Highlands and Islands MSP Emma Roddick has welcomed the opening of a new Scottish Government fund aimed at supporting island businesses affected by ongoing ferry disruption. From 2 July, island businesses in sectors most impacted by travel uncertainty, such as tourism and the movement of perishable goods like seafood, can apply for targeted financial support [...]

Scheme to allow young islanders to use the ferry for free expanded to 19 to 21-year-olds A scheme allowing young islanders to travel to the mainland for free has been expanded to include 19- and 21-year-olds. This comes after months of hard work from campaigners, such as Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and Roddick [...]

SNP MSP for the isles, Emma Roddick, has welcomed the news that the Scottish Government has confirmed the introduction of a procurement process for two new 140m Freight Flex vessels for the Northern Isles route. In response to a question from Emma Roddick, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport confirmed today that these vessels will replace [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has said she is “proud” to have voted for the Scottish Budget, which passed yesterday [25th February 2025] with support from the Green and Liberal Democrat parties. Only the Conservatives voted against the SNP Government’s budget, with Scottish Labour abstaining. The Islands MSP said: “Another year, another SNP budget that I’m [...]

Since the rollout of the free bus travel scheme, I have consistently argued that young islanders should be able to access the same benefits of those living on the mainland, through an expansion to inter-island ferries.  I often find myself making the point to some of my Central Belt colleagues that islanders rely on ferries [...]

Highlands and Islands MSP Emma Roddick has written to the Managing Director of NorthLink Ferries urging the company to reinstate shared cabins on its service between Shetland and Aberdeen.  The option for passengers to share a cabin on the overnight service between Shetland and Aberdeen was removed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to [...]

MSP for the Highlands and Islands Emma Roddick has welcomed recent news that the Scottish Government is investing £3 million into Orkney’s internal ferry fleet, hailing the announcement as “really positive for Orcadians.” However, speaking to the Minister for Connectivity in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Roddick also urged the Scottish Government to continue to work [...]

Emma has welcomed the Fair Fares Review which was published today [Friday 22nd of March]. The review announces that the Scottish Government will continue to provide the existing free bus travel for under-22s, recognising the challenging economic times for young people, and are also going further to develop proposals to introduce free foot passenger travel on [...]

Highlands & Islands MSP Emma Roddick has welcomed funding from the Scottish Government to charter an additional ferry for the Clyde and Hebrides network, saying it shows a clear commitment to the island communities which rely on lifeline ferry services. The MV Alfred will join the CalMac fleet on a nine-month charter following an agreement [...]

SNP MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Emma Roddick, has today welcomed the announcement of additional funding for Islands ferries. The Deputy First Minister announced the decision during Stage 3 Scottish Budget and has subsequently written to all 4 councils across the Highlands and Islands that rely on the inter-islands ferry network. Given inflationary pressures, [...]