Cllr. Paul Steele – Leader, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

This is my first New Year as Leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and it was good to have some time over the festive period to reflect on what we’ve been kept busy with and to look forward to future opportunities and challenges.

I would like to thank my fellow Councillors for their support and contributions throughout the year as we try to do our best for our community.

I also thank all our Council officers who put in a power of work to provide services with ever decreasing resources and thanks too must go to our partner agencies as our joint working is the best way to improve the outcomes for us all.

But most of all, I want to thank our communities who in recent years and challenging times have shown their strength, resilience and compassion.

Reflecting on the last seven to eight months, I would say it’s been busy both within the Comhairle and regionally and nationally. Amongst my commitments, I chair the Regional Economic Partnership, attend Cosla, the Scottish and UK Islands Forum, as well as the Convention of the Highlands and Islands (CoHI).

We will be hosting the next CoHI in Uist which will be an exciting opportunity to meet Government Ministers and officials and encourage them to further invest in our Islands and to discuss initiatives such as the Uist Repopulation Zone.

I recently travelled to Orkney to sign the Island’s Growth Deal, an agreement with the Scottish and UK Governments to invest £100m across Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides with the aim of drawing a further £293m of investment to help secure 1300 new jobs.

The investment is split roughly three ways and will lead to green hydrogen opportunities being developed as well as support for the Spaceport project. Our St Kilda centres will also benefit from this funding, as will several other projects throughout the islands.

Funding for major projects isn’t easy to access so we’re rightly proud of the Islands Growth Deal but we weren’t successful in our bid to the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, which would have helped us develop sections of the Spinal Route and supported our road infrastructure.

External funding for specific projects is good but the Comhairle’s Capital Investment program is not looking great (getting approximately £25m of the £127m we need) so we’re reliant on bidding for funds like the Levelling Up Fund, the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund and the Shared Prosperity Fund to allow us to develop our infrastructure and we’ll be applying for them and others throughout the year but they have to be for specific projects, not just our day to day running costs.

The recent local government settlement is going to mean tough choices for us as we move towards setting Revenue and Capital Budgets.  A net increase of £700k in our revenue doesn’t go far enough to meet our predicted £7.2m deficit, so we need to use service savings and reserves to set a balanced budget.

That means putting more strain on the services we provide over the next year and a major concern is that we’re relying on the one-off use of reserves to get us through the year, with the situation looking even worse next year.

Our main income streams for revenue generation are from the Scottish Government and through Council Tax. Last term we had the largest percentage reduction in funding of any Local Authority in Scotland, this year we’ve had the second lowest increase, so it’s important that we look carefully at what we do with Council Tax within the whole revenue budget. Whilst this will be difficult, I and my Comhairle colleagues will do everything we can to protect vital services for our community as far as possible.

I was pleased just before Christmas that the Comhairle was able to launch its Cost of Living Crisis Fund and, not unexpectedly, we received considerable interest. Whilst we cannot meet all needs and aspirations, the Comhairle remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities. But we can only do so by working with our communities and it is gratifying to see the work that is being done to support individuals and families through these difficult times.

The year ahead will see the Scottish Government move forward with its plans for a National Care Service. The Comhairle welcomes aspects of a National Care Service but has significant questions, many of which are reflected across Local Government, particularly in rural and island Scotland, as to the consequences in terms of local democracy and accountability, and asking whether the same outcomes could be achieved through additional financial provision within the current structures or a version of these.

Public sector reform is back on the agenda and may provide a preferable way forward. A Single Islands Partnership consisting of the main public sector bodies has long been an aspiration of the Comhairle and we will be undertaking work to see how we can progress that. We already work closely with our partners, which has paved the way for major developments such as the soon to be opened Goathill care complex and the Barra and Vatersay hub. 

We face major challenges at a local, national and global level. Climate Change remains the biggest threat to our planet and may have particular consequences in coastal communities such as the Islands. So it was good to see the publication of climate change strategy plans by the Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership. These clearly do not provide all the answers to what is a global issue but at least provide a framework for us to build on.

Related to climate change are the efforts to safeguard and develop our renewable energy resources. Towards the end of the year, we received the fantastic and long awaited news that an interconnector between Lewis and the mainland would go ahead, allowing the export of clean green electricity from the Islands as well as the replacement of the interconnector that serves Uist and Barra. Not only will this help in combating climate change but will allow the development of a major renewables industry in the islands, bringing major investment and employment opportunities. In turn this will help to reverse the threat of depopulation.

So, we are making progress during challenging times. The islands remain a great place to live and work with strong, vibrant communities, a unique environment, culture and heritage and an unsurpassed quality of life.