Islands Research

Source: diagram – UK Rural White Paper, 2000, text – Jane Atterton (2018)¹

As part of the 2015 ‘Our Islands, Our Future’ campaign run conjointly by Shetland, Orkney and the Western isles local authorities submitted a considered request to both the Scottish and UK governments to consider the reassessment of functions and mechanisms available to island local authorities to “develop and extend” those powers. A debate that can be traced back through the decades resulting the Zetland and Orkney County Council Acts (1974/1975) and the Montgomery committee in 1984. Separate development narratives between urban and rural in top-down UK policy terms have existed in the UK in some form from 1901 where rapid urbanisation was leading to decline in rural populations as a side-effect of industrialisation.

While the concepts of rural mainstreaming and rural proofing have featured in the UK policy discourses and strategies the process of ‘island-proofing’ later appeared in Scottish politics in the ‘Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities’ prospectus (2014). The islands prospectus was an output of the ‘Island areas ministerial working group’ developed in the wake of the ‘Our Islands, Our Future’ campaign which saw Scottish and island decision makers working in collaboration to strategise on the approach and fulfillment of key areas of improvement as identified in the campaign. The prospectus states that “Island-proofing of government policy-making duly embedded, our islands will have more input to policy-makers on a regular basis.” on the proviso that “Scotland’s people are best placed to make decisions about our future, and to know what is needed to deliver sustainable and resilient communities.”². In simpler terms an admission that better (or more acceptable) and more efficient decisions can be made by government when local people are involved in the policy making process.

“The principle of island-proofing is one of building a broad-based islands awareness into the decision making process of all parts of the public sector. Island-proofing consists of considering the particular needs and circumstances of island communities when the Scottish Government and other relevant public authorities are exercising their functions and making decisions. The Scottish Government commits itself to this principle, and the Islands Act will formalise the approach in statute.”

Scottish Government –

The prospectus announces that a forthcoming island (Scotland) Act will provide the fullest means of engagement but also parliamentary scrutiny. The Act published in 2018 does indeed contain ‘island-proofing’ measures in the form of the Islands Community Impact Assessment (ICIA) but also in part 5 of the act contains measures for local authorities to request additional powers in the form of additional functions, duties or responsibilities be transferred to the authority³. As of yet there have been no such requests by local authorities to utilise this function.

The ICIA process has been rolled out through government more closely aligned with the UK governments ‘mainstreaming’ agenda¹. The mechanisms, particularly the ICIA, will take time to embed with the Scottish Governments policy making process and guided by Attertons distinction between ‘mainstreaming’ and ‘proofing’ can’t yet legitimately claim ‘island-proofing’ success. Additional transparency would benefit the expedition of this process searching feedback on how the process has been experienced by islanders and island governance stakeholders. By the principles of the government’s own legislation on community empowerment ensuring that island populations based in the context within which the poliocies are delivered should directly feeding into the process, not just considered by policy makers in a central location.

However, the ICIA process also provides a means for holding the government to account⁴ on island matters where communities are increasingly expected to advocate for fair treatment as competition for resources is ever increasing. There are legal routes for islanders and local authorities to address concerns about how ‘island proof’ policies are in practice and some high profile uses of the ICIA mechanism being used to alter service provision directly within communities. Where engagement is utilised effectively during the development of a policy it increases the liklihood of achieving the expected outcomes and the acceptance by those on which it is to be conferred.

1. Atterton, J. (2008) ‘Rural Proofing in England: A Formal Commitment in Need of Review’, Centre for Rural Economy Discussion Paper Series No. 20.
2. https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/corporate-report/2014/06/empowering-scotlands-island-communities/documents/00452796-pdf/00452796-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00452796.pdf
3. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2018/12/enacted