National Islands Plan Annual Report 2022

Empowered Communities

Strategic Objective 10 – To empower diverse communities and different places

We committed to take forward the Local Governance Review with COSLA in order to create a system of local democracy that will be inclusive and improve people's lives.

Implementation Route Map action

Our 2021-22 Programme for Government confirms that we will conclude the review and take forward its recommendations within this parliament. Further engagement with local government, wider public services and communities will take place as part of this.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

As part of the Local Governance Review, a wide range of public sector partners and over 4,000 people from diverse backgrounds got involved in conversations about the future of local decision-making. Overwhelmingly, people wanted to see a meaningful transfer of power into our communities – along with the associated resources and suitable support – to transform local democracy and improve lives. Progress on the review slowed due to COVID. However, the response to the pandemic demonstrated what can be achieved when the two spheres of government, and our public service partners, work collaboratively with each other and local people. We expect to see a renewed focus to joint work on the Local Governance Review with COSLA over the course of 2023, and for this to include detailed consideration of proposals submitted by Islands authorities and their local partners for alternative governance arrangements.

We committed to support participatory processes aimed at providing island communities with a strong voice in the implementation of the Plan.

Implementation Route Map action

• We will continue to work with the National Participatory Budgeting Strategic Group in supporting the implementation of Participatory Budgeting (PB) and building capacity across Scotland to ensure best possible practice. We will work with the group to deliver on the new PB Strategic Framework with a particular focus on health and wellbeing, education, housing and climate justice guided by the Framework's indicators for success.
• We will continue to work in partnership with COSLA to help local authorities reach the target of having at least 1% of their budget subject to participatory budgeting, giving local people a direct say in how almost £100 million will be spent.
• Scottish Government acknowledge that in order to ensure that the National Islands Plan leads to meaningful, positive and sustainable change, there needs to be ongoing collaboration with our island communities for the duration of the Plan. We will continue to consult and collaborate with our island communities on a regular basis.
• The implementation of the National Islands Plan is supported by both the Islands Strategic Group and the National Islands Plan Delivery Group. The Islands Strategic Group was established to ensure greater involvement of the relevant councils in helping design solutions to the challenges islanders face, whilst the Delivery Group ensures that work is driven forward in a collaborative way that truly involves island communities. We will continue to work closely with both of these groups on delivery of the National Islands Plan.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

Participatory Budgeting

The Scottish Government continues to work with COSLA to help local authorities reach the target of having at least 1% of their budget subject to participatory budgeting (PB). As part of this support in 2022, the Scottish Government has provided funding to COSLA to lead the development and maintenance of CONSUL. This is a Citizen Participation software specifically designed to support community empowerment through open dialogue, deliberation and voting tools, of which COSLA is providing this software support to councils.

With the support of Bòrd na Gàidhlig, CONSUL has now been fully translated into Gaelic, making it possible for community engagement processes to take place online in Gaelic and help to empower island communities to be increasingly involved in PB and wider participatory processes. The software also includes the first Gaelic translation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Gaelic translation will be formally launched in March 2023.

The Islands Bond

In 2021, the Scottish Government announced a commitment to develop an Islands Bond fund, providing up to £50,000 each for up to one hundred households by 2026, by providing financial support for island residents to remain in their community, or to encourage people to move there. Through an online consultation, islands-based workshops and meetings, we collaborated very closely with communities and stakeholders to investigate what sort of impact the Bond policy may have – both positive and negative. This allowed us to gather input on how we might best help to address depopulation at an island level.

The feedback we received, particularly from island communities, was clear. Whilst a renewed focus from the Scottish Government on the population challenges being faced across our islands is to be welcomed, a more strategic focus on the drivers of depopulation would be far more beneficial. Based on what we heard from partners and communities, the Islands Bond policy was withdrawn, and the focus turned to the delivery of more localised solutions. Consultation with communities who are directly impacted by the introduction of new policies or strategies is a crucial part of policy development and taking this decision demonstrates our continued commitment to listen to island communities, so we can ensure that policy is delivered in collaboration with them. Far from being a wasted effort, the engagement on the Islands Bond has provided invaluable opportunities to discuss the challenges, and opportunities for addressing these at a local level.

We remain fully committed to addressing our population challenges and will deliver this through a collaborative plan aimed at responding to the key drivers of depopulation. The learnings and suggestions gathered through the Islands Bond consultation will be used in shaping a range of Practical Policy Tests to inform the 'Addressing Depopulation Action Plan' which we aim to publish in late 2023. This work will be driven forward in close collaboration with island communities, by delivering interventions that respond to unique island needs. This cross-sectoral approach responds directly to feedback received from islanders through our engagement on the Bond.

We committed to explore ways to strengthen the voice of island communities whilst capturing the differences between islands in local and national decision-making.

Implementation Route Map action

• Work has started to review the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 – a 2021 Programme for Government commitment – where we will be consulting people on community empowerment mechanisms and explore how communities can be more actively involved in public sector outcomes.
• Scottish Government acknowledge that in order to ensure that the National Islands Plan leads to meaningful, positive and sustainable change, there needs to be ongoing collaboration with our island communities for the duration of the Plan. We will continue to consult and collaborate with our island communities on a regular basis.
• The implementation of the National Islands Plan is supported by both the Islands Strategic Group and the National Islands Plan Delivery Group. The Islands Strategic Group was established to ensure greater involvement of the relevant councils in helping design solutions to the challenges islanders face, whilst the Delivery Group ensures that work is driven forward in a collaborative way that truly involves island communities. We will continue to work closely with both of these groups on delivery of the National Islands Plan.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 has provided a legal framework to promote and encourage community empowerment and participation, creating new rights for community bodies and placing new duties on public authorities. Work to review the Act has now begun, and will be undertaken until late 2023, to ensure it is fit for purpose with a particular focus on the implications of the legislation for disadvantaged communities, whether of place or interest. The review provides an opportunity for island communities to engage with public decision making and outcome improvement processes, enabling them to have their voices heard in the shaping of service delivery. The review will be welcomed by the sector and involve a consultation process with communities and stakeholders, both on-line and face to face, and planning for local workshops is currently underway. Work will be conducted in collaboration with COSLA, the wider public sector, third sector and communities.

