Chamber and committees

I would be happy to come back to the committee with the figures on the funding that we have provided. Dr Allan is absolutely right that those are reserved areas, and we have had to spend over and above to ensure that we are delivering as best we can in reaching not-spot areas and improving digital connectivity—without that extra investment, that would not have been seen as a priority and it would not have been rolled out to the extent that it has been. I would be happy to come back to the committee with figures on that.

Emma Harper is absolutely right. In previous responses, we have touched on collaboration being critical in many policy areas, to many of the objectives that we are looking to implement and to our commitments. Working with our local authority partners, different operators and industry is really important.

I will start on that question, although I know that Francesco Sindico has been desperate to talk about the carbon neutral islands project, which he has been working on in some detail, and I would not want for a moment to steal his thunder.

The initiative is really exciting. Initially, we had committed to working with three islands to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, but we have increased the number to six islands. I emphasise that, even though the focus is on six islands, we want to ensure that all islands benefit.

The initiative is exciting because our islands are at the forefront of innovation. With all the work that is happening in renewables throughout our islands, we really want to capitalise on the opportunities that exist and to work closely with islands in reaching carbon neutrality.

An external working group looked to identify the different criteria for which islands we should work with. It is important that we get a mix. Some islands will be quite advanced in the journey in the work that they are undertaking, whereas some will potentially have a bit further to go.

I will hand over to Francesco Sindico to provide a bit more detail.

I will not be making any announcements today, and you will understand why the Government has not made any announcements in the past few weeks, during the run-up to the local elections. The announcement will be made soon.

The annual report sets out our commitments, and you will see that it also sets out where we are in relation to them. Many commitments in the report have been completed, but work is on-going for a number of others on which we cannot take immediate action. Many issues have gone on for a long time and we are working very hard to resolve them.

For example, in relation to some of the areas that you touched on, such as transport, and some of the other projects that we have been working on, I mentioned in my opening remarks the work that has taken place on the Kerrera project. Through our islands infrastructure fund, we awarded more than £500,000 to connect the length of the island, which we know will have a tangible and very visible impact.

I also touched on the Fair Isle Bird Observatory project, in which we have invested through the same programme and which will also have a positive impact on the island itself, as well as on the wider island communities. Those are the tangible things that we can see, but huge pieces of work are still under way and we continue to make good progress on them.

You touched on transport, but a power of work is also under way on addressing population decline. I briefly mentioned the islands bond, on which work is being done at pace and in which extensive community engagement is taking place so that we can develop a proposal that will work for our islands and for our island communities. I do not know whether officials want to touch a bit further on the islands bond project, if the committee is interested in hearing a bit more on where we are with it.

The islands bond itself will not solve the problem of depopulation on our islands, for which we know that many different, complex reasons are responsible. The bond is not seen as a silver bullet that will resolve the issues that we face, but we believe that it can help if it is used in the right way. I hand over to officials if there is any further information on it.

No, the power has not been used so far. From the conversations that I have had, I am not aware that there are any particular potential barriers that inhibit local authorities from using it. However, officials might have something to add on that point.

I think so. As I said, I have not been made aware that there is an issue at the moment. I presume that, by their nature and through the 2018 act, island authorities are aware that the power exists—I would like to think so, anyway. I am not aware that they perceive any barriers in relation to using the power.

Absolutely—you are right about that.

It is interesting and exciting to hear about the work that is happening on Jura, and I would be interested to find out more about it. I completely understand your point that, in small communities in particular, there can be volunteer fatigue and the same people sometimes do a lot of the work. If there is anything that we can do to support communities and the initiatives that are under way on Jura, I am more than happy to take that away and look at it. You have outlined an exciting development.

I am absolutely open to considering that. Obviously, I want to listen to island communities as we develop proposals. One of our key commitments is to develop a remote, rural and islands housing action plan. I cannot yet give a definitive date when that will be published—it is led by my Cabinet colleague Shona Robison—but that will be critical in trying to address some of the issues.

You talked about travelling around the islands. Whenever I am out in our rural and island communities, housing is raised as being critical to the ability to retain young working-age people in a community. It is not always a case of a lack of jobs. There can be job opportunities but the ability to house people is frequently raised as a critical issue.

I believe that engagement work in relation to the action plan has commenced but I would be more than happy to feed back the information that you give to ensure that it is part of the process, too. There will be extensive engagement with our island communities so that they can be part of it.

It has had a massive impact on all the areas in my portfolio, so I see it at first hand and hear it in my engagement with different communities and businesses. As you outlined, a lot of the industries on our islands have been those most adversely affected, which means it probably disproportionately affects our islands more than other areas.

Tourism was affected by the impact of Covid but also by the critical labour shortages right across the piece. Those shortages in tourism itself and right through our food and drink businesses have also meant that those sectors have really struggled and are continuing to struggle. Those shortages are because of losing the free movement of people and the additional barriers to businesses in trading with the EU, which have made it a lot more difficult because of the added layers of bureaucracy and the extra costs that businesses have to incur. All of that has undoubtedly had a huge impact across the food and drink industries, of which there are a lot in our rural and island communities.