National Islands Plan Annual Report 2022

Island Communities Impact Assessments

As stipulated by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, the Island Communities Impact Assessments (Publication and Review of Decisions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 came into force on 23 December 2020, meaning that the duty to carry out an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) became a legal requirement for Scottish Government and relevant authorities when developing or reviewing policies, strategies or services.

Since the laying of Regulations and publication of the associated ICIA Guidance and Toolkit, we have considered feedback from across government, and from relevant authorities. We published an updated version of the toolkit in July 2022. We also published a support leaflet and an accompanying educational video on the process to further support those undertaking an ICIA. Gaelic versions of the support leaflet and accompanying educational video are also available.

Island Communities Impact Assessments which the Scottish Government have carried out to date can be found in the publications section of the Scottish Government website Publications – gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Assessments completed by Relevant Authorities (as listed in the Islands Act), are published by them, usually on their websites, where they are also required to complete annual reporting setting out how they have complied with the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 during the reporting period.

We will continue to support our colleagues across the Scottish Government as well as the relevant authorities in implementing the ICIA process on an ongoing basis.