The first item of business is a debate on motion 2686, in the name of Hamza Yousaf, on supporting and strengthening Scotland's island communities. Would all members who wish to speak in this debate please press the request to speak buttons? I call on Hamza Yousaf to speak to and move the motion. You have 14 minutes, minister. For a boy born and bred in Glasgow, I cannot claim to have an island heritage, like some members in the chamber. While I would often say and have often said that my heart truly belonged to Glasgow as a result of recent visits that I made across the islands in May and the summer months, Glasgow might just have to get used to sharing my heart with many of our islands. Those visits to 18 of Scotland's islands and many more of course to go show the extent of the contribution our islands make to Scotland's cultural and economic wellbeing. I was delighted to be able to meet some members during their visits to these islands, Kate Forbes and the island on Skye and Rassie. I met Kenny Gibson on Arran and Liam McArthur, who was kind enough to give me a cup of tea and a biscuit in Orkney. That being said, he did then publicly go on to ask for millions of pounds for Orkney. It was the most expensive custard cream that I have ever had. Is it not surely the case, minister, that Glasgow has shown us the way as a city of the value of islands with the tradition of travelling during the water? I was actually thinking that he was going to come in on the custard cream, so I am somewhat disappointed by Stuart Stevenson's intervention. Yes, he is right to make that point about Glasgow's leading the way. In terms of Scotland's islands, they are key to maintaining and nurturing the health of Scotland's second language. They play host to a myriad of musical and cultural festivals, often born and supported by the local communities. They are home to 16 of our world-famous whiskey distillies. Of course, they are the home of some of the most stunning scenery on these islands. It would be a very brave person who would have to pick out one of our islands as the most beautiful. I certainly will not do that, but one of the highlights of my visit was a sun-kissed day in Rassie. I will demonstrate that tourism is so essential to our country, supported by our islands. That contribution and those interests have rightly been championed through our islands' future campaign. I want to pay tribute to the three Holy Island councils who led that campaign and who I have led that campaign. We published our response in Powering Scotland's island communities in 2014, setting out a comprehensive package of actions and measures to empower Scotland's island communities. I am determined to ensure that the actions that we take forward in this Parliament meet the needs and interests of all who grow up, live and work on Scotland's islands, as well as those who provide services and those who run businesses—again, many of them—who I managed to visit during my island tours. That is why, at the earliest opportunity, I prioritised meetings with constituency and list MSPs, council leaders and, of course, as I have said, I visited those islands directly myself and every single one of the six local authorities that have responsibility for island communities. I am keen to hear the contributions across the chamber this afternoon when it comes to the benefits, opportunities and, of course, the challenges that are sometimes associated with island life. Davish Scott. For the tone of his remarks this afternoon, with his responsibilities for islands, would he take into account the public service requirements, particularly in relation to health boards, where the GP vacancies that we are all facing across all of our areas are considerable? Could he outline in his remarks today what his Government is going to do to address that specific issue, because they are, in many ways, unique to the recruitment challenges of islands and, indeed, in fairness to the broader Highlands and Islands area? Yes, I think that he makes a point very well, and he will know our views on, and I hope that he has been given some level of assurance. I will appreciate that there will probably not be enough assurance for him, but he has been given some level of assurance over the work that we are doing in relation to health board reorganisation. I think that his point was well demonstrated to me when I went to Rassay. There was a discussion, a robust discussion, between the local community in Rassay and the health board between our nursing provision. I am well aware of what he says. I will try to address the health board issue as well, if not my opening remarks and certainly my closing remarks, if I can. He makes a point, and I think that he makes it very well. I should say that when I went to Shetland, of course, the member was not there. He did not offer me a cup of tea on a biscuit, but that is one that is outstanding. Over the next year, this Government will bring forward an islands bill, which I was delighted to be able to announce as a year one bill, reflecting a key commitment in empowering Scotland's island communities and on the proposals that we consulted on at the end of last year. Again, many members contributed to that consultation. The bill will focus on island proofing, a unique concept that will ensure that legislation passed in this Parliament does not detriment, but it hopefully adds benefit to our island communities. A national islands plan, statutory protection for the western isles Scottish parliamentary constituency boundary, flexibility to create one or two member wards for island communities and the extension of power focus primarily around the Zetland Orkney County Council Act 1974. I intend to continue to engage with local authorities and communities throughout the bill process to ensure that it stays focused on their needs and their interests. I am even willing to consider the Japanese Remote Islands Development Act that David Stewart MSP raised with me at the committee on Tuesday. I know that other parties have had similar commitments to island bills, to island legislation, to island proofing, and their election manifestos. I am keen to make this as consensual as I possibly can process a piece of legislation that we can hopefully take forward together in this Parliament. This summer, I worked with local authorities to establish a newly created island strategic group. What I was keen to do this time round was expand the membership previously made up the ministerial group of the three holy island councils, understandably so in the formation of that group, but I chose to extend that group further to include representatives of our Gailan Bute, Highland Council and North Ayrshire. That group will help to shape the bill and indeed the national islands plan. I look forward to their guidance and their input. We have had one meeting already and the second one hopefully soon. Together, the bill, the plan and the strategic group will form a powerful triumvirate of actions that will help to strengthen and support the unique needs and interests of Scotland's communities. I want to touch upon, if I can, on some of the challenges and the opportunities that our island communities face. One of the common threads through any island that I travelled, I think every single one of the islands that I travelled to talk to me about depopulation and the issue of migration, growing the island's populations is crucial for island economies and community sustainability. Clearly, we need to give particularly young people and young families more reason to stay on islands. The presumption against closing rural schools helps as does our investment in modern apprenticeships and work to cut youth unemployment. While investment in social housing through the rural housing fund and the recently announced £5 million islands housing fund will help to create more affordable homes. We also need to ensure that migrants can continue to come to islands to work in key sectors. During my island's visit, I travelled to many, for example, a fish processing business that relied heavily on EU migration. However, there were other industries such as hospitality, agriculture and the care sector that relied heavily on migration. We all know that migration is currently reserved to the UK Government but will continue to push the UK Government for a migration system that meets all of Scotland's needs, including our island communities. On connectivity, there is a reason why the island's brief and the responsibility is here with the transport, ministering the transport, remit connectivity. It is so, so important to our island. This Government has made a clear commitment to our ferry services, investing a record £1 billion in port infrastructure vessels and services since 2007. On my first day in post, the £900 million contract to operate ferry services and the west coast of Scotland was awarded, of course, a rematch and came into force on 1 October. We will maintain the road equivalent tariff on the west coast, which has resulted in lower fares and increased passenger numbers. We have already begun to progress our commitment to reduce fares on ferry services to the northern isles. I will report on the findings from the recent consultation shortly. I consider it important to take forward a scheme that reflects the wishes of those who use those ferry services. We want to get the scheme right because it is not an easy answer in terms of finding an algorithm, a process, a mechanism that reduces ferry fares on the northern isles in the same way. For example, you could not just replicate RET across the northern isles to the same effect because it might increase some of the ferry fares in some of the routes, but I will give way. Liam McArthur. I am very grateful to the minister for giving way. Like my colleague Tavish Scott, I welcome the tone of much of what he said. I appreciate that he may not be able to provide the detail this afternoon. Can he at least offer some reassurance that the scale of the reductions that we have seen on the west coast will be replicated in terms of the reductions that we can look forward to seeing on the northern isles routes? Hamza Yousaf. For years to come at this stage, did we look to make a significant reduction? I think that that is what the islands communities and those on islands would expect. Can I say that it would be exactly the same as ex-island that is benefiting, not at this stage, but the member will know that I will be very keen and, as my colleague Tavish Scott is up-to-date on those conversations. Of course, ferries are not the only way to connect to our island communities. Aviation and air services are also incredibly important. We committed to continuing the air discount scheme through an investment of £8.5 million at the current 50 per cent discount rate to make air travel tuned from the islands more affordable. I also agreed at the last meeting of the islands transport forum that we would consider the extension of the scheme to business travel. That will be considered following the autumn statement. I want to thank the islands for putting together a proposal about how they think that that could work. Sticking to the theme of connectivity, perhaps of a different kind, I know that members across the chamber have been very active in putting forward questions on digital connectivity. High-up the agenda for those who live on islands again, probably one of the common themes, on almost every island that I visited, was digital connectivity, arguably most important and the most remotest of islands in order to give communities and businesses the potential to transform their island. We are determined to show that every premises in every part of Scotland has access to superfast broadband by 2021. It's fair to say that if it was left to commercial operators there would be a severe lack of coverage in some places. There is no coverage of whatever our digital Scotland superfast broadband programme is helping to bring that connectivity where it wouldn't elsewhere be across the highlands and islands. At least 84 per cent of premises will have access to fibre by the end of 2016. What we have to do is try to get ourselves into those most challenging and most remote islands. That will be most certainly the challenge. On that, we also have considerable plans and taking forward plans for mobile phone connectivity as well as working with the industry, so there is an industry-led approach to that. I also want to talk about, if I may, energy and renewable energy in islands, wind projects in particular on our islands. Again, I was delighted to be able to see Emech myself. I have heard about it in this chamber on many occasions. Again, the number of islands that I have visited is ploughing a lot of investment and time, expertise and knowledge into renewable energy schemes. Rapid growth by the 2020s could result in economic benefit worth up to £725 million for local communities. We are doing all that we can with the powers that members across the chamber will know about our community and renewables energy scheme or care scheme. However, larger-scale island projects need a route to market that recognises their distinct characteristics and addresses barriers to development. We came close to achieving that through the Scottish Islands Renewable Delivery Forum with unprecedented co-operation involving the Scottish and UK Government and, of course, the island stakeholders. The UK Government has now changed its earlier commitment to provide a minimum allocation for wave and tidal stream technologies. Its decision to consider with drawing support for island wind is enormously frustrating and disappointing, coming at a crucial time for both marine and island wind projects. We will continue to push the UK Government and UK ministers to deliver the necessary support to our islands, the support that they need to realise their renewable potential. On top of that, there are issues and questions in relation to Brexit as well. That was mentioned to me during our ministerial group, but it is a piece of work that I will continue to do with local authorities. I want to say that our island communities have benefited from that EU support, be it financial or otherwise. Therefore, I am keen to work with them when the Scottish Government is involved in discussions with the UK Government and the EU directly. If I may, in conclusion, touch upon very quickly and briefly a couple of points. The promise of devolution of powers over the Crown Estate is made and manifestos across this chamber, including in our own, going on the back of and following on from the Smith Commission agreement. We will continue to press the UK Government to devolve those powers. Of course, discussions are on-going with the transfer scheme, as we speak. In the interests of all local authorities, the three holy island communities have approached me about a potential pilot is something that I am open-minded to, as is the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment. Fair to say that there are some legislative obstacles that may come in the way. I see that I am over time, so I will conclude by saying that I am very excited about the year 1 island's bill, particularly the idea of island proofing. I know that there are many questions that members have across the chamber, many contributions that will be made. I know that there are some concerns around health boards. I know that there are some concerns about what we are doing in regards to the Enterprise and Skills review on islands and islands, and I will look to address those in my closing remarks but all I can say at this moment to conclude, Presiding Officer, is that I look forward to working with members across the chamber to deliver for our islands, and I think that our island's communities would expect no less as an exciting future for the island communities. You must close me this time. Not just with this Government, but I think from co-operation across this chamber. Thank you. Could you move the motion, please? Oh yes, a motion in my name. I now call in Donald Cameron to speak to and move amendment 2686.2 up to nine minutes, please, Mr Cameron. