Child Disability Payment Amendment Regulations: draft island communities impact assessment

Key Findings

32. This section provides an overview of issues for Scottish rural/remote and island communities that are relevant for these regulations.

33. Island stakeholders have emphasised the importance of understanding the island experience. Each island has its own specific considerations and constraints.

34. Rural Scotland accounts for 98% of the land mass of Scotland and 17% of the population are resident there.^[13]

35. At the time of the 2011 Census, Scotland had 93 inhabited islands with a total population of 103,700 (which was 2% of Scotland’s population).^[14] Of these islands, only five are connected to the Scottish mainland by bridge or causeway.

36. The Islands Act identifies six local authorities representing island communities in Part 4 of the Act (Section 20 (2), which are Argyll and Bute Council; Comhairle nan Eilean Siar/Western Isles; Highland Council; North Ayrshire Council; Orkney Islands Council; and Shetland Islands Council. Amongst them, Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles are entirely island authorities, while Highland, Argyll and Bute and North Ayrshire local authorities cover island regions as well as mainland regions.