 ac mae angen i gael uchynedu siaradau oherwydd rhoiol o'r ffordd. Arol, iawn iawn iawn iawn i risau'r dibai yng nghymru, diwyllfa 14448, yn ein blaen am rai Derek Mackay o'r unig i'r hyn sydd i'r dd immune yng Nghymru. Gwlad yn unig i'r dibai yng Nghymru, mae nhw'n gweld Derek Mackay o'r hyn i'r ddymian o'r embwyllwyd. I am delighted to open this afternoon's debate on empowering Scotland's island communities. Firstly, I want to reflect on a journey that we have taken and the progress made since the launch of the Our Islands Our Future campaign by the three island councils and the establishment of the islands area ministerial working group in 2013. The publication of the empowering Scotland's island communities prospectus in June 2014 produced the most comprehensive package for empowering Scotland's island communities ever put forward by any Government. It was quickly followed by my appointment as islands minister, providing a focus and a voice for all of Scotland's 93 inhabited communities at the heart of government. The Government's commitment to our islands was further strengthened when the First Minister announced in her first programme for government her intention to reconvene the islands ministerial working group to continue the focus of addressing the challenges that our island communities face and to consult on potential measures for inclusion in a future islands bill. The ministerial group reconvened in February and I want to touch on some of the progress that has been made. On transport, we are clear about the significant contribution that our lifeline ferry services make to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of our islands. We have invested over £1 billion in our ferry services since 2007, and most recently, continued investment has allowed us to complete a roll-out of road equivalent tariff fares on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services this month and support CMAL as they finalise the award of contracts to Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited for the building of two 100m vessels. We have listened to views expressed around the timetabling and as I announced on 22 September, CalMac are consulting widely with island communities on the detail of proposals for enhanced 2016 summer sailings. We are committed to affordable ferry fares and I am therefore pleased to announce to Parliament today a freeze on fares for 2016-17. That is across all Scottish Government subsidised ferry services and that includes passengers' cars and commercial vehicles. During my recent visit to Shetland, I announced a comprehensive study of the Northern Isles service. That is to be carried out to inform the tender process for the next contract due to begin in April 2018. We will continue to engage with key partners as part of that process. We will also work closely with both Orkney Islands Council and Shetlands Islands Council in considering their internal ferry services. Building on this, I have agreed to establish a strategic islands transport forum, a specific ask of island councils. The forum will meet biannually and membership will include local authorities and other key stakeholders. The first meeting will hopefully take place shortly. On air travel, the Government has made significant capital investment in purchasing new twin-autor aircraft for the three routes between Glasgow and Barra, Tyree and Campbelltown, which we support. Those are already in operation on those routes on a much improved frequency. We have also extended the air discount scheme to 2019, which is expected to cost around £6.4 million this year, alongside the significant cost of running Hyal's airports. However, I recognise and understand the concerns around the cost and reliability of air travel to and from our islands. The Government is keen to help to address those issues and is working with stakeholders to achieve improvements. I have met Scott Preston, who started the online campaign and recently with Loganair. Loganair has outlined a range of initiatives to enhance engineering support through its network to improve reliability, a review of scheduling to improve punctuality, and I would hope that passengers start to see the benefits of those initiatives very soon. Fairs are set by Loganair, of course. I am very grateful to the minister for taking an intervention. I bear the scars of the latest delay coming down from Cutwall this morning. Has he established a timeframe with Loganair for the range of measures that I know that they are undertaking to take effect so that we see the improvements in reliability of those lifeline services? It is a fair question for Mr MacArthur. There is a Loganair board meeting this week, which I think will discuss this and other matters. They have a plan around engineering support, capacity and parts for the aircraft as well. Obviously, I want that to happen as soon as possible, so that we can start to see improvements around reliability and support for the aircraft because of the nature of them. Safety is never compromised, but I want reliability to improve, and some of that can be around the scheduling and timetabling initiative. Ken Macintosh, I thank the minister for taking another intervention. Would the minister be aware that some islanders are concerned that some of the planes are occasionally pulled from island services to serve at more lucrative routes? Can the minister investigate that claimant to see whether that practice can be stopped? I am happy to raise that with the operators when I meet them again. Both issues are really around reliability and the cost of air fares. Even the campaigners recognise that, in terms of air fares, there are costs associated with servicing the islands, and