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I guess I forget I moved the amendment in my name at the start rather than the end. For any MSP representing the islands and islands, yesterday was bittersweet. Sweet in so far as we learned the wonderful news that the smelter in Fort William is to be sold to a company which will not only maintain the smelter but possibly expand it, securing existing jobs and potentially leading to increased employment in Lochaber. I apologise for digressing momentarily from the island's aspect of this motion but given its importance to the region as a whole I feel it only right to mention it briefly. I would also like to place on record my acknowledgement of the role that Fergus Ewing has played in achieving this outcome and offer my thanks to him for all his work behind the scenes. However it was a bitter day too, bitter because we learnt that the governing board of HIE is to be scrapped and a new Scotland-wide agency will be overarching and replace existing agency boards. This is not mere administrative tinkering, it is the death knell for HIE as we know it and it is nothing short of shameful. Bittersweet in a single day the Scottish Government gives with one hand but takes away with another. The Conservative amendment was drafted before that news emerged as can be seen we refer to significant concerns that a new national board for HIE may lead to a centralisation of services at the expense of the local skills, knowledge and expertise of HIE. I will look to take forward some of the arguments in my closing remarks but when he describes centralisation it is worth pointing out that phase 1 of the review mentioned that a new vehicle should be set up for the south of Scotland and that service delivery is important on the ground and that will remain as well. Does he not think that people on the ground will be more interested in the service delivery on the ground as opposed to where boards are sat or not? Donald Cameron The point is that the board of HIE is what is important because it is that which gives the voice to local people on the ground and it is ironic for the Scottish Government to hold a debate entitled on the island communities on the very day that it announces its scrapping of the HIE board an institution that has done more than any other in supporting and strengthening those communities over the years and this heralds in my view the next step in the SNP's centralising agenda on one level I find it strange I've seen the SNP island membership close up as a candidate in places like Skye, in Auckland and Shetland and whatever differences we've had over the constitution I've never been in any doubt that they were also local activists pushing local issues and in this chamber in the short time I've been here I've been impressed by the vigour with which SNP MSPs representing the islands have campaigned on local matters which is why I find the centralising instincts of the SNP Government so puzzling it's so out of kilter with that but sadly we know that's where inexorably this Government is travelling the cold grey hand of central government reaches out this time to threaten an institution that has without doubt been a force for good in our islands not least because it has a unique role in community development as well as business development and expertise and I'd like to make some progress actually an expertise which might get lost through centralisation island communities are an asset that we must value and strengthen to reach a residence and for Scotland more broadly the islands are essential to Scotland's identity and economy as cherished as my own hands are to me in my maiden speech I quoted John Dunne no man is an island entire of itself every man is a piece of the continent a part of the main I still take this to mean that the lives of those who inhabit the periphery of Scotland are as important as the lives of those in the towns and cities of central Scotland nowhere is this truer than on our islands they may be physically separate from the mainland but that is all we must create a fair and diverse economic environment for the whole of Scotland where there is parity between north and south east and west island and mainland because that doesn't exist at the moment in general economic growth has not evenly spread across the country what better reason could there be for a dedicated regional board to promote enterprise within the highlands and islands in terms of our islands we clearly need to do more to encourage businesses existing and new to develop thus continuing to make our islands attractive places to work and live and whilst many island businesses might be small with perhaps a few employees these small enterprises still have a significant role in sustaining island communities crucial to this is developing new areas of activity that embrace an island's particular assets its culture, its language, its heritage, its landscape its remoteness many successful businesses have embedded these assets as core elements of their offering Alasdair Allan I thank the member for giving way in for mentioning the small businesses that flourish on islands Willie Sympathais with a number of those small businesses in islands who have contacted me and other island members to express concern that many of their workforce who are from other European countries lack much certainty about their future Donald Cameron I accept that there is uncertainty and as I have in debates on health I express my support for those people who are EU nationals living and working in Scotland but the point I am making is that these are businesses that have embedded these assets as core elements of their offering giving them a competitive advantage over the mainland the remote and rural nature of islands might present many challenges for those who have made a virtue of location and environment the Isle of Harris gin company Hebridean sea salt Harris tweed and the ethical shellfish company on Mull to name but a few social enterprise too has a place in the island economy and the connectedness of communities means that such businesses arise through identifying very specific needs of the people living there bringing both economic benefit and social cohesion infrastructure to support economic growth is crucial to success but it bears repeating every business needs appropriately skilled staff and to be connected digitally and physically to its markets reaching those customers requires robust and reliable communications including broadband and transport networks we can't ignore the challenges there are some 93 inhabited Scottish islands with a population in excess of 103,000 and whilst there has been some growth as the minister pointed out there has been a significant population decrease in recent years and in our Garland butte islands in particular that has been severe we need to retain people but we also need to attract people people are of course the heart of a community people who live and work and who believe that they and their children have a future in that place and if that belief is not there communities languish and eyes turn to the horizon parents want better for their children and young people will leave the islands because they cannot see a sustainable future for their families a recent survey by the Scottish Islands Federation ranked the importance of challenges from the perspective of islanders and it will come as no surprise that broadband was one of the biggest barriers to development others will mention housing a business owner on mould recently asked what single thing she wished for to transform her commercial diving business the answer affordable housing housing that will allow her to attract appropriately skilled employees to live and work on mould despite challenges island communities rate highly year on year in happiness surveys with the western isles top of the list the recent advert for a teacher for muck primary school was inundated with applications from around the world and Orkney Shetland and the western isles have been named as the best places to bring up children now whilst the Scottish Government has proposed additional powers and functions for island councils we must turn words into action for the first time the government is now bringing forward anilins bill at last acknowledging through primary legislation the significant place of island communities in Scotland's national identity strategies to strengthen island communities will not come without a broad and inclusive discourse and so it is worrying to find that almost a third of people surveyed said that they felt that islands have a limited voice in local and national issues we must strive to give island communities their own voice and the confidence to speak up and then we must listen to what is being said which takes me back finally to HIE because HIE has been instrumental in providing that voice for the island having its own board allows it to advocate for the region as a whole without it HIE will simply be swallowed up in the machinery of central government there is widespread support for HIE across all parties and members here will voice that during this debate more eloquently than me but can I address my closing remarks to those SNP MSPs who represent the islands as they will know HIE has worked for decades across island communities buttressing often fragile economies as an agency has built up huge reserves of local knowledge and skills it's not perfect and we mustn't sentimentalise it but it has quietly and slowly helped business flourish by applying a real understanding as to how resources can be best used locally and amongst the small communities within which it operates please don't stand by and watch it vanish I'd like to start by paying tribute to our island councils for promoting the vision of our islands our future they've worked across three council areas recognising the differences in their communities but choosing to work together to benefit the people they serve our islands our future has one of the defining factors running through it and that is subsidiarity decision making should be as local as possible we in the Scottish Labour Party agree with that principle let us empower communities and indeed local government to make decisions that reflect their own specific needs our islands work together in many ways but none of them are saying decisions made for one island group will work for another island group they want to be allowed to make their own decisions that serve the distinct needs of their own local communities since I was elected to serve the islands and islands I heard the complaint over and over again that policies made with urban areas and mines are then foisted onto rural areas where they're not suitable and can sometimes be detrimental the island councils campaign has forced the government to consult on legislation and we will gauge the government's commitment to empower island communities by the shape of that legislation sadly nothing that the minister said in his opening speech today has given an indication of where those powers will lie and the principle of devolving power is not something that this government practices and we've only seen increasing centralisation are island councils used to very quickly John Mason Do you expect that this government stopped ring fencing for local authorities and that local authorities are more power than they had before 2007? Rhoda Grant Sadly what has happened is that nothing is ring fenced because there is nothing there to ring fence their budgets have been cut year on year and that is disempowering at island communities as well island communities that used to have seats on the police board and indeed on the fire board and those positions of influence have gone and had the historic concordat that went with the non-ring fencing it was sold as freeing up councils to make their own decisions locally but in practice it left councils only able to deliver more cuts and more cuts in fact they're at a point now where they're only able to implement their statutory duties statutory duties passed on to them by this Government and this Parliament so the concordat has not worked and now we hear rumours that some of those statutory duties that are currently in place will be removed from councils disempowering them even more therefore I don't think it's cynical to question what new powers will be devolved to our islands none have been so far how can the Government look both at ways at once the rhetoric of empowering communities is good but the practice is the absolute opposite therefore those devolved powers have to be real measurable and deliver change can I turn to Highlands and Islands Enterprise which indeed is a case in point and sadly this Government is going to downgrade high they are going to be governed by a board which also will serve the whole of Scotland so much for serving the Highlands and Islands if the board has no understanding of the needs of our remote island communities how on earth can they support them to grow their economies the Government has to come back and make a headed decision listen to the concerns expressed pretty much unanimously throughout the Highlands and Islands and give us back our board if they are serious about empowering communities they have to show that now and now step back from that desperate decision transport is essential to our Highlands as well and they depend on ferries and flights to connect to the rest of the country yet islanders get very little say in service design they need their main landlinks and decisions are being made in Edinburgh by those with little or no understanding of their needs or wishes surely our island councils are in a prime position to advise and influence these decisions when the new ferry was planned between Stornoway and Ellipoll the council and the local community asked for two smaller faster ferries to give more sailings at peak towns and this was absolutely ignored by the Government since then we have seen incidences where a second boat to good use especially during dry docking for maintenance of the fleet our island communities must be involved in these decisions and not just consulted and then simply ignored our amendment talks about the issues that lead to depopulation of the islands and indeed this can affect our rural mainland areas too we debated fuel poverty last week so I won't rehearse the issues suffice to say that our islands suffer among the highest levels of fuel poverty to address that also islanders pay a premium on goods and services due to distance and transportation costs and indeed RET in not being extended or indeed being taken away from commercial vehicles at this time we're looking forward to Christmas people living in urban areas pop to the shops for their Christmas shopping if you're on an island you also need to revert to mail order to get everything you need many companies that deliver to islands others will not even deliver at all because of the added costs those who need to buy off island would also appreciate the ability to do this online but again they suffer poorer broadband connections and downloads speeds preventing them from shopping around island living is wonderful but it does have its challenges these challenges lead to depopulation Sincilda holds a strange fascination for people from remote communities and I share that fascination I wonder at the desperation of the people of Sincilda who left their homes on mass just because they could no longer survive due to dwindling numbers and I wonder what went through their minds as they reached that awful conclusion I sincerely hope that no other island communities will ever