Seòmar agus comataidhean

Yes. The projects that are funded through the islands programme have been developed with communities and try to identify and address their needs. The funding for the projects that I announced last week was welcome. I was in Shetland, announcing three projects there that were awarded funding.

I thank the committee for the scrutiny and work that it undertook on the islands programme, because that fed into the process and how we worked the funding allocation and models that we used this year. That feedback was really helpful, and we made improvements to the programme as a result of that work.

I am speaking from the example that I highlighted earlier, although the team might want to come in with more examples. We very much use them in the development of policies and strategies. I have highlighted one particular example where an assessment was made and we made a change.

That is very much how I view them. In the same way, we have to undertake business and regulatory impact assessments when we are looking at other policies. In both cases, we have to consider all the information and show how it has been factored in to the decision making.

I do not know whether Francesco Sindico or anyone else from the team wants to add any information to what I have said.

Yes, that is correct. The 2018 act sets out that we can add to or amend that list by regulations.

A key part of the project is ensuring replicability across other islands. Although only six islands are part of the project, we want to ensure that we roll out learning from across Scotland, as well as international learning.

I am sure that officials will correct me if I am wrong about this or will come in with more information, but there is an example in the Western Isles of an island skills and employment repopulation pilot that is being taken forward with £250,000 of funding as a result of some of that engagement. I do not know whether Nicola Crook or Cameron Anson would like to come in on that.

If it is okay, we would be happy to send you more information about the policy test on some of the other projects.

Absolutely. That is critical, and we are committed to that. You will notice throughout the plan and the implementation route map that actions are set out and are under way to ensure that we enable that to happen. We want to strengthen Gaelic—which is part of our cultural heritage—and ensure that there continues to be a place for it.

There have been various ministerial groups in relation to that issue, as well as a task force focusing on Gaelic and the economy. We recognise that Gaelic needs to feature in all our policies, including those on housing, infrastructure and so on. You can see that throughout the plan.

On ferries and housing, when I visit island communities, basic infrastructure is always raised as a critical issue. That is where my work across Government is important. You will be aware that the Minister for Transport has re-established the islands transport forum, which now features as part of our islands strategic group, which brings key bodies around the table to ensure that we get that cross-cutting engagement in relation to housing. Again, that is a really important issue. Further, of course, I work closely with the Minister for Housing in relation to the development of the remote, rural and islands housing action plan, which will be critical in trying to address some of those challenges.

Absolutely, and I heard that message loud and clear when I visited Shetland last week. Again, I follow up and highlight such concerns with my colleagues—in this case, the Minister for Transport. You are absolutely right to say that the issue of transport is important, as is the availability of housing. That is why the cross-Government work that is going on is vital in trying to resolve some of those issues.

Ideally, we would all want to have more resources at our disposal. I have been at this committee a number of times in relation to my budget and, of course, we can always do more if we have more funding available to us. However, in the most recent settlement, there was an increase of about £800 million to local authorities, which was a 3 per cent real-terms increase. As part of that, there is also a special islands needs assessment, which gives our island authorities an extra uplift in recognition of their particular situation.

That was in September last year.