McArthur welcomes Rural Affair Committee's consideration of Islands Act scrutiny

Liam McArthur, Orkney's MSP has today welcomed confirmation that the Scottish Parliament's Rural Affairs Committee will be giving consideration to potential post-legislative scrutiny of the Islands Act.  

This follows a cross-party letter to the Committee, co-signed by Mr McArthur and other island representatives last month which highlighted that 10 years on, many of the key provisions of the Islands Act including island-proofing of legislation are not being applied consistently.  

In response, the Convenor has written to Mr McArthur to confirm that the Rural Affairs Committee has written to the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs to highlight these concerns. The Committee will also be considering the need for post-legislative scrutiny of the Islands Act in discussions on its ongoing work programme.  

Commenting, Mr McArthur said:  

"I welcome the Committee's willingness to consider taking forward post-legislative scrutiny of the Islands Act in its work programme and look forward to hearing more as those discussions progress.  

"In the 10 years since the Act was passed, very few islanders would say with any confidence that they feel like decisions taken in the Scottish Parliament or by other public bodies take account of the specific circumstances of island communities.  

"As a result, all too often a one-size-fits-all approach is adopted, producing outcomes that simply don't meet the needs of our islands.  

"Meaningful reform is clearly long overdue. For any scrutiny to be effective, however, it will need to engage closely with island stakeholders, whose knowledge and expertise will be essential."