face that decision in the future and it's our job to make sure that they do not we have to support vibrant island communities create jobs and services that are fit for purpose and we need to provide transportation and connectivity links that allow them to communicate with the rest of the country and indeed way beyond who wouldn't want to live on an island and Donald Cameron made that point with the happiness service to enjoy the quality of life but also to be able to build a future for yourself and your family we know that local people are much better at finding solutions because they know the challenges that they are facing can only have their own preconceptions and they are seldom born out in reality if the Scottish Government are serious about empowering island communities they have to pull back on their decision of high and they have to devolve powers rather than centralise them deciding officer actions speak louder than words and I move the amendment in my name I now call Liam McArthur to speak to you and move amendment 2686.1 Mr McArthur up to seven minutes Thank you very much 12 months ago I participated in a similar debate about empowering our island communities I'm always pleased to do so but it strikes me that little has changed in the intervening period for the ministerial name on the motion I'm very much welcome Hamza Yousaf's appointment and the approach he's taken to the role but while he cannot personally be held responsible for many of the criticisms I will outline this afternoon it is up to him to make the progress his predecessors failed to progress on reducing the cost of accessing our lifeline ferry and air service, progress on radically improving broadband and mobile coverage and radically reducing levels of fuel poverty and progress on genuinely abandoning a top-down one-size-fits-all centralising approach to legislation and policy making as I said in the last debate establishing this Parliament was supposed to be about seeing power devolved within and not just to Scotland as all good liberals do that power rests with the people it's passed up and pooled only by consent and where necessary it's about giving people and communities the tools and the flexibility they need to shape their own futures trusting them to take decisions that meet their own needs and circumstances that concept seems to sit uncomfortably with SNP ministers it jars with the narrative of one Scotland speaking with one voice with the SNP talk of the interests of Scotland as if these are homogenous and any contrary review is somehow by definition less or unscotish it is this that is allowed for the relentless removal of powers and decision making from our island communities over the last nine years of course the three island authorities to their enormous credit have sought to redress this through our islands our future and I'm pleased this is prompted the government to bring forward an islands bill and islands plan interestingly when Tavish Scott and I had a similar case for giving more powers and responsibilities to the islands we represent we were denounced by Nicola Sturgeon and others in her party as troublemakers so a welcome change in tone from the SNP but what is the U-turn in rhetoric delivered in practice ortony in Shetland remain the only island communities excluded from the Government's cheaper ferry fare scheme all island businesses still face higher airfares thanks to the SNP government's cut to the air discount scheme police in all three island communities continue to grapple with a botched centralisation that undermines the ethos of community policing that is the hallmark of island forces to be fair these are now long standing examples of this government's failure to walk the talk on strengthening our islands so has anything changed more recently sadly not I'll give way to the minister Hamza Yousaf he's being most ungenerous if I may say the air discount scheme of course went from 40% to 50% in terms of digital connectivity I was amazed that he didn't mention the figures of connectivity of course when his own colleague was in government when the Liberal Labour Administration was in executive and to what it is now and by the fact that expected coverage in 2017 is expected in Orkney to be 75% and 80% so could he be a little bit more generous that progress actually has been made in some very crucial areas I'll turn to these in a minute although he's pointed out the fact that digital connectivity in Orkney falls 10% shorter further back than it is in the rest of the islands and islands in 20% lower than it is nationwide to be fair these are now long standing examples of the government's failure to walk the talk so has anything changed well while his officials have been busy finishing his islands bill Mr Yousaf's ministerial colleagues have been busy driving a coach and horses through the concept of island proofing the First Minister's attainment fund ignores the needs of children in poverty in Orkney and other island communities why are they less deserving of the additional support their counterparts in communities in the central belt receive meanwhile health ministers are developing plans that could see island health boards submerged within larger mainland boards this would inevitably see the specific needs and interests of patients and health staff in Orkney relegated in importance and will be fiercely resisted in the community I represent and on economic development too we saw confirmation yesterday as Donald Cameron pointed out by the deputy First Minister that any vestige of local autonomy and accountability within HIE is to be abolished it is against this backdrop that the minister whom I do like and respect enormously has his work cut out in demonstrating to a sceptical public in Orkney and other island communities that island proofing will be more than simply a tick box exercise it will require a different way of doing things a recognition that ministers don't know best that one size does not fit all and that island communities must be allowed both the power and the resources to make decisions that best reflect their needs but way of encouragement let me offer a few examples of where early action might be taken to help build public confidence that this bill and plan can usher a different approach in from this government the minister knows about the chronically high proportion of households in the northern and western isles that find themselves in fuel poverty I would urge him to ensure when the government updates its fuel poverty strategy next year it allows maximum flexibility for the approaches that work in the circumstances they face this must include scope when building regulations to allow insulation measures to be maximised first not just in housing but in public buildings too it's encouraging that heat pumps are now to be used in the new Balfour hospital in Kirkwall but covering the roof in solar panels that won't ever be connected rather than increasing insulation of the building makes no sense and I'm sure Mr Ysaf would agree he also needs to support catch up zones being established targeting additional resources at those areas with the highest levels of fuel poverty in the same way I hope he will lend his support to catch up zones for broadband and mobile phone coverage in island areas despite the welcome investment a quarter of households and businesses in my constituency not just the 16 per cent across the islands and islands as a whole still have no access to fibre broadband 2g let alone 4g remains a distant hope for many as well these are now essential services and before promising the next upgrade to those already with decent provision I urge Mr Ysaf to guarantee that those with poor or no service at all will have first call on any future funding finally the minister needs to take an urgent look at what is happening in relation to care services in Orkney he will be aware for example that direct payments are supposed to be funded from savings released in other areas frankly it does not work in smaller island settings where alternative providers rarely exist Orkney now has the highest level of self directed support anywhere in the country leading to service growth rather than simply reprovisioning the coming into force shortly of the carers act may tip over the edge a service already struggling to cope it's another example of where genuine island proofing is desperately needed and I hope the minister along with his health colleagues will agree to meet with me in Orkney health to discuss possible solutions Presiding Officer, there are issues I've not covered notably in relation to the powers over the seabed but my colleague Tavish Scott will return to these in his wind up remarks meantime though I hope the minister who I have enjoyed working with closely over recent months now has a clearer sense of the scale of what is needed from him and his Government urgent action to reduce costs on our lifeline transport links a commitment to robustly test legislation and policy in terms of its effects and move away from a one Scotland mindset so that we trust people particularly islanders to take decisions that best reflect their interests and their circumstances and I move the amendment in my name Thank you, we've moved to the open debate I would urge members, we're a bit time for time try and keep your remarks a bit shorter than you possibly originally intended and then we'll have room for debate and discussion. Marie Todd will be followed by Douglas Ross. Thank you Presiding Officer, I've had a connection with the Scottish Islands my whole life not only did I spend all my holidays on my granny's croft in Lewis when I was growing up but I was named after Loch Marie which is well known for its islands as well as its beauty. Over 100,000 people live in our island communities and the vast majority of those people live on the 87 inhabited islands in my region so I'm delighted and proud to represent most of our islanders and most of our islands. I welcome that the Government's motion recognises the contribution our islands make to Scotland's culture and to Scotland's economy the islands punch above their weight in terms of influence on our culture in fiction, islands are often places of magic and wonder and it's been noted that writers such as Compton MacKenzie, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Barry and George Orwell all spent formative periods in the Hebrides the islands punch above their weights in terms of the contribution to the Scottish economy too we are well aware of the significance of their spectacular landscapes that islands have on Scottish tourism I think we're also well aware of the island's contribution to our whisky industry the world famous brand names speak for themselves Lafroyd from Islay Talysger from Skye Highland Park from Orkney as well as many others but the island's contribution to Scotland's economy stretches much further than that Shetland alone more fish is landed than in any other port in the UK in fact the Shetland islands land more fish than England, Northern Ireland and Wales combined a fifth of the UK total worth 61 million last year 2015 our islands have an enormous energy potential and although the frustration around grid constraints of course controlled by the Westminster Government means it's hard to export this energy this particular asset that we have on the islands the level of innovation around energy storage is unparalleled and I have no doubt that that knowledge will be exportable at some point in the future on top of that consider all of the distinctive products that come from our islands we've got Orkney beef Harris tweed to name just a few island life can be challenging connectivity is the key travelling any sort of distance can be complicated, time consuming and expensive island life revolves around ferry and flight timetables this government has already done a great deal for our island communities and has promised to do more thankfully in Scotland we have a government that has promised us this government has protected discounts for air travel to the islands and with RET which has been a great success now rolled out to all of the routes in the Clyde and Hebrides network increasing visitor numbers and will stimulate the local economies this government has frozen the cost of ferry frayers for the northern isles for Orkney and Shetland and will look at a variant of RET in the coming months this government is delivering on 100 per cent broadband connectivity to all of Scotland not just the islands all of Scotland island proofing legislation and I would hope that island proofing legislation will cover policy as well as legislation but at least the ambition is there to look at island proofing legislation this government is ensuring that our island communities are empowered through the island strategic group and that will include all of the islands not just the western and the northern isles this government is delivering on land reform so the islands are leading the country approximately 70 per cent of the people in the outer hebrides live on land which is community owned this government is going to ensure that the Crowney state devolution will benefit the island communities as well as the coastal communities so island life can be difficult islanders take this challenging life in their stride and have become determined and resilient people for it as I often say necessity is the mother of invention so entrepreneurship flourishes in the islands and on that note I note the concerns expressed by the opposition amendments with regard to the changes proposed for Highlands and Islands Enterprise an organisation which does fantastic work to ensure a sustainable economic future for my region I would say that the scare mongering is not helpful nothing is going to change on the ground I think HIE will benefit from Scottish Enterprise expertise in attracting more international support who was first yes if nothing will change on the ground what is the need of a board at all if it doesn't make a difference to the people it serves I think the people on the ground will be exactly the same the delivery on the ground will be exactly the same what will improve is our connectedness between HIE and Scottish Enterprise which will bring benefits in terms of international support attracting inward investment I also think the advantage goes both ways so I regularly highlight down here in Parliament about necessity being the mother of invention and that sometimes because of the challenges that we face in Highlands and Islands we're ahead of the pack in terms of creativity and innovation the rest of Scotland would benefit from looking north a bit more often and I hope that this change might encourage more of that we can lead the way for sustainable economic growth for all of Scotland and I have to say with regard to the Conservative amendment as many times before I can hardly believe their lack of self-awareness the biggest threat to skills, knowledge and expertise of HIE comes from their party's recklessness on Brexit which is highly likely to damage the economy in the Highlands and Islands which will cause a loss of people and a loss of funding there will be no quick and easy solution to the challenges that face island communities but I believe what we have seen is a determined Government showing a firm commitment taking on those challenges and developing our islands so that our island communities will be able to reap the benefits in future Douglas Ross to be followed by Kenneth Gibson Thank you very much I noted down the remarks the minister made when he started today he said I am born and bred on a Glasgow estate I cannot say and my heart stopped for a minute I thought we were going to have another humza moment I thought he was going on to say that he cannot say he's an expert in islands just like he cannot say he's an expert in transport but he didn't it's nice to see