Rural services

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) will lead a review of three core elements of the Scottish Government’s existing funding and policy support for rural and island communities: Community Led Local Development (CLLD), Scottish Rural Action (SRA) and the Scottish Rural Network (SRN).  

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the UK Government to deliver its Project Gigabit programme to bring faster broadband connections to hard-to-reach parts of Scotland.

Small communities across the Highlands are set to benefit from two new mobile library vehicles.

Young people from Stranraer have marked construction beginning on a landmark £6.7m Water Sports Hub overlooking Loch Ryan. 

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has taken the keys to its new glasshouse as part of the multimillion-pound redevelopment and modernisation project at Newton Nursery near Elgin.

A new Scottish Government survey will help develop the forthcoming Rural Delivery Plan and is an opportunity to take a fresh look at how to bring about change and address the issues in mainland rural Scotland.

Rural Scotland accounts for 98% of the land mass of Scotland and 17% of the population.

Orkney’s farmers, crofters and producers could benefit from a new local abattoir which will help them bring their produce to market, benefit the island’s economy and support high-welfare meat production.

First Minister John Swinney visited Orkney Auction Mart, which has received a £15,000 grant as a lead partner to help build the business case for a new, fit-for-purpose processing plant.

Farmers and crofters will benefit from £20 million additional capital support this year and £26 million next year, First Minister John Swinney has confirmed.

Speaking at the NFU Scotland annual conference he outlined how at least £14 million of the funding will deliver a Future Farming Investment Scheme, providing flexible capital grants.