that is not about sheer profiteering, as it has been described. There are genuine cost pressures on the operator, but I am happy to raise that matter among the other matters that I have raised with them when representing island communities. However, I want to return to the air fares issues. Although fares are set by Loganair, as they are by any other airline, they reflect the cost of operating the fleet, including staffing, fuel, airport charges and, of course, air passenger duty on the northbound sectors. As with other airlines, advanced bookings are generally cheaper than those that were booked last minute. However, our understanding of the cost of travel and of the lifeline nature of those services means that we, as a Government, want to do more. Therefore, I am pleased to advise Parliament today that we will increase the air discount scheme from 40 per cent of the core fare to 50 per cent. That will be the maximum that is allowed under the terms of the scheme, and this increase will apply to bookings made on or after 1 January next year, and I am sure that the extension will be welcomed across Ireland and more remote communities in Scotland. On energy delivery of new strategic grid links to Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles remain a top priority for the Scottish Government. We continue to press the UK Government directly and through the Scottish Island Renewables Delivery Forum on its clear commitment for a viable support package for remote island wind generators. We are doing everything that we possibly can to influence the key players, UK Government, off-gem and Scottish hydroelectric transmission, by encouraging positive direct action and, importantly, promoting continued co-operation between them. On community renewables, communities across the Scottish Islands are already reaping the benefits of hosting or owning renewable energy projects with support through the Government's community and renewable energy scheme cares. Fuel poverty is another challenging issue affecting our island communities and one that was discussed by the islands ministerial group in July. We believe that all people in Scotland should live in high quality, sustainable homes that they can afford to heat. Fuel poverty spreads far and wide through both our urban and rural communities, and it is simply not good enough. That is why we have allocated over £500 million since 2009 for our fuel poverty and energy efficiency programmes. We have increased our investment in domestic energy efficiency, making a record £119 million available this year. That will give more households living in fuel poverty access to measures to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient, but we recognise that more remains to be done, and we have established a new Scottish rural fuel poverty task force that will explore issues around fuel poverty in rural areas and report their findings next year. The minister might consider making a commitment today to look very special at island communities in relation to fuel poverty, and I think that that would be helpful to islanders. Yes, I absolutely will do that, and that work will return to the islands area ministerial working group. I will make that commitment today. Providing access to high quality digital connectivity is another high priority for the Scottish Government. At yesterday's convention of the Highlands and Islands, the Deputy First Minister shared a discussion between Council's BT and the major mobile operators on improving coverage across the Highlands and Islands. In addition to the Government's schemes, where we are supporting community access such as Community Broadband Scotland, we can make a difference. Earlier this year, Community Broadband Scotland provided almost £1 million to a group of island communities in Argyll for a project, Giga Plus Argyll and more than 1,400 homes and businesses are set to enjoy high-speed broadband. A similar project will be rolled out on Sky and other projects that are in the pipeline. We are also looking at the potential use of white space technology. White space is a wireless technology using spectrum, freed up by the move to digital TV, and this pilot will also test the capabilities of white space in a ferry terminal. We want to make significant improvements to mobile coverage, and we recognise its vital importance to island communities. In March this year, we have provided 3G and 4G mobile services on the island of Collin partnership with Vodafone, and islanders themselves who are masked as a community asset. We are assessing how this model can be replicated elsewhere, potentially using European funding. We have also changed the permitted development rights, making it easier to upgrade existing mobile sites to increase coverage, and we will continue to apply more pressure on UK Government. On Crown Estate, I welcome the involvement of island authorities to the recently established stakeholder advisory group on the Crown Estate. The devolution of management and revenues of the Crown Estate in Scotland presents a genuine opportunity to deliver added benefit to Scotland and local communities. While we do not believe the Scotland Bill clauses on the Crown Estate, currently making their way through Westminster, truly reflects the Smith commission proposals, our focus is ensuring that the devolution of the Crown Estate to this Parliament takes place in a workable way. It will be a wide consultation on how best to manage Crown Estate assets in Scotland for the longer term, and we have already committed, through the islands ministerial group, to ensuring that coastal and island communities benefit from the net revenue from marine assets out to 12 nautical miles. Lewis