you as well Mr Yousaf we've been competing for the newspaper columns this week I see but I was going to go on to say that if he wasn't an expert when he was given this position the summer tour he did around our beautiful islands in Scotland and as someone who has a great honour and privilege to represent the Highlands and Islands I know the uniqueness each one has and what each individual island can offer to Scotland and the UK as a whole and I think it's something we can celebrate and I think it's something we are right to debate here in Parliament today I agree with other members who have rightly praised the three island communities for their efforts over our islands our future they took the lead towards the end of the referendum campaign in 2014 to put a marker down to say that regardless of the result of that referendum more needed to be done to highlight the issues in the islands and ensure that we in this Parliament and we who make the laws ensure there is creation made for the individual aspects of island work I think so far in this debate bar a couple of points from Marie Todd this has been a consensual debate and I would expect that to continue we all want to see the best in our islands but I also think after 10 years almost 10 years in government the SNP members shouldn't be too prickly when there is some criticism of some aspects of this legislation that's coming through and aspects that go on in the islands many people were delivered in 1999 and through successive governments expected changes and 10 years after an SNP government we are still not seeing the island proofing still not seeing the improvements in our islands that I think we can expect or many people expected to see and I think it's right that we can make that we can make these observations and try and improve things as a Parliament as a whole I'll give way to the minister Minister on island proofing he says it's amazing that in 10 years we haven't seen progress on it whether or not island proofing was in his manifesto or indeed any conservative manifesto for this Parliament what I was saying was the people in the islands looked to their Parliament to improve things for them and I think they would be looking over the last 10 years and since devolution was delivered and said not enough has been done that's why our islands our future was launched they didn't think enough was being done they wanted to see more done in their local communities they were supported by all the parties in this chamber and I think it's something we can move forward with but I also wanted to pick up on a point we were speaking about digital connectivity the road infrastructure more devolution from the centre to local communities and while these issues are acute in the islands they are the same issues we have across the islands and across Scotland so while it's issues that we as islands and islands members raise they're also raised by every one of the 129 so yes there are bigger problems in the islands but they share many of the same problems as people across Scotland Liam McArthur made the point however that certainly with digital connectivity Orkney Islands are 20% behind the rest of Scotland so while they share the same problems it's almost always far more acute in these communities I want to briefly mention the great work done by HIE I've seen that for myself in Murray and across the Highlands and Islands on our amendment today it was almost looking forward, looking into the future as we saw the announcement yesterday that is troubling people and I noted what Marie Todd said she noted the concerns and then went on to dismiss them completely and I think that that is unwise because there are genuine concerns in our communities which we both represent with these changes to HIE and I certainly haven't heard anything from any SNP member or the minister to reduce those concerns in the community and I think that's something we will be looking for very closely and the point that I would make on that the Scottish Government announced in March 2016 the feedback to the empowering our islands consultation there were almost 200 responses and one of the areas that they highlighted in their own press release about that consultation it says a one size fits all approach to legislation policy and services doesn't take into account the requirements of life on Scotland's islands into consideration and I worry if we move away to a centralized HIE that that accountability for the island communities will be diminished significantly and that's why there are concerns on these benches and I believe many benches across Parliament there's many issues I'd like to pick up on particularly about policing there are concerns across Scotland and these are also shared across the centralisation of the police forces the accountability to local communities when councillors from Orkney and Shetland and the Western Isles used to sit on the Northern Joint Police Board and had an influence that is taken away I'd also like to have spoken a bit longer but I understand the time constraints about the many tourism aspects in our islands and how they can be helped not hindered a lot of the time but if I can end on a positive note yes there's challenges for people living on our islands but there are also many benefits and opportunities and sometimes I think we've got to be careful in this chamber that we don't only look at the things that are wrong or are difficult on living on our islands we've got to look at the positives to encourage people to move there to encourage people to stay there and therefore any island proofing that we can move forward with as a Parliament and with the Scottish Government I think will be a benefit to everyone currently there and people considering that. Kenneth Gibson to be followed by Neil Bibby Thank you, Presiding Officer and with the huge diversity of islands that we have in Scotland the focus is often on geographically more distant communities such as Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides and while those are undoubtedly impacted due to the distance from mainland facilities every island is unique with its own set of challenges As a member for Cunningham North I represent the Isles of Arran 1,600, 1,431 inhabitants respectively they each have a very distinctive character Holy Isle is owned by the Sam Yee Ling Buddhist community whose settlements in the island include the centre for world peace and health and on the southern end of the island lives a community of nuns under taking three year retreats The remainder of the island is treated as a nature reserve with wild irisgy ponies, sannan goats, soy sheep and a rock whitebeam tree and Arran Cumbrae and uninhabited wee Cumbrae together boast a castle, lighthouse, cathedral of the Isles Field Studies Council Cumbrae National Sports Scotland sailing centre and the famous Crocodile Rock known to Glasgow regions by town Millport Cumbrae is Scotland's cycling island and like all island communities it has challenges yet the community is ambitious seeking to develop a community care hub on the island and together with LARGS parasailing championships The SNP manifesto contained a clear and substantial promise to empower island communities and the newly elected SNP Government has indeed wasted no time living up to this commitment Only three months into Government a consultation on the islands bill has already been carried out and a dedicated island strategic group formed which includes North Ayrshire Council covering the Cumbrae and Arran I welcome the approach being taken and the SNP Government is under no illusions regarding the importance and scale of improvements required to better serve our island communities It is vital to ensure that issues affect island communities continue to be actioned under existing frameworks and ministerial portfolios as we progress and indeed Tavish Scott touched on health as one of those earlier There is an obvious example in my own constituents of how important it is that the right decisions are made at a ministerial level One objective set forth in the islands manifesto is investment in quality ferry services I quote, to keep ferry fares as low as possible and provide concessionary travel to our older people There is a reason they are called lifeline ferry services Over the past few years SNP Government has driven massive improvements to our ferry services to both Arran and Cumbrae The introduction of road equivalent tariff led to a huge reduction in ferry fares and a current freeze resulting in a significant increase in passenger and vehicle numbers of 12.3 million hybrid ferry MV Katrina serving the Lachranza to Cloning route entered service in September increasing comfort and capacity while reducing emissions I was delighted that the minister was there for the launch of that A new £47 million ferry now being built in Port Glasgow to serve the address and to Brodrick route will allow for two vessels to sail the route all year round and will be another massive boost Meanwhile, a new £28 million harbour will increase capacity from the car park to the terminal to the number of vessels that can dock As a consequence of investment by this Government Anne's economy grew by a thumping 10 per cent last year more than China's The 182-year-old ferry route between Brodrick and Addrossan has seen and should continue to see further improvements benefiting both the local economy of Arran and Addrossan on the mainland and Addrossan, our task force was set up with a view to making investment However, Associated British Ports has put in a hostile bid to move the service from Addrossan to Trun, which at 18 nautical miles would make the journey 50 per cent longer increasing sailing times ferry prices and decreasing number of sailings impacting on capacity affordability and competitiveness It was all too dammys in the North Ayrshire economy by some 4.7 million a year and may get harder for North Ayrshire council to service Arran costing 165 jobs in Addrossan Trun harbour does not even have a railway station whereas Addrossan harbour the train comes right up to the terminal Thus, moving the ferry to Trun would also be against the Government's manifesto commitment of making public transport accessible to older people who represent a significant percentage of Arran's residents and visitors For those reasons, among others, I'm confident that the impending stag will only serve to highlight that Addrossan is the best birthing place in Ayrshire for this lifeline Arran ferry service Of course, Arran's not all about ferries It's a beautiful island Scotland in miniature is often called with feisty people who support the July 2013 undertaking with the SNP Government that islands should enjoy the maximum degree of local decision making Island folk want to make things happen whether it is Arran aromatix or Arran a resort or taste of Arran we have strong businesses Indeed, according to cottages and castles things are going well and accommodation provider it says that bookings have rocketed 47 per cent this year a new distillery we built in south Arran representing a £10 million investment while the distillery in picturesque Lachranza invested new facilities in what was a record year for visitors Superfast broadband will not yet delivered to the standard we expect is making significant progress Mobile coverage is another issue and the UK Government actually wrote to me some two years ago on this saying that Arran was not a priority so I would ask some of our Tory colleagues to perhaps who aspire to represent Arran in other islands to perhaps speak to their colleagues at UK in order to get that thing moving On 28 October, Glenkill and Hydro opened which will generate enough electricity to power up to 500 homes and provide 15 per cent of Arran's electricity I have tried to bring across how important it is to island communities that their voices irrespective of size and remoteness are heard whether through island proofing or the existing framework and delivering this to islands bill it is clearly a step in the right direction when it comes to giving island communities more input to decision making and it's about time that more tailor made policies were put in place for our islands Thank you I call on Neil Bibby to follow by Emma Harper I urge all members who haven't spoken yet to think ahead trying to lose a paragraph each of our speeches Neil Bibby I think that we all agree that Scotland's islands are a vital part of the mosaic which gives Scotland its character Our islands are renowned all over the world for their beauty, rich culture and heritage When tourists talk of Scotland they admire the islands in our cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow but for those who have visited the islands it is the taste and experience of the islands that leaves them with the longest lasting impression My own appreciation of the significance of our islands has deepened since I married into a family from the Isle of Lewis from my not frequent enough visits there I have learned that while there is pride in the beauty of the islands, their community and culture there is also a deep sense of frustration that the platitudes and action emanating from this place can often make it harder to sustain that unique way of life If we are to truly value the contribution of our islands then we have to recognise that action is needed to avoid these island communities turning into a living museum quaint and fascinating for tourists but struggling to provide a future for the local young people is truly the lifeblood of our islands All of our islands have a distinct contribution to make but in the case of the western islands there is the added imperative in being the bastion of Gallic as a living language and a working language these islands need to thrive for the language to thrive I also want to draw the chamber's attention to an excellent blog written by Torko Crichton who members will know is the Westminster editor of the daily record a one-time resident of Skye and someone who is steeped in the cultural heritage of the island's Torko tells us about a friend of his who as a young man on Skye in 1996 could afford to build his own home he did it with a rural housing grant and a mortgage two and a half times his salary those opportunities just would not be available to islanders these days Now today's motion is well meaning that it would be a worthy statement of intent from a newly elected government which needs time to develop its ideas and its programme but it has to be said the reality is that it's an account of a government which has been in office for nearly 10 years perhaps it would be better to judge the government's motion on not by what it says but what it doesn't there needs to be far more as I've mentioned already there needs to be far more specifics on the housing crisis one of one of the forces driving depopulation there needs to be more proposals for job and well creation to give young islanders a future there needs to be more recognition of fuel poverty and equality or the cost of living on the islands and there needs to be more mention of the erosion of local services or that sense of disempowerment that comes from remoteness not just a geographical remoteness but a sense of being removed from the decision making in this parliament too Today I want to highlight one of the dominant political issues on the island of Arran right now in my own region and I want to make sure that people in Arran are heard Arran is different in many respects from Scotland's other islands but it too suffers from remoteness and reliance like other islands on a lifeline ferry service and as Kenny Gibson has said there is a proposal to change the ferry service from Broaddick which for 177 years has travelled to Ardrossan and changed that to Trun I stroke this would increase as Kenny Gibson has rightly said the length of journeys from 21km to 29km where