Chamber and committees

Unfortunately, I cannot give the committee a definite date for introducing that legislation. It is ultimately up to Parliament to decide that, but we have committed to it because we know that issues around crofting reform were raised in the most recent session of Parliament and we must address them. We are working on that and will introduce legislation at some point, but I cannot give the committee a definite date at the moment.

Ultimately, it is down to demand and the number of applications that we get to the croft house grant scheme. We have committed to maintaining and supporting the fund because we recognise that it is critical in helping to sustain our crofting communities.

I would be happy to come back to the committee with further information on the amount of funding that we have provided to crofters and how many people we have assisted through the croft house grant scheme, if that would be helpful.

Working with other bodies is absolutely critical in trying to overcome some of the issues. It is simply not possible for us to deliver the objectives and commitments that we have set out on our own or in isolation, and nor would we want to. It is important that we work with others, including local authorities, to overcome the issues.

Jenni Minto touched on the impact of Covid-19. Research on that issue that was undertaken by the James Hutton Institute identified many challenges, but one of the strengths was exactly the point that the member highlighted about the resilience and strong community bonds that exist.

I do not know whether my officials have anything to add on that work by the JHI.

Issues related to that have been considered through the strategic transport projects review, the consultation on which closed last month. As part of that work, there were proposals for fixed links at, I think, the sounds of Barra and Harris. There has been extensive engagement in relation to the development of those proposals, too, so they form part of the STPR.

The officials might have something to add on that point. Otherwise, I would be happy to get back to the committee with further information.

You are absolutely right. Every island is different and has its own unique set of challenges. This probably touches on a previous response in relation to the data that we get and trying to tease out the detail to understand the different issues for particular communities. Some of those issues were also drawn out through the engagement that has been taking place through the islands bond. Some people would prefer to see that mechanism work in a way that retains population, while others would like to see it work in a way that attracts people to come and live in particular communities. It is important that we carry out that engagement in such a way that we develop policies that are flexible and will work for individual communities. The islands policy is not going to be one size fits all. Collaboration and engagement will be critical going forward.

Absolutely. That point was raised by the convener and we said that we would follow up on it with transport colleagues.

On parity of funding, we expected and hoped for the full replacement of EU funds that have been lost as a result of our no longer being a member of the EU, but we have not seen that fully implemented so far.

Of course, we continue to use our resources as best we can. I have raised this example with the committee before, but our marine fund Scotland provides £14 million of funding when we should have received around £62 million. With full replacement of those funds, we would be able to do a lot more than we are able to do at the moment.

It is really important that we lead by example in that regard, too. The islands team is probably the perfect example of doing that. Since it was established, in 2019, it has operated using remote and hybrid working. Members of the islands team live on our islands, which I think is important. Maybe one of the team will want to jump in on that point.

We are also setting up a working group to look at workforce dispersal, because it is really important that we support people to live and work in our remote, rural and island communities. We have also seen that approach being taken by the Crofting Commission, which has made specific development positions available on our islands. We have our network of rural payments and inspections division offices, too. We are certainly keen to encourage workforce dispersal, and to encourage hybrid working.

Do you want me to touch on the issue of digital connectivity now? I completely agree with your point, convener. We have to have that infrastructure and ensure that there is that capability if we want people to live and work in these areas and to embrace hybrid working, too.

That was outlined through the reaching 100 per cent programme—the R100 project—and the extra investment that we put into it to try to develop and strengthen the digital infrastructure that we have. We have also committed to a project to lay 16 subsea cables to improve connectivity. I believe that those are due to be in place and delivered this year, which will obviously help.

We have also been involved with work on 5G, and there is the 4G infill programme as well, in which we have been installing more mobile infrastructure through nearly £30 million of investment in 55 not-spot areas. More than half of those masts are already in place and delivered. We understand that improvements need to be made and we are working hard to deliver them.