this text in the brackets.)

Useful information about responding to this consultation

As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.

Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.

On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.

After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.

All relevant submitted responses will be analysed. This may be carried out by third party organisations who Scottish Government, its executive agencies or non-ministerial offices, contract to do this work. Such data sharing will be governed by appropriate contractual arrangements to keep your data secure.

An analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us.

You can also join our consultation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).

Give us your views

This activity will open on 22 Jul 2025. Please come back on or after this date to give us your views.

Interests

  • Transport