A parliamentary transport committee has backed a one-year subsidy that will stop the winter ferry timetable from being cut on three island routes.
Operators had warned that fewer sailings were unavoidable without extra support. Islanders told the committee that a reduced timetable would strand patients, students and shift workers for days at a time.
The subsidy, worth about £4 million over twelve months, must still be approved in the full budget. Committee members asked the government to publish a longer-term plan before next autumn.
