National Islands Plan: annual report 2023

Empowered Communities and Strong Local Partnerships

Strategic objective 10 – Empower diverse communities and different places

Commitment 10.1 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 2023

• The commitment remains to conclude the joint Local Governance Review (LGR) with COSLA and implement the findings through a Bill within this parliament. The LGR is a key part of our overall approach to Public Service Reform and future relationship with local government. We are making progress on delivering the overarching policy ambitions of the LGR through a variety of routes. The New Deal for Local Government and commitments on a Local Visitor Levy and council tax on second homes/long-term empty properties all represent material changes which empower local government. Some of these reforms are being taken forward, as necessary, through their own distinct legislative vehicles.
• Scottish Government are also continuing to work with local partners on the Orkney Islands and Western Isles to explore the potential benefits of Single Authority type models. This highly complex work with potentially far reaching implications is in the early stages and we are aware of potential interest from other councils.

The Programme for Government 2023-24 set out the steps we intend to take to progress the Local Governance Review. We confirmed that we will work with island local authorities with an ambition to develop alternative governance arrangements, including Single Authority type models, and agree place-specific reforms that offer the greatest potential to improve outcomes for local people. We also confirmed that we will complete the Democracy Matters national conversation and use the findings to agree new arrangements for inclusive decision making in our towns, villages and neighbourhoods.

Argyll and Bute, Orkney and the Western Isles councils have all expressed an interest in developing governance models to further integrate decision-making on vital public services in ways that are responsive to local circumstances. We will work with local partners in each setting to develop alternative arrangements that demonstrate strong potential to improve outcomes for local people, reduce inequalities and ensure long term financial sustainability.

The Democracy Matters conversation is asking people around Scotland to consider how new arrangements for decision-making in our communities might work in the places they know best. The Scottish Government and COSLA launched the second phase of the conversation in August 2023 for a period of 6 months. A small grants fund has helped communities cover the cost of hosting their own conversation. In addition, the Scottish Community Development Centre and Development Trusts Association Scotland are facilitating conversations with a small number of diverse communities, including on Mull and Skye. We will publish the findings from all submissions received in spring 2024.

Commitment 10.2 Support participatory processes aimed at providing island communities with a strong voice in the implementation of the Plan.

Implementation Route Map 2023

• We continue to provide support to the National Participatory Budgeting Strategic Group, which is an independent group responsible for gathering intelligence on PB and building capacity across Scotland to ensure best possible practice. The group meets on a quarterly basis.
• We continue to work with the strategic group to explore how PB can be used as innovative engagement tool to tackle issues around health and wellbeing, education, housing and climate justice.
• We continue to work in partnership with COSLA to support 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.
• The Scottish Government continues to support COSLA’s PB team, who have had a particular focus on the development and delivery of CONSUL, a free citizen participation software. CONSUL has been translated into Gaelic, making it possible for online community engagement processes to take place in Gaelic.
• 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.

Participatory Budgeting (PB)

In July 2023, COSLA in partnership with the Scottish Government announced that local authorities reached the milestone of the 1% mainstream PB target. Since 2021, more than 110,000 people took part in participatory processes and directly decided on how £154 million worth of council budgets have been spent.

We continue to work in partnership with COSLA on the development and delivery of CONSUL, a free citizen participation software.

Local Government Settlement

In the most challenging budget settlement, we are providing over £14 billion in the Local Government Settlement. We are increasing the resources available to Local Government by over £795.7 million, equivalent to a 6% cash terms increase (4.3% real terms).

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

National Islands Plan Review Consultation

Scotland’s first ever National Islands Plan, published in 2019, is now being reviewed as required by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 which states a review must be carried out within five years of initial publication. This review will provide the Scottish Government and their partners with an opportunity to reflect on changes in circumstance for island communities since 2019.

Reviewing the current National Islands Plan will provide a detailed overview of its impact since its publication and it will inform (if the review tells us we need one) a new National Islands Plan.

Our islands are profoundly important and the Scottish Government firmly believe this review should be informed by the views of those on our islands, to the greatest extent possible.

