Holyrood committee calls for ‘urgent’ P&O update

The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee wrote to the chief executive of P&O and Scotland’s Transport Secretary.

The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee has urged the head of P&O to provide an ‘urgent update’ (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Archive)

The convener of a Holyrood committee has called for an “urgent update” from P&O Ferries after 800 staff were sacked by video message.

The decision was announced on Thursday, with the seafarers to be replaced by cheaper agency staff.

Unions and politicians have condemned the move, with Nicola Sturgeon saying on Thursday she made clear her “utter disgust” at the sackings when speaking to P&O chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite.

In a letter to Mr Hebblethwaite on Friday, Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee convener Dean Lockhart called for more information to be provided before its next meeting on Tuesday.

“The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee is extremely concerned about yesterday’s news that around 800 of P&O’s staff have been sacked, reportedly with immediate effect, and that services, including the Cairnryan-Larne line, have been suspended, ruining passengers’ travel plans,” he wrote.

“I am writing to request an urgent update so that the committee may reflect on its immediate scrutiny in relation to this matter.”

The letter asked for clarification of the “full impact” of the decision, as well as its impacts on Scotland and communications with the Scottish Government before or after the announcement.

A similar letter was also sent to Transport Secretary Michael Matheson, asking for his reaction to the news and if the Scottish Government had any “prior intimation”.