turn journey taking 50 minutes longer it could reduce the frequency of sailings foot passengers would face a 15% increase on return fares and islanders working on the mainland would have to pay an extra £299 per year for a five day commute car and driver fares would also increase to £47.29 return an increase of more than 20% which equates to £2,493 annual increase for a five day commute there is no evidence that Trun would be more reliable option for ferry sailings the vast majority of ferry cancellations at Ardrossan are made due to fog and high winds but that would be the same fog and high winds that affect other Clyde ports including Trun any change of destination would create problems for the residents of Arran and for North Ayrshire Council as Kenny Gibson also raised which is the local authority that covers Arran and provides lifeline services for the island Trun is in South Ayrshire across the local authority Boundary Ardrossan has immediate access to rail services unlike Trun and has better road links to Glasgow and Edinburgh and their airports all of those links are vital for the tourism industry which is such a major part of Arran's economy Islanders working on the mainland may need to reassess their job situation with increased travel costs as may those living on the mainland but working on Arran the public investment in the regeneration of Ardrossan would also be undermined at a stroke the regeneration around the marina in Ardrossan would be thrown into doubt in short Arran is an island facing an unexpected an unnecessary economic and social challenge while it may be a different challenge to some of the broader ones or other islands face it is a challenge more than easily resolved Presiding Officer today we should give a commitment as in the Labour amendment to hear the concerns of islanders and keep that ferry going from A to B from Ardrossan to Brodick and I would urge the minister and the Scottish Government to show their commitment by listening to the islanders and Arran and the people of Ardrossan on this important issue as well Emma Harper to be followed by Andy Weyburn Emma Harper Thank you Presiding Officer I'm pleased to have this opportunity to speak in this afternoon's debate even though the south of Scotland is not known for its islands having said that the remote parts of the rural south west have occasionally doubled for Scottish islands most famously perhaps parts of Galloway including Cretown and the Isle of Whithorn featured as fictional summer isle in the original film of the Wicker Man and more recently the villages of Port Logan and Port Patrick appeared as the fictional island of Ronansea in the BBC series 2000 Acres of Sky Indeed there are many similarities between the challenges facing the most remote parts of the south west and many of the Scotland's islands communities to the extent that I sometimes feel that the only thing we are missing is being separated from the mainland by water When I returned to Scotland with my husband we seriously considered setting up in Isla We were attracted by its beauty as well as the sense of community although ultimately we decided to return to Galloway That consideration was enough to convince us that opting for island life would not be an easy choice and it's with that realisation in mind however remote we in the south might feel I do recognise that the unique characteristics and variety of Scotland's island communities are important and they need to be recognised and constitute a diverse archipelago where there are different priorities and needs I welcome and support the Government's undertaking to create a national islands plan as well as establishing the island strategic group on which every island local authority is represented The specific challenges facing island communities have been addressed by others already in this debate I want to pick up on a couple of specific issues because they are as familiar to me in Galloway and to be to residents of Islay or Stronsay One area of interest is the devolution of Crown Estate and the incomes to the island and coastal councils For those councils, their marine assets are crucial so it may make sense for them to have control over the revenue raised through the Crown Estate and be accountable for how it is invested back into their communities I also want to touch on fuel poverty when the combination of hard to heat, hard to treat houses and higher costs of supply associated with off grid fuels such as LPG present a situation for many of our island communities which is a familiar one for the most remotest parts of my region too The Government's commitment to a holistic approach to tackling the problem of island fuel poverty is very welcome and I was particularly pleased to see the inclusion of micro generation schemes for off gas grid homes in the national warmer homes scheme since that will apply to both island and remote mainland homes I also welcome the work outlined in the Government's March 2016 progress update on a bespoke approach to promoting our islands as tourist destinations It makes sense to invest extra effort in marketing destinations which are certainly have a strong brand but equally take a bit more of an effort to reach. I am certain that it is for the south tourism continues to grow and be a great sector for our islands Finally my interest in this issue I have to confess is as much because I hope there may be scope to take some of the good practice which is developing in terms of national policy the devolution of powers and specific focus on the challenges which are unique to island life and apply some of that to the very similar issues which affect most rural parts of the south of Scotland For some considerable time for example we have looked in envy at the work of islands and islands enterprise and hope for a similar agency to do similar things for our region We started to make progress with the nuts to designation reclassification and the prospect of unlocking greater European structural funding only this spring then to be confronted with Brexit and the issues mentioned this afternoon of depopulation, demographics fuel poverty and connectivity are very much issues we have in common with our island communities Presiding Officer this is a debate about Scotland's island communities and the Government's strategy to embed island friendly policy in the heart of national decision making As I have said I very much support that approach but as a member interested in issues of peripherality and rural connectivity who does not represent any inhabited islands I will be watching progress with these matters in the hope that there are lessons to be learned and good practice which can be applied to other parts of Scotland too After all if Galloway can pass for an island on the big and small screens maybe we can also benefit from some of the good things that we have heard in this afternoon's debate too Thank you Andy Wightman to be followed by Stuart Stevenson Thank you I welcome this debate this afternoon at least because it gives me the opportunity to challenge members to answer my favourite pub quiz question which is to identify where in Scotland one can find an island on an island on an island I see Holmes or Yousaf preparing to do some research there I would like to congratulate the island's authorities for their smart and effective campaign Our Islands are a Future in the run-up to the independence referendum The campaign also reflects a more historical analysis of the distribution of political power across the British Isles The historian James Hunter tells a story which sums up much of the relationship between the highlands and the rest of Scotland In the run-up to the 1979 devolution referendum Hunter recalls an old man in Sutherland, a man who couldn't have been more pro-highland told me he'd be voting to keep the status quo Why I asked well he said in London they don't give a damn about highlanders but in Edinburgh they hate us Much of that ill feeling has deep historical roots in the tendency of authorities in Edinburgh to dictate the fate of those living elsewhere in Scotland and that's why Our Islands are Future campaign is so important It was a success of Shetland in the 1970s in securing the Zetland County Council Act of 1974 It recalls the findings of the Montgomery committee over 30 years ago that argued for precisely what the island authorities are arguing for now The campaign led to the fabled Lerwick declaration This sounded very grand so I decided to have a wee look and find out what this declaration was To my disappointment I discovered that the Lerwick declaration is no more than the spoken thoughts of Sammond who in a speech in Lerwick on 29 July 2013 said there is a hugely important principle behind all this and one which matters in all parts of Scotland so let's call it the Lerwick declaration we believe he went on that the people who live and work in Scotland are best placed to make decisions on Scotland's future that's the very essence of self-determination for the nation and therefore it follows as night follows day that we support subsidiarity and local decision making Now such a statement falls short of the normal definitions of a declaration but nevertheless what was in effect the Scottish Government's response to the campaign at that stage was widely welcomed by island authorities but just as the people who live and work in Scotland are best placed to make decisions on Scotland's future so to then are the people who live and work on Sky, Mull and Arran also best placed to make decisions on the future of Sky, Mull and Arran and across Europe such communities typically do enjoy substantially greater autonomy and greater degree than is the case in Scotland furthermore the ambitions that are being developed for islands communities and authorities are exactly the same kind of ambitions that we should be developing for all communities and authorities across Scotland notwithstanding the important and distinctive needs of islands and island authorities some of which are highlighted in opposition amendments which we will be supporting this evening it's clear that more powers greater fiscal autonomy and strengthened local democracy are ambitions we should be seeking to achieve those opportunities across Scotland Presiding Officer my amendment to the debate although not selected highlighted the importance of decentralising the governance of Crown property rights and interests once these are fully devolved to the Scottish Parliament I want to remind Parliament that the Smith commission recommended that the two substantive reservations in schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998 over the management and of the revenues of what is currently referred to as the Crown Estate be done away with and that the Scottish Parliament has devolved competence over both management and revenues the Scotland Act 2016 devolves the former but not the latter a major flaw in any claim that the 2016 act has delivered the Smith commission proposals in full notwithstanding that failure the act amends the civil list act 1952 to the effect that the revenues shall be paid into the Scottish consolidated fund this is progress but it will lead to potential difficulties where for example a harbour authority in Shetland relies on revenues derived from new developments on Crown land but cannot directly secure the revenues deriving from this instead having to presumably enter into a complex arrangement with Scottish ministers to secure that revenue which leads me to my closing point commitments have been given by previous Governments, other parties and most recently by the First Minister herself in Kirkwall on the 1st of June 2015 that and I quote precisely coastal and islands councils will benefit from 100% of the net revenue generated in their area from activities within 12 miles of the shore these are not the same words used in the opening speech by Mr Yousaf and so I'd be grateful if the minister in concluding could confirm that the First Minister's statements of June 2015 remains the position of the Scottish Government today and finally can I also ask the minister if the Scottish Government is continuing to make the case to the UK Government for the repeal of section 33A of schedule 5 part 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 thank you thank you across Stuart Stevenson to be followed by Edward Mountain thank you very much Presiding Officer I rise of course as a member of a political party represented here the only political party that actually owns its own island Elin Moore, Vicka Cormack which is off the coast of Argyll we got gifted this I think 30 or 40 years ago and over many years members of the party have gone and started to rebuild the one building that's on there but it doesn't count for very much it's not a populated island it's not economically valuable but I'm going to propose that actually economically our islands are the most valuable part of Scotland now that might seem a sort of slightly challenging interesting thing to say we think of the islands of course as soaking up our resources and being subsidised by us if you think about it in a different way the contrary view is true and the most valuable island of all uninhabited as it is is Rockall and why is Rockall so valuable because its existence as part of our territory is responsible for our having about a quarter of our economic area and with other islands it gives us an opportunity to harvest the seas the fish that are there and of course the oil Mr Wyman Mr Stevenson does Mr Stevenson claim that Scotland should have sovereignty over Rockall it's a disputed territory and it was also the last act of colonialism by the British Government Mr Stevenson I think when Rockall came into the UK I will be corrected if necessary in 1956 I think it was if I recall but I think they factor it is accepted it creates but I make a general point that every part of Scotland makes a unique contribution and we shouldn't forget that the islands have their own unique contributions they make the minister referred to a visit to Rassie, a sun-cast island I must say my visit there which was thoroughly enjoyable my greatest memory is the midges the population of Rassie of course remember with some horror Dr Green who owned the island and kept the whole economy and the whole island in thrall and that of course was repeated elsewhere on gear when Malcolm Potter owned gear the island so islands have been one of the areas where community biots have transformed to prospects South US would be an example the island of gear would be another for my part I've just done quicker arithmetic I appear to have been to 20 populated islands that's far from the whole panoply of our islands and my father was born and brought up on Elan Amooch which of course really isn't an island because in English we know that as the black isle so not all things that are called islands in islands Harrison Lewis being examples of that but many of the characteristics of bits of the mainland are also the characteristics of islands now I want to talk a wee bit about transport because I've got some particular hobby horses I want to just get off my chest and in particular in relation to aviation many of our islands are served by small aircraft that use motor fuel they use petrol, avgas as it's called in the trade it is vatable so the island services in the Orkneys, the Shetlands out of Oben to the islands they have to pay back that on their fuel and that's an issue that we should look at similarly we have restrictions on the aircraft types we can use to serve our islands and that makes it more difficult to expand air services unlike Norway where single-engined aircraft can operate full services in instrument conditions and service very small communities that is not permitted in the UK even though the American Aviation Authority show that the safety records of single-engined