The review, launched by the Minister for Public Finance, Planning, and Community Wealth at the Loch Ness Community Hub in July 2022, will ensure the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 remains fit for purpose, and will consider how we can give more local people including from our islands communities a say in the things that matter to them in their community.

Over two hundred asset transfer requests have been awarded using new community empowerment legislation, including many of our island communities taking on assets, such as a water tower and land in Skye being transformed into a community park; and a large forest on Mull being transferred from Forestry and Land Scotland to local community ownership.

We committed to working with island communities and local authority partners in the development and introduction of a Transient Visitor Levy Bill.

Implementation Route Map action

Work paused at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic will be recommenced in 2022, when the policy development work completed to date will be carefully reviewed alongside renewed stakeholder engagement.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

Our Programme for Government confirmed we will introduce a Local Visitor Levy Bill in the 2022-23 Parliamentary Session, building on the considerable policy development completed prior to the pandemic. In doing so, we have engaged a range of stakeholders, including industry representative bodies and worked closely with Local Government through a working group convened by COSLA which included officers from a range of local authorities.

We committed to explore ways in which to empower and support island communities to enhance their resilience by developing local initiatives and plans in partnership with Scotland's Emergency Responder organisations.

Implementation Route Map action

• We have commissioned research looking at Community Resilience in Scotland's Islands during Covid-19 and will publish this in 2022 with a view to disseminating learning from this.
• The Resilient Communities team is currently scoping a project to establish a baseline of community resilience activity and is working with island stakeholders to ensure that the perspective of island communities is built into the project design.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

Community Resilience in Scotland's Islands during Covid 19

The challenges presented by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic prompted extraordinary responses from many communities across Scotland, including the islands. To capture the learning from this, the Scottish Government commissioned Ipsos Scotland – Pollyanna Chapman of Impact Hub Inverness, to produce a series of case studies exploring examples of community resilience across Scotland's islands. The research uses the learning from impacts encountered and solutions that have been identified during the pandemic to further build the resilience in Scotland's island communities. In the coming year we will carefully consider the recommendations set out in the report to consider how community resilience may be strengthened across the islands.

We committed to introduce regulations which enable island local authorities, in consultation with their communities, to request that Scottish Ministers promote legislation devolving a function to them, or that the Scottish Ministers transfer an additional function, duty or responsibility to them. These regulations acknowledge the uniqueness of each of our island communities and that one size does not always fit all.

Commitment Fulfilled

This commitment was fulfilled in 2020. Please see the National Islands Plan Annual Report 2020 for further details.

We committed to ensure that policies and plans relating to the Scottish Crown Estate are appropriately island proofed and that any manager of a Scottish Crown Estate asset supports implementation of the National Islands Plan as appropriate.

Implementation Route Map action

The Crown Estate Scotland Unit team will work with potential new managers, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that their transfer and/or delegation proposals have completed an Islands Impact Assessment and take into account the National Islands Plan as appropriate.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

The powers and duties in the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 provide further opportunities for island communities. The Act allows for the transfer and/or delegation of management of Scottish Crown Estate assets to other eligible bodies.

The first round for the transfer or delegation of Scottish Crown Estate management functions ran from 1 November 2021 until 2 May 2022, this allowed for eligible bodies to apply for Scottish Crown Estate management functions to be transferred or delegated to a more local level. If applications progress, they will be required to complete an Islands Impact Assessment as appropriate as the impact assessments have been embedded into the wider process.

CES are continuing the implementation of the Pilot scheme and are in regular discussions with participants which include three island local authorities.

We committed to ensure that Gaelic speakers in island communities are encouraged and supported to represent themselves through the medium of Gaelic.

Implementation Route Map action

• The Scottish Government Gaelic & Scots team has prepared the new Scottish Government Gaelic Language Plan. The Plan has an open offer to engage through the medium of Gaelic. In addition, Scottish Government are happy to take written requests in Gaelic. The Scottish Government's manifesto commitments also include providing more services through Gaelic and extending opportunities to use Gaelic in everyday situations and formal settings. As part of the process for developing the next iteration of the Scottish Government Gaelic Language Plan, the Gaelic & Scots team is liaising with various island-based Scottish Government offices to discuss what further provision they can make for Gaelic. The three local authorities of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council and Argyll & Bute all have Gaelic language plans in place, have Gaelic medium education and have Gaelic development officers to promote and support the use and learning of Gaelic.
• In 2022, Education Scotland will publish, a revised Gaelic Language Plan, 2022‑2027. This is part of HM Inspectors' five-year strategy for Gaelic Education, which also impacts on islands. As part of this, HM Inspectors will continue to provide specialist evaluations of how well establishments and settings are performing in a range of key areas. We provide this specialist evaluation for Gaelic Medium Education and for islands contexts. We will also take forward new high-level aims to support Gaelic.

Work is ongoing in relation to this commitment.

The Scottish Government Gaelic Language Plan offers to engage through the medium of Gaelic and to take written requests in Gaelic. The three island local authorities of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council and Argyll and Bute all have Gaelic language plans in place, have Gaelic medium education and have Gaelic development officers to promote and support the use and learning of Gaelic. A network of Gaelic development officers is in place to encourage and support the use of Gaelic in island communities.