The National Islands Plan Review consultation ran from 18 July 2023 to 7 November 2023. Consisting of both an online consultation and 16 workshops, of which 13 were delivered in-person on the islands and 3 online, we sought to ensure everyone with an interest in Scotland’s islands had the chance to share their views.

Island workshops

Eigg, 21 September 2023

Grimsay, 26 September 2023,

Lewis, 27 September 2023

Cumbrae, 28 September 2023

Skye, 19 October 2023

Colonsay, 24 October 2023

Arran, 25 October 2023

Mull, 26 October 2023

Fort William, (Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament), 1 November 2023 Bressay, 1 November 2023

Brae, Shetland Mainland, 2 November 2023

Stromness, Orkney Mainland, 6 November 2023

Westray, 7 November 2023

The consultation findings are being independently analysed and a report will be published in spring 2024.

The Islands Strategic Group (ISG)

The Islands Strategic Group, established in 2016, consider issues affecting Scotland’s inhabited island communities and ensure greater involvement of local authorities with islands in helping to identify and design solutions to meet the unique needs and challenges these communities face.

Group membership comprises of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Council Leaders and Chief Executives across all local authorities with islands.

During 2023 they group met twice and covered a wide range of issues including the Islands Cost Crisis Emergency fund, transport, housing (including the Remote, Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan), climate change, child poverty, the cost of living crisis, migration and skilled labour shortages.

National Islands Plan Delivery Group

The Scottish Government committed to establishing a group to closely monitor the delivery of the National Islands Plan and the accompanying Implementation Route Map. Established in 2021, and stemming from Strategic Objective 13 of the Plan, the National Islands Plan Delivery Group supports plan implementation, ensuring island communities are embodied in its delivery.

Delivering a fair, integrated, green and inclusive plan requires strong collaboration and partnership. The Delivery Group provides this collaborative working space, meeting regularly to examine progress and help to identify critical priorities in order to work towards meeting the commitments within the National Islands Plan.

Group membership comprises of the Scottish Government, local authorities, third sector partners, community groups, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, COSLA, the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland, relevant academics and subject experts.

Over the course of 2023, the Group convened twice to discuss issues including – but not limited to – energy and just transition, community wealth building and the National islands Plan review consultation.

Commitment 10.3 Explore ways to strengthen the voice of island communities whilst capturing the differences between islands in local and national decision-making.

Implementation Route Map 2023

• Work has started to review the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 – a 2021 Programme for Government commitment – where we will consider how we can give local communities more of a say over how local public assets are used – whether that is taking on the ownership or management of land or buildings, delivery of services to members of their community, or greater engagement with the public sector to have more say in how services are delivered, assets are used and resources are allocated. The review was launched by Tom Arthur, then Minister for Public Finance, Planning, and Community Wealth at the Loch Ness Community Hub on 21 July 2022. The Scottish Government will ensure it remains fit for purpose and will consider how we can give local people even more of a say in the things that matter to them in their community. The review of the Community Empowerment Act builds on success achieved since the Scottish Government brought this landmark legislation in, with more and more local people having their voices heard about public service outcomes, and ever greater amounts of our public owned land and buildings moving over to community control. We are taking the review forward in collaboration with the public sector, third sector and communities with a particular focus on the implications of the legislation for disadvantaged communities.
• 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.

The Scottish Government introduced Participation Requests (PRs), which help people start a dialogue about the things that matters to their community with a view to having their voice heard in policy and service development. PRs have facilitated community participation for issues such as pier safety, local road improvements, the future of local police offices and improvements to community halls.

In 2023, we asked our partner organisations to look at the experiences of PR’s and to work with their networks across Scotland – including from our island communities – to investigate issues. This complements our review of other sections of the Community Empowerment Act which is currently underway. Findings are due later this year and will help inform how community empowerment can be strengthened to ensure we give local communities and organisations greater powers over their own future.

Commitment 10.4 Work with island communities and local authority partners in the development and introduction of a Transient Visitor Levy Bill.