aircraft under a maximum take-off weight of 4,700 kilograms is better than the safety record of multi-engined aircraft in that category as well I think unless David Stewart the member for allowing me to intervene I understood that the CEA would change in the regulations for single-piloted planes which would have a benefit to the island's islands Stuart Stevenson an already exemption for single-piloted planes that applies in both Orkney and Shetland that the CEA and indeed that's helpful but single-engined plane would transform the prospects of some places not in the network conscious officer of your strictures let me just take a wee bit of issue with Donald Cameron the issue of island's islands enterprise and Scottish Enterprise he sees gloom icy opportunity I'm the only constituency member where both Scottish Enterprise and island's islands enterprise operate my constituency and believe me the people in the SE oh a big apart I'm corrected Mr Gibson as well and the people in the Scottish Enterprise bit want to be in the HIE bit if we can transfer some of the culture and practice of HIE Scottish Enterprise will end up in a much better place than we've been in the past I don't think it's gloom and doom and of course I will campaign for the board meetings and headquarters to be in Inverness not Glasgow or Edinburgh Thank you I call Edward Mountain to be followed by John Mason Thank you, Presiding Officer it appears that there is a broad consensus across this chamber that we all agree that island communities are very unique but very fragile in comparison to the rest of Scotland what they show us is the importance of resilience and a real sense of community spirit and I believe a strength in unity within the community something that we should try and concentrate on and export from the islands across all of Scotland now we all seem to agree that there should be further powers for the islands and information though Minister is rather notably and disappointingly vague doesn't indicate what powers should be devolved to the island and I look forward to knowing what these proposals are and when we do know them if we believe they benefit the islands I can assure you that we'll be supporting you in your drive to achieve that now I believe more autonomy for island communities will allow them to champion the issues that face them giving them better access to markets transport and health and I believe that this will attract talent to the islands which will replenish in some cases declining population and I want to look at four areas if I may before I look at the first one I'm going to declare an interest that I am part of a farming partnership but I want to talk about farmers in particular on islands they face huge challenges this is largely due not only to the geographical landscape sorry geographical location but also the landscape of income is rearing stock which is brought to the mainland by other farmers to finish them because it's not always possible to finish them on the islands due to the short grazing seasons and harsh wet winters there's nothing we can do about the weather but we can try and level the playing field for these farmers who live and work on the islands who not only can be a disadvantage from having to move stock from one island to another when they're selling them helping them with the transport and ensuring movement restrictions do the job they're supposed to do and not create another layer of complexity would be a real benefit so I believe that the Government want to empower the island communities options should be explored to assist farmers in making their businesses a success we should look at specific issues that could be addressed and this could be done under a new and progressive agricultural policy that will be required post 2020 now it's not just farmers who face challenges living in island communities it's islands are falling behind when it comes as we've heard to facing and implementing broadband, superfast broadband in the western isles only 40% of the premises have access to fibre broadband but not having sufficient access to broadband means that we don't attract businesses and people to the island we have to have broadband to get the communities there and to stay there it's resources not only need by businesses but also for the children as they go through their education so broadband is not just another problem for the islands but it's one of a few and I want to talk about the other one that I believe is important which is the development cost now for example Iona and Cole cost for house building are probably 30% higher than the whole of Scotland this deters new entrance to the island and people moving in and it deters people from developing we need to look at this and we need to look at ways of reducing these costs so we can encourage new housing on the islands we also need to look at health and health is a real issue due to the remote location of residents a doctor's visit or a commute to a local service or hospital can be a daunting difficult experiences changes to services can cause great upheaval on the islands and at present as the minister will know the plans to redesign the services on Sky and Rasse which I believe you visited in the summer as we move to one hospital it will mean that there will be a huge amount of more movement on Sky and in the situation on Rasse where there is no GP and there isn't going to be a GP when the ferries stop in the evening there is a real concern about what local people will have to do to get medical care and let's be all honest with ourselves that if we can't get to see a GP in the evening when we've got a problem we'd be concerned as well and we need to address that so I think we need to work with island communities and give them special cognisance when it comes to providing health care and that can be done as has been suggested in this bill by giving them more autonomy now there's one other issue I want to mention and I'm mindful because the Presiding Officer will look at me as far as time is concerned and I also want to mention the Highlands and Islands proposals for change and I don't believe that's right and I believe that Stuart Stevenson is right to say that it should remain in the Highlands but it should remain in the Highlands with its own board it served the Highlands well it's been a great service to the islands to take to centralise it and take control away and I'm afraid Minister when it comes to discussing this at further levels we will be opposing that because we don't believe it's in the interests of the Highlands and Islands so I believe there's a lot of things that we can work on together and I believe there are positive areas which need to be addressed and I would stress to the Minister we need to look specifically at broadband which I know the government is going to do specifically at healthcare and specifically the idea of trying to make it more affordable for people to build houses on the islands if we're to retain populations there thank you thank you John Mason to be followed by David Stewart thank you sadly I have no islands in my constituency in fact I don't think I even have an island in the river Clyde of which I do have a part a glasweodydion like me going to an island is great be that Millport on Cumbria, Rothsian Bute or Arran for me at least and I think for many other city dwellers the pressures of life reduce as you cross the sea to an island and of course we know there are great pressures for people living on the islands but for the rest of us there is something great about being detached and I think that is a huge attraction for tourists so why do I want to speak in this debate as a city MSP there are members here of all parties know their islands much better than I do Stuart Stevenson says he's been to 20 inhabited islands I think I have been to approximately 35 but I think it's worth stating that many people in Scotland's cities and the mainland generally do have a strong commitment to our islands maybe we have family ties or we go on holiday to the same island every year or just visit islands occasionally but still many of us believe that islands are a key part of our national culture and I cannot imagine a Scotland without islands we were asked to skip a paragraph so I will skip the one about the definition of islands as I was going to argue that sky cannot be an island maybe because it now has a bridge to the mainland there is also a huge contrast between our islands Cumbrae and Lismore are relatively close to Largs and Obann with fairly short and I think dependable ferry crossings whereas the western isles, Orkney and Shetland are obviously much further from the mainland have larger communities within them and clearly more self-sufficient having been a few times to the western isles before I ever got to Shetland I was struck by the big difference between the two groups and especially how cosmopolitan lyric is even neighbouring islands can be very different from each other a few years ago I split my summer holiday between Kall and Tyree Kall is hilly with a very few people and a small shop that was only open half the day moving from there to Tyree was like arriving in a big city by comparison I could not believe how well stocked the co-op was there in comparison to what I just experienced on call and the other year I was in the small isles and the ownership models there are very interesting the four small isles have four different models muck, traditional landowner egg, community trust buy out rum I think SNH and canna national trust now clearly we cannot discuss islands without focusing on transport and I was as delighted as anyone when CalMac won the bid for the Clyde and Hebrides routes I am a supporter of the European Union but it has not been perfect and perhaps one of the advantages of leaving could be that we are less tied in to competitive tendering road equivalent tariff has long made sense to me and I think we should consider it one of the big successes of this Government that has been rolled out so far very quickly David Stewart first question to the member the European Union's tecle exemption from the public sector organisations not to tender and there are UK cases to establish that so I would ask the member to look at that particular point John Mason quite long debates on that particular subject but I just think there are a few areas where they could give us a bit more room for manoeuvre now I think we certainly should learn from neighbouring countries with islands this last summer I was in Ireland and they seemed to have a much more free market system for island ferries and you can get in one ferry to the sea to the island perhaps more interesting was when I visited the Faroe Islands and saw their use of tunnels we have tended to build causeways and sometimes bridges to link islands together or islands to the mainland but in visiting the Faroe Islands clearly they use tunnels to a greater degree I know this has been suggested for Orkney and I would just suggest that we should consider tunnels as a serious possibility if we are looking at replacing ferries with fixed links in the future during the last Parliament I was in the Equal Opportunities Committee for part of the time and we carried out a study on age and isolation which included visiting both Islay and Easterhouse to see how isolation in urban setting compared to a more rural or island setting and I think most of us in the committee were struck most of us were not from an island background by the very strong sense of community in the island setting perhaps more so than in an urban setting like Easterhouse but clearly the island folk faced greater challenges in areas like transport and even professional isolation so that if there is only one doctor one teacher on an island community they can be very isolated another paragraph which I'll just skip over I think was on the question of centralisation I really do think this government has been good at getting rid of the ring ffensing which when I was a counsellor was a real real problem and that has freed up both the island councils and in fact all the councils finally both the government motion and the labour amendment mentioned declining populations or depopulation as a city dweller that is something we all need to take seriously I like living in the city but it would not be good for the country if everybody lived in the cities we need strong rural and island communities one of the saddest stories of depopulation and evacuation has been the story of St Kilda which Rhoda Grant referred to and which I loved when I visited it now it is a world heritage site with no permanent population and dominated by a military base which I think is very unsuitable yet it has been a tourist attraction for over 100 years with potential for more and so I would just finish with the challenge that not only must we not allow any more of our islands to become completely depopulated and it should be a national priority to stop that happening but maybe we should even consider repopulating some of our islands likes and killed up I call David Stewart The board's overall purpose must be to enable the Highlands and Islands to play a more effective part in the economic and social development of the nation it has never been more important than today that all the country's resources should be fully exploited and the Highlands and Islands have much to contribute this is not a case of giving to the Highlands and Islands this is a case of giving the Highlands and Islands a chance to play their full part in the future of Britain but from iconic Secretary of State for Scotland Willie Ross speaking the commons during the second reading of the bill which set up the groundbreaking Hans Nile's development board in 1965 Willie Ross was cast from the same mould as the great Tom Johnston who was Secretary of State under Winston Churchill brought hydropower to the glens in the Highlands in the 1940s of course much has changed in island communities today since Willie Ross' stunning speech echoed the discovery of oil and gas the development of University of Highlands and Islands with five of their 13 academic partners wholly based on the islands CAP, the Minwain wage and the air discount scheme brought in by Tavish Scott when he was the Minister of Transport route development funding road equivalent tariff, rural fuel rebate and European structural and investment funds whether the above policies originated in Brussels London or Edinburgh the end result was a win-win for island communities and to echo the EU's global Europe 2050 vision policies should not be territorially blind but some things have not changed in a conference last month organised by the Shetlands Islands Council and the committee of the regions the 2011 Euro island study was debated and discussed this study analysed communities across the EU and the common characteristics were simply this islands at below average connectivity islands at below European GDP average economic convergence is slower job and career opportunities are low with variable quality and high cost of services but as a counterweight the 2012 geo-spec survey concluded that islands had close knit communities high value natural capital and of course potential for renewable energies but with higher vulnerability to climate change through heightening sea levels and increased likelihood of storms so I believe that the time is right for a new islands act building on best practice from Scotland in the often mentioned today our islands are future looking to Europe and looking beyond Europe and perhaps the best example that I could find for future legislation is the Japanese island development act which was one of the first in the world to recognise the distinct status of island communities the Japanese island of Okohana was close ties to UHI became a prefecture based on that a first level of jurisdiction and