Jamie Greene MSP, Scottish Conservative Member for the West of Scotland, has called on North Ayrshire’s island communities to get in touch with him and the Holyrood Rural Economy Committee with their views on the pending Islands Bill, proposed by Islands Minister Humza Yousaf.
Mr Greene attended an official Rural Economy Committee meeting on the Isle of Mull last week as part of the committee’s outreach programme to hear views from local residents, councillors and community trust groups on what they thought of the Bill as it currently stands.
A first draft of the Bill has been published by the Scottish Government which outlines the key components of the legislation. In effect the Bill guarantees that the Minister will publish a National Island Plan, or strategy for the Islands, but spears only to be an “enabling Bill” one which states that a Plan must be published, but not detail the plan itself.
On his visit to Mull, at a public meeting much concern was raised that Island Bill in its current draft lacked any real substance. It was generally widely welcomed by all attendees and is receiving initial cross party support across the Scottish Parliament, but initial feedback was that it needed to be more than a box ticking exercise.
Jamie Greene MSP commented:
“Whilst it is welcome to see a move in the right direction with this focus on our islands, there was genuine concern that it was all rather light on content and lacking substance and true vision. For example, there is no mention of how the Scottish Government should tackle some of the real issues affecting islanders, such as a lack of affordable housing, transport links to the mainland, the overall higher cost of living and access to adequate education and NHS services. The concept of island proofing should be more than a box ticking exercise. The Bill also currently states that Scottish Ministers should consult people it thinks might be relevant in the drafting of its island plan. I think islanders themselves should be top of the list. “
He concluded “My concern is that this is legislation for legislation sake and we have a unique opportunity here to do something meaningful for Scotland’s islands. I will be proposing a number of amendments to the Bill when it comes to progressing it through the parliamentary process, but I would like to hear from people on Arran and Cumbrae on what they think is missing from its current draft and tell me what they think the Bill should include or address. Let’s use this opportunity to shape and form the law to address some of the long-term problems that we have been talking about for decades. I said before was elected that I would stand up for our island communities and this is a perfect opportunity to do that.”