Implementation Route Map 2023

• The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament 24 May 2023 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.

This commitment has now been fulfilled

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament in May 2023. The development of the Bill was informed by extensive engagement with island communities, local authorities, and industry partners. This included in-person engagement sessions with communities and businesses on the isles of Mull, Skye, Mainland Orkney and Mainland Shetland. An Island Communities Impact Assessment was undertaken and published alongside the Bill.

As a result of engagement with island communities, the Bill provides local authorities with a range of flexibilities to enable them to tailor any visitor levy to local island circumstances. This includes the ability to include or exclude islands from a scheme, to vary the percentage rate by area, and to designate persons or accommodation types that will be exempt from the levy. The Bill also requires local authorities to consult with local communities, businesses and tourism organisations before introducing a levy, providing the opportunity for councils to engage with island communities and identify any suitable flexibilities.

In considering the use of these new powers, under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, a local authority will have to comply with its duty to have regard to island communities and where relevant undertake an Island Communities Impact Assessment should a proposed levy be identified as having a significantly different effect on an island community compared with other communities.

Commitment 10.5 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 2023

• 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.

We delivered a series of four national online workshops on Community Resilience in Emergencies between April and June 2023. Participants included people from rural and islands communities and were provided with a space to consider what community resilience to emergencies meant in their context, and what action they could take to make their communities more resilient. The workshops covered sessions:

• For communities, on the “nuts and bolts” of community resilience in emergencies;
• For resilience practitioners, on sharing good practice and insight on supporting and working with local communities;
• On building connections and partnerships across community led emergency response and long-term adaptation; and
• On inclusion in community resilience.

While the workshops were not islands-specific, the online format was chosen to enable participation from across Scotland, including islands. A full report was shared with all participants.

In 2024-25, we intend to prioritise engagement with island-based stakeholders to look at how this work can be carried forward in an islands context.

Commitment 10.6 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.

Commitment 10.7 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 2023

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

Crown Estate Scotland are currently the sole manager of Scottish Crown Estate Assets and part of this role is to ensure policies and projects are sufficiently islands proofed by supporting the National Islands Plan and ensuring Islands Impact Assessments are carried out where appropriate.

Crown Estate Scotland are developing their new 2025-2030 Corporate Plan and are continuing to take into account the National Islands Plan as part of the development.

Commitment 10.8 Ensure that Gaelic speakers in island communities are encouraged and supported to represent themselves through the medium of Gaelic.

Implementation Route Map 2023

• Scottish Government published the new Gaelic Language Plan 2022-2027 in October 2022. 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 has committed to 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 SG Gaelic Language Plan, the Gaelic & Scots team liaised 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.
• Education Scotland has published 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.

The Scottish Government’s Gaelic Language Plan commits the organisation to accepting Gaelic communications and then issue a response in Gaelic. This is a long established commitment and one which will be maintained. Similarly, there is an established process for issuing bilingual government documents, with island related issues among those prioritised for Gaelic translation.

The Scottish Languages Bill consultation allowed respondents to participate entirely in Gaelic, if they wished so. The Scottish Government’s Gaelic and Scots Division hosted in-person Gaelic events on Lewis and Uist as well as online sessions with other island communities. The number of Gaelic responses received was encouraging and – through collaboration with colleagues in the Scottish Parliament – subsequent stages of the Bill’s development will also encourage Gaelic participation.

The Scottish Government supported the Gàidhlig Climate Convention hosted at Cnoc Soilleir in November 2023. The convention was organised by Climate Hebrides and is part of an ongoing project to ensure that Western Isles residents can engage with Scottish Government climate policies through the medium of Gaelic. An important focus of its work is to enable community input into the production of Gaelic climate materials – ensuring that vernacular climate terminology informs official publications. Such a focus also helps emphasise the particular risks climate change poses to island based Gaelic communities.

The Cost of the School Day project was made available in Gaelic to encourage the participation of Gaelic medium pupils. Further work in this vein will be pursued and further opportunities considered to ensure the GME sector can engage with national programmes through the medium of Gaelic.