administrative division in Japan and perhaps the minister has already mentioned this could perhaps comment on this best practice but nearer to home it's worth stressing there's nothing new in the argument about strengthening our island communities the Montgomery committee reported in April 1984 and recommended consolidating developing and extending the powers of island councils and of course one of the key elements of the EU treaty was the principle of society taking decisions in a localised decentralized way so what would an islands bill look like well I strongly support as others have today the work carried out with the three island councils of western ills Orton and Shetland which led to our islands are future I actually met councillors Angus Campbell and Gary Robinson the leaders of western ills and Shetland respectively on Tuesday to discuss their campaign but new powers need new financial muscle real devolution means resource based control transforming control the seabed from crown of states to island authorities and onward to the community land and harbour trusts and new powers needs to teach the decision making in the planning, designing and commissioning of mainland to island ferry services and new powers need recognition of island status in the Scottish constitutional setup but of course new powers gained also mean keeping what works well in the old cliche if it ain't broke why fix it that's why I want to see HIE headquarters remain in the islands and islands with a single high board and one single high chief executive and continued decentralized staff in our island authorities now the bigger picture is we need active Scottish Government and Westminster Government's commitment to relocate public sector jobs to our island communities for example Ofcom jobs to the western ills Marine Scotland to Shetland the crown of states HQ to Orkney as a starter for 10 the consultation on the provisions for the future island bill mean interesting reading there's clear support for the principle of island proofing to fight isolation remoteness and plurality a key tool to imparting the islands the UK of course has adopted the principle of the European Charter for local self-government we need to act on it there's also strong support for a national island plan to provide structure and clarity of its setting objectives monitoring and reviewing the key will be who is accountable in conclusion as I started my speech I finish by quoting willy ross again in the 65 debate about the hands and islands he said and I'm quoting has been given a shabir deal by history from the 45 onwards too often there's been only one way out of their troubles for the person born in the highlands and islands and that was immigration those who are interested in carrying out the duties of the new island's bill might find themselves involved the date with history themselves part of the history of Scotland all we need in the words of Sir Walter Scott is the will to do and the soul to dare thank you very much Mr Stewart Donald, we follow by Jamie Greene Donald, please thank you, Presiding Officer firstly can I refer members to my register of interests and can I say how pleased I am to be taking part in this debate as a proud Hebridean hailing from just outside Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and with my Hebridean genes going back hundreds of years I care passionately about the islands, their culture, their language and their future so I was delighted in 2014 to see the empowering Scotland's agreed by all three island councils and also the creation of the Scottish Government's dedicated ministerial post as two positive steps forward the post of minister for the islands provides a clear focus for island issues and a voice for all 93 of Scotland's island communities within the Government of course our islands have a great deal going for them but they're never short of challenges to overcome and one of the most pressing issues is the projected decline in population particularly in the western isles so that it's imperative that finding solutions to the projected population decline facing the islands and the imbalance in age profiles which sees a rising older population and a decreasing younger one must be addressed with bold new initiatives The 2014 based projections predict a severe decline in the population of the Edward Hebrides of 13.7% the largest percentage projected decline in Scotland a decline in broad age groups suggests there will be a 28% decline in the not to 15 year age group the largest decline in Scotland a 21% decline in the working age population the largest percentage decline along with inward Clyde and an 11% increase in those of pensionable age by 2039 the outer hebrides is projected to have the second highest percentage of pensionable age and over in Scottish council areas at 33.2% and in addition the greater hebrides is projected to have the lowest percentage of children in the not to 15 age group at 13.6% so while that is undoubtedly the most significant long term challenge there are of course a number of other shorter term challenges which must be addressed the need of courses we've heard the need to provide superfast broadband through schemes such as the digital Scotland superfast broadband scheme in each and every village in the hebrides is a must we've travelled with improved mobile coverage and the sooner the better and I was pleased to hear the minister's commitment to that in his opening statement it is clear that high speed broadband could transform small communities the length and breadth of the west coast and the northern isles relieving them of the reliance on more traditional industries such as crofting and fishing and widening the horizons to allow a more entrepreneurial spirit to thrive we could have communities that are thriving not just barely surviving but a new entrepreneurial spirit would ensure depopulation is reversed of course it needs everyone working together to ensure our island economies flourish and that's why I was outraged along with others when the UK government betrayed the hebridean communities earlier this month with the shock move to delay a decision on the vital contracts for difference announcement on renewable energy and the knock-on impact that has on the urgently needed inter-connector the prospects of building wind farms on the islands are now seriously jeopardised if the final outcome is to deny a financial incentive to counter the higher costs of exporting electricity across the Minch as we know the UK government previously backed the proposed guarantee payment of £115 per megawatt hour it's now scrapped the subsidy for onshore turbines with a possible exception for island based wind schemes but such uncertainty as if we didn't have enough of that we can definitely delay on the contracts for difference and the related plans for a subsea cable to transfer the wind farm electricity to the mainland which hinge on the present proposed wind farm development going ahead will have a major impact on the island's economy the reality of course is that renewable energy from the Scottish islands would be cheaper than offshore however the UK government has not chosen the best value for money option and will instead procure the most expensive energy sources the UK government have completely failed to understand that the islands are the very place which could be the renewable powerhouse for the country with appropriate investment in grid infrastructure and generating assets renewable energy in the islands could see economic benefits of up to 725 excuse me £725 million including up to 225 million in community benefits so the UK government have of course the chance to redeem themselves so let's persevere and hope otherwise we will see a complete betrayal of the people of the western isles there are of course many other challenges facing the western and northern isles you only have to go skip through the Stornwick Gazette the west island free press or the open times to get a flavour of what issues are affecting our west coast islands and I'm sure it's the same with the Shetland times and the Arcadian but there are lots of positive developments too I was lucky enough to be at two major festivals in Stornwick this year the Hebride and Celtic festival or Heb Celts a coming of age event last july generated well over £2 million for the islands economy and the Royal national modern Stornwick in October generated close to £3 million for the island economy over the nine days that it ran Presiding Officer the future is bright for our islands if there is consensus in this chamber and I was pleased to hear Edward Mountain offer to work together on a number of issues the forth coming islands bill the island strategic group and the proposals for the national islands plan all give me heart for the future so let's all work together to reduce the challenges our islands face to ensure lasting benefits for all our island communities for generations to come thank you thank you very much Mr McDonnell I call Jamie Greene to be followed by Ivan McKee Ivan McKee will be the last speaker in the open debate Mr Greene please thank you Presiding Officer I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate today as a member for the west Scotland region I have the pleasure along with the constituency and other regional MSPs to represent a number of islands of notable size and population the islands of Arran and Great Cumbria with a population of around 7,000 people between them depending on the time of year obviously in the summer period that swells to a 10 figure sum but when we think about our island communities we shouldn't just think about them as we pop along to with our family on a sunny Saturday summer afternoon it's important to recognise that they too play a huge part in the Scottish economy which is why it is important we support our island communities and recognise that by not being part of the mainland we may sometimes need to take additional measures to ensure that they are afforded the same standards of living as those of us on the mainland do if I may let me take the island of Arran what immediately draws me to Arran is not necessarily always the warmth of its climate but certainly the warmth of its community spirit and the people but by its very nature being an island comes with its fair share of logistical problems the cost of living is often higher and increasingly becoming unbearable for some let me take some examples the cost of bringing fuel across from the mainland means that islanders are often paying up to 20p more per litre for petrol than for example in a drosyn but it's not just about filling up your car it's about keeping warm too higher fuel costs mean that 62% of island households have to spend over 10% of their income to keep their houses warm and a quarter of island households have to spend at least a fifth of their monthly income on heating so I really hope that the island bill will take that particular subject into account cost of living is also generally higher and whilst it's good to see that supermarkets such as the co-op have invested in Arran many people still prefer to take their cars to the mainland to stock up on petrol and groceries and that's despite the added cost of getting there and back living on an island that also comes with its own issues with regards to healthcare as my colleague mentioned a recent surgery on Arran I met with a retired GP who said he was concerned that there is not a pipeline of GPs that want to go and live on our island communities we know for example in the western isles the NHS struggles to fill around 30% of its consultancy vacancies and in many cases islanders are forced to make the crossing to the mainland to access medical care the chamber will remember it's just a week ago I asked a First Minister question on the issue of waiting times and a gentleman who was living on Arran had a very significant weight much of that was around the difficulty in actually scheduling an appointment that worked around the ferry timetables appointments were automatically generated really not taking into account the physicality of the patients where they lived and the logistics of getting to and from the mainland hospital which leads me nicely into transport connectivity much has been said already on the address into ferry service and for the sake of time I won't repeat too much of that but I think it's excellent to see that there is genuine cross-party support within this chamber today to keep the terminal in Ardrossan in the long term I actually did pen a question today for general questions that unfortunately we only made it to question 6 but I did ask the Government if it will take into account the negative impact on the economy in Ardrossan that there was a move to Trun I'm glad to see that I did receive a response and I thank the minister for this I've just received it from my office and it says that the study will look at the economic benefits public spending and the needs of ferry users in this very short response in the words of it say it will actually look at the negative impact that such a move would create maybe you could respond to it in your summing Minister I was going to say to the member given the reassurance that the socio-economic impact of any ferry change and whatever decision is made will be part of the study Mr Greene I thank the minister for that reassurance and I hope that he will listen to the genuine words from across the chamber from all parties that the concerns that we have about this potential move I'd like to also touch briefly on connectivity it's an area of great interest to me as the digital economy spokesman in my party but also through my committee work I've been meeting a number of organisations to look at innovative ways of how we can reach those difficult and last 5% households in terms of fast broadband in relation to the issue of mobile coverage I've met with the leading mobile companies and spoke to them about the difficulties of reaching our rural and island communities I'm also liaising with DCMS on this and I welcome the UK Government's £10 investment into the digital infrastructure announced yesterday but it's not all doom and gloom there are some great success stories many of them have been named already Aaron Brewery, Aaron Aromatix The Distillery and their fantastic new 14 year malt that came out Patterson's Shortbread and so on just in summary I hope that this island bill really addresses honestly the needs of our islands and I hope that the Government has listened quite hard a number of very excellent points have been raised but I hope they look more closely at how we help island families with the cost of living and to ensure that we can still bring skilled workers to places like Aaron Thank you Thank you very much Mr Greene Call Ivan McKee, then we move to winding up speeches Thank you, Presiding Officer Unlike my city colleague John Mason I actually do have an island in my constituency in the middle of Hogganfield Loch but my interest in this debate is about the huge potential that islands can contribute to Scotland's economy Presiding Officer Scotland is a land of pletiful natural resources and by far a disproportionate amount of those resources are located on or around our islands from the Shetlands floating on oil to Islay home of the malt and apologies to space side but you can't beat the peat ornally with its vast renewables potential the beautiful island of sky the tourist destination but with the potential to grow much more in fact a recent poll by Rightmove found that sky was the most desirable place in the UK to live across all 93 of Scotland's inhabited islands huge potential exists to invest develop and grow to make their contribution to Scotland's future in terms of gross value added per capita and the value of exports many islands contribute far above the Scottish average and island communities