MacDonald Can the minister confirm that it is the Government's intention to implement the aspects of the Smith commission that refer to the further devolution of control of the Crown Estate to island authorities? We are consulting on the structure at the moment. Once we have clarity on how the administration, the regulation and the planning will actually work, we will be able to say more, but we are involving the island authorities in the future structure of the Crown Estate in Scotland, but our commitment has laid out in the prospect that local and community benefit is very clear to ensure that, for the first time, local communities can benefit from the Crown Estate in a way that we were not previously able to do. If I can touch on education, it is another example of an area in which we are working closely in partnership with the island authorities, having held a summit fairly recently. Last Wednesday, I launched a consultation paper on a future islands bill. That will seek views on a range of issues, including placing a legal duty on ministers and relevant public bodies to island-proof their functions and decisions, consider what additional powers could transfer to island councils and communities, and whether there is merit in the Government producing a national islands plan, asking the question, should statutory protection be provided to the West Nile Scottish parliamentary constituency boundary, and whether the local government boundary commission in Scotland should have the discretion to recommend words with fewer than three councillors to take account of specific island circumstances. That paper is the start of a conversation. It deliberately does not seek to be too prescriptive. It is an opportunity for ideas to be shared and considered before any decisions are made, and I encourage everyone with an interest to respond. Finally, I plan to hold an islands communities conference in early 2016. During the summer, I was struck by the many positive examples of community initiatives taking place across our islands. I therefore want to provide a platform for ordinary islanders to come together to share best practice and learn from each other. In conclusion, I am very focused on a more prosperous future for all of Scotland's 93 inhabited communities, and I move the motion and my name. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I thank the minister and the Government for bringing forward the subject of Scotland's islands for debate this afternoon. I wouldn't ever pretend to be an islander, but someone who lived in the sky, went to school there even briefly, and who has returned there every year since, I admit to an affinity and affection for island life. I also know enough to realise that my experience of the Hebrides and other Scottish islands as a visitor is not the same as those who live there all year round. In fact, for all of those who visit our beautiful islands on a crystal clear spring day and are tempted to upstix and move home immediately, the best advice I have ever heard is to spend the winter there first. Yes, island life is enticing, romantic even, but it can also be harsh. The problems that we wrestle with as MSPs on behalf of our constituents across Scotland, such as inadequate housing, fuel poverty and poor transport connections, are there on our islands too, but in spades. The needs and desires of the people who do live in Scotland's islands are no different from anyone else's. They want a decent job, a warm home, access to the best education and healthcare. Islanders might enjoy their own remoteness, but they want to be part of the modern world, or at least not to miss out on it or to be overlooked. I will return to the importance of work and be able to earn a decent living later, but before I do, I wanted to at least acknowledge in passing why the islands have been so instrumental in shaping Scottish Labour's values and our vision for this country of ours. There is much in Scotland's history in which we can look back with pride, but we would also do well to remember the scar that was the clearances. The legacy and unfairness of poverty-stricken crofters, absentee landlords and a land ownership system that entrenched inequality can still be seen today. It was no accident that Labour used the first session of this new Parliament to bring forward the Land Reform Act, still one of the most important pieces of legislation that this Parliament has ever passed. We supplemented that act with a series of practical measures, designed to support the local economy on the islands, to invest in our health service and build new schools. As the minister and the Government begin to consult on a new island's bill, I think that the minister would do well to also bear in mind the weaknesses of their own legislative record on crofting and land reform, and hopefully learn from those experiences. Turning to the forthcoming bill and the current consultation, I would thank my Liberal Democrat colleagues and Liam McArthur in particular for reminding us in his amendment today of the origins of the proposed legislation. I do not mind saying that one of the more welcome offshoots of the build-up to the referendum was the establishment of our island's Our Future campaign by three island councils. The campaign highlighted that for a resident in Lerwick, for example, there is little difference between centralised control from London and centralised control from Edinburgh. Today is a relatively consensual debate, I hope, but, again, I believe that it is at least worth highlighting that there is nothing in the Government's motion about devolving more fiscal powers to the islands. A very interesting test of the Scottish Government's metal—this is a question