Islands Team head to Shetland

The Scottish Government Islands team: Erica Clarkson (Islands Lead) and Don Morrison (Islands Policy Officer) continued with their pre-consultation phase of the implementation of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 with a fantastic trip to Shetland to take part in a workshop focusing on the National Islands Plan (NIP) and the potential impact on Shetland.

The workshop included a broad spectrum of about 20 stakeholders including NHS, Police, Fire Service and Community groups, brought together by Peter Peterson (Executive Manager – Shetland Council).

The workshop started with a very warm welcome from Maggie Sandison (Chief Executive – Shetland Council), followed by an update from Erica.

We then broke up into discussion groups to focus on:

·         What would improved outcomes look like in a Shetland context?

·         How can the National Islands Plan, support the Partnership to achieve these improvements?

This was a great opportunity for the SG Islands Team to hear about the unique economic aspects of Shetland life that need to be considered in the NIP and also common themes to the majority of islands such as fuel poverty and connectivity. 

Erica and Don were very grateful for the warm welcome and enthusiasm from everyone involved, it was great to see so much passion for the opportunity the NIP presents for Shetland. Special thanks must go to Peter Peterson and Maggie Sandison for organising such a worthwhile event.  Erica and Don are very much looking forward to returning for the main consultation meetings.

For more updates on the progress of the implementation of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018  you can follow us at the SG Islands team Twitter account @IslandsTeamSG.