around the world and opportunities and as often as the case international comparisons are instructive the Baltic island of Sarima is the stoner's largest about one and a half times the size of sky with a population of 30,000 three times that of sky Sarima is connected to the mainland by ferry for most of the year and I say most of the year because in the winter the Baltic freezes the ice is thick enough to allow even large vehicles to drive across a makeshift road to the mainland from Tallinn provide a faster connection Sarima is a thriving tourist industry home to several spa hotels catering to visits from Scandinavia, Germany and Russia all a short flight away but my visits to Sarima weren't just to enjoy the local hospitality but because the island also contains several factories one of the largest of which employing around 300 people manufacturers of wiring systems provide the power and communication connections inside commercial jet engines in fact every time you take a flight it's more than likely as Estonian products connecting the engine and you can give thanks to the good people of Sarima for keeping you safe at 30,000 feet Sarima shows that islands can take part in the most advanced technologies not just those enabled by local natural resources but can compete and can create value across all sectors when we talk about our island communities it's too frequently in conjunction with the challenges they face in terms of connectivity and population decline but we see what can be achieved elsewhere we shouldn't set our sights too low when mapping out opportunities for our islands the island of egg is an example closer to home where much progress has been made importantly driven by local people after years of instability neglect and lack of secure tenure and a groundbreaking move the egg heritage trust was able to purchase the island in June 1997 Estonian land reform is Scotland giving islanders control of their future for the first time the trust as their own information makes clear that the trust has been established to provide and create opportunity for economic development housing and infrastructure while conserving the natural and cultural heritage and ensuring that development takes place in a sustainable way the trust has been successful in these aims with islands in a vibrant and attractive place to live and work having a growing and forward thinking population recognising the importance of eggs unique identity to its continuing growth and success the population of egg is small but growing strongly with the island pointing the way to what can be achieved at community level, not only on our islands but across many of our communities the Scottish Government has shown its commitment to Scotland's islands supporting ferry services to a record £1 billion investment in port infrastructure vessels and services since 2007 the role of RET across the Clyde and Hebrides network and a commitment to reducing fares on ferry services to Orkney and Shetland to deliver 100 per cent superfast broadband accessed by the end of 2021 this is essential to support not only existing businesses and the tourism industry but the growth of new businesses and to realise the potential for remote working and learning across our island communities and the Scottish Government has continued to press the UK Government to deliver a viable package of support to facilitate the vital grid connections to Orkney, Shetland and the Heal and Nair as those island groups have the potential to supply up to 5 per cent of total electricity demand to the UK market by 2030 the establishment of the new island strategic group delivers on a key manifesto commitment building on the work of our islands in our future the Scottish Government will take forward a new national islands plan and an islands bill which will support our island communities in fulfilling their economic potential all across Scotland we see opportunities to grow our economy and our population leverage in our natural and human resources to build a fairer, wealthier and greener society our islands have a huge role to play in that and there is great scope to realise much more of that potential thank you thank you very much I call on Tavish Scott to close for Liberal Democrats Mr Scott six minutes please can I start with one plea to our soul can we stop using that word connectivity it must be one of the worst words and jargon that any of us use in politics today on the island and Liam McArthur when we fly home tomorrow morning it won't be on a connectivity logonair flight to the islands it will be on a connection so maybe we could drop that one bit of jargon that's become beloved of all politicians of late today's proceedings by saying that his heart belonged to Glasgow it must be a relief to him to come along this afternoon and talk about islands and certainly if he's next up in Shetland for the island science convention in February or if not before he's very welcome to come across to Brescia for tea in a eastern mutton bannock I won't take the same check as Liam McArthur demanded out of him for a custard cream in Kirkwall earlier in the summer can I just go through the issues that have been raised this afternoon by members across the chamber for those who rightly started with transport that was the thing to do because for all islands certainly the islands that I represent the transport connections are the most important aspect of island life now I welcome the word significant that the minister used in his opening remarks about ferry fares for the northern isles being reduced in line with the west coast that's an important step forward and we will wait to see the detail of that and I hope he can introduce that once the clarity around the Scottish budget has become clear I'm going to slightly disagree with him he says he wants to reintroduce ADS he's not reintroducing it because it was already there when he was the first SNP transport minister back in 2007 carried on the scheme that David Stewart mentioned in his remarks earlier on if the minister in his consideration of this issue can take back the scheme that Stuart Stevenson carried on with we will all be extremely pleased with that it would be an important step forward as well for island life Mr Stevenson, you couldn't resist I may of course be corrected, Presiding Officer, but wasn't the discount 40% in those days and it's now 50% so I don't think you want to go back to what I had Mr Scott For businesses we do because businesses of course don't get any reduction and what the point we're seeking to make is that we wish to see as the islands do the reintroduction of the discount for those categories of passengers as well briefly of the Crown Estate and the minister mentioned it again in his opening remarks which was important what the islands want to see is what the Smith commission agreed and that was a good piece of work because it was across all the political parties I was very pleased to work with John Swinney and Linda Fabiani the SNP representatives and indeed Patrick Harvie and other colleagues from the Greens on that and what of course the Smith commission said on the Crown Estate was following this transfer to the UK to the Scottish Parliament responsibility for the management of those assets will be further devolved to local authority areas such as Auckland Shetland and the West Niles and I think that's a very important principle that we agreed and I look forward to the Government achieving that I heard the minister say there were some legislative obstacles to that well I'm sure a very clever and able minister such as the one we've now got will get round those legislative obstacles what I hope is not happening is an internal civil service fight which I have been told about what happens as a pilot or what it happens I suspect that all of us in the islands are not too bothered about all that internal government stuff as I'm sure the minister entirely appreciates what we want to see is the agreement that for once was agreed on a cross-party basis coming to fruition there has been less mentioned this afternoon or so possibly understandably of our primary industry so I want to just take a minute to mention both fishing and agriculture the key aspect to the changes that ever happens with Brexit on fishing is that the industry want to see the removal of the detested common fisheries policy and instead a Scottish government fisheries policy I support that I believe that that would be an important step forward there is a very important point too of course about landing more fish and having access to markets that's a different debate and we'll have that in many more places over the coming years I have no doubt but I would encourage the minister to work with his colleagues on achieving that and having some initial work done on that very point on agriculture the NFU in Shetland will meet tonight with some of the national representatives of that organisation about the light lamb market that is one of the most pressing issues not just on my constituency but I suspect for Alistair Allins I know it's a pressing issue for many colleagues in the Highlands and Islands more generally about market failure about the changes to sterling in terms of the impact that has had on marketplace but the one area of government policy that the minister might seek to address quickly in his wind-up two is on years of natural constraint we would look for that policy to be introduced to the advantage of the Highlands and Islands and the islands in particular given that's what it is absolutely meant to do the two other points I wanted to make about we very much support the principles behind that policy it's an effective and important step forward but the minister will have to deal with the concerns that we all have the island councils included about losing powers for example about any suggestion of local health boards being lost to a centralised structure the reason simple the island I live on at the moment does not have a community nurse I mean shall we say daily communication with the chief executive of our health board to try and sort that out it's a tricky one because there's a lot of issues which is having some recruitment challenges but it's easy for me to do that if we are simply subsumed into a wider board then that will become much more difficult doesn't matter whether it's me or whether it's the island council whether it's any other representative who is also rightly taking up these important issues and on high I don't think there has been some discussion on that I think the point is very simple on the high board what the high board does is have a single minded focus on the Highlands and Islands and that's what many of us are concerned about indeed many of us in his own party are concerned about it too possibly not saying it in so many words and the example that many members have driven this afternoon about made this afternoon I apologise Presiding Officer about mobile coverage and broadband is right is absolutely right but again it's not a single minded focus on the Highlands and Islands and that's what many of us are concerned about indeed many of us in his own party are concerned about mobile coverage and broadband is right is absolutely right but again who is doing that single minded focus from high to deliver on that project which is commendable it's the right thing to happen and I hope the minister might bear that in mind when changes are being considered to the high board can I commend this debate to Parliament is a useful exercise in raising many of these issues that are important to islands and encourage the Government to take forward these issues which matter to many of us and have done for many years thank you Presiding Officer it's been an interesting debate sadly highlighting the centralisation of this Government rather than their commitment to devolve to islands and it's true for islands as it is for the rest of Scotland that people should make decisions as close to where they impact as possible and the Government doesn't hold to this principle as is clearly shown by their actions so it's hard to believe whether an islands bill will have any impact on what the Government does to devolve powers turning to high which a lot of members spoke about in the debate and it's quite clear that there are people that are very concerned about what the Government is doing and one example I think Donald Cameron mentioned at the very start of his speech was the decision about the Lochaber Smelter that was something that high was involved in the Cabinet Secretary was involved too but high was there at every meeting with a local focus on what was going on there and I think if we lose that we lose everything David Stewart quoted Willie Ross who set up HIDB and I don't think he would have believed that it would be a Scottish Government that would actually be dismantling it and indeed a very shabby deal that they are doing that Emma Harper talked about the South of Scotland Enterprise and I know Colin Smyth and other colleagues have fought very hard to the South of Scotland Enterprise but if it doesn't have the powers if it doesn't have the local focus it won't work so you're maybe not being sold what you believe because you fought for something like Highlands and Islands Enterprise what you're getting and what we're getting is something that is absolutely different because we need a local body of focus in and create wealth throughout our communities but most especially in islands which are at a disadvantage one of the things we had done previously as part of the Labour-Lib Dem Coalition was look at civil service jobs that David Stewart raised today when we're moving or creating civil service jobs we should be looking to the remote rural areas and islands to do that and the crofting housing unit there those are jobs that actually underpin that local economy bringing good paid jobs and the people don't move because they are qualified, they are educated so you actually get more for your money in those areas because you get people who are overqualified who simply want a job to live on their islands those are things that HIE was at the very centre of appeal to the Government to look again at their decision because we won't get that kind of focus and support if we don't have something that is based and rooted in our communities needless to say transport and ferries and flights took up quite a bit of this debate Liam McArthur asked the minister and indeed the minister said he was looking at how he would reduce ferry fares to the northern isles but he doesn't have to examine this overly closely or indeed reinvent the wheel because we all know that the bara open route does not have RET on it but yet it benefits from the discount that are enjoyed by the other islands because that route is too far if they had RET fares would increase so there is a way of getting around the RET problem to give affordable fares to islands and I would suggest that the minister go and look at that because he doesn't need to look at a whole new system to look at replicating that one a number of members talked about the Arran ferry service and the need to protect that link with our draws because the alternative is longer journeys, less access to public transport when you arrive more expensive due to RET and the longer journey but also one of the things we miss out is things like cultural links the jobs, the people who work and commute you change their ferry and that makes life much more difficult for them and can I just appeal that the CalMac board should have islanders on it people serving our islands especially for ferries should actually have one on the boards and the boards are important as we talked about before should have on their boards someone who represents those islands talked about their discount scheme and RET both of which have been removed from businesses and that's not only in that a