that my colleague Lewis MacDonald and I think Tavish Scott were about to ask—will be when they finally decide what to do with the Crown Estate. Will they support Labour's position and, in fact, the position that they sent up to in the Smith commission of devolving control to our islands and our local authorities directly, or whether they will be tempted to hang on to some of the power and, of course, some of the money? Although we will be supporting the Government's motion today, there are several other issues that are not included or mentioned, which I would argue are of crucial importance to most islanders. The first that I want to highlight is that of transport, and in particular the affordability and the reliability of air services to the island, mentioned by the minister in his opening remarks. As I am sure that the minister will know, there is only one operator—Flyby—serving the islands through their franchise partner, Loganair. Over the past 12 to 18 months, I have been informed that there has been a huge rise in the numbers of delays and cancellations. I believe that the minister himself or certainly one of his colleagues have experienced this directly. I certainly know that my colleagues in the Rural Affairs Committee in the recent visit to Eilat and Eilat were delayed by three and a half hours on the way out and a further couple of hours on the way back. It is not difficult to see the impact that this might have on local residents, on public services and on businesses. Hospital appointments at Rhaigmoor in Inverness or Glasgow are regularly cancelled, onward travel connections missed and other business meetings rearranged or dropped. Thank you for taking this intervention. Just a slight correction, two of the members went by ferry and were not delayed at all. That was three different ferries and arrived in Dura for a meeting of a quarter of the population in time. I am glad that Mr Gibson travelled on the public service that is still in public ownership. It has caused my colleagues some anguish that they took the plane and would have been quicker on the ferry with Mr Gibson. I thank him for highlighting that point. The unreliability of our air services coupled with uncertainty over the future of the ferries is very damaging for business confidence and investment altogether. As to why the air services are proving increasingly unreliable, some have pointed to the ageing stock with many planes more than 25 years old, a fact acknowledged by the minister. Others have commented on the number of times aircraft are dragged off to serve other more profitable routes, but the island routes receive government subsidy and it is important that they work for the islanders that they are supposed to serve. As it is, the cost of flying to the islands is already off the scale. Even booking months in advance, a return flight to Stornoway, for example, would cost more than £250, with very few of those so-called economy or budget seats available. More likely it would be a £370 return, in other words, enough to fly a whole family to Spain and back. I remember very well when Labour and the Liberals introduced the air discount scheme, preceded as I recall by the Rural Transport Fund, in fact. It is time for an immediate review of those air services at the very least looking at the business model used, the size and the investment in the aircraft and the number of seats available. The SNP has already drastically reduced the air discount scheme, but, in many cases, the cost has simply been shunted to other parts of the public service. As it is, a majority of seats on many journeys are often taken up by the public sector, with flights to hospital paid for by the NHS, just being one frequent example. Should those flights not perhaps be capped? This is not something that these prices are, I should say, not the flights, but the prices perhaps be capped. That is not something that can be fobbed off by ministers indefinitely, and islanders want to hear words of commitment, not willy expressions of sympathy. In fact, the issue of air services flags up one of the anxieties that some islanders have with the Scottish Government's agenda as a whole. Greater autonomy is to be welcomed, but if there are no resources to accompany greater control, it is very much a double-edged sword. Housing, for example, is another area that exemplifies that concern, where a more locally tailored approach would pay dividends, but where that is no excuse for underfunding from the Scottish Government. No matter where you go on Scotland's islands, the lack of affordable housing emerges time and time again as the biggest single worry. Without it, young people cannot remain in their community or cannot return after leaving for college or university. Key staff needed to support local services have nowhere to live, and young families have nowhere to set up home with an immediate knock-on effect on local schools and shops. Rural areas generally have half the level of social housing that you would see in the rest of Scotland and, more worryingly, half the level of investment. Even within islands, housing need creates population shifts. There are often so few houses available for social rent that people end up moving to the main towns such as Portree or, of course, to the mainland. Housing need is consistently underestimated. Areas of relative affluence can occasionally obscure pockets of need, but, more likely, in small villages, people will simply not join a council waiting list when they know that there are no council houses in their community. Unlike in the rest of Scotland, where the private sector has doubled in size in recent years to meet that demand, on the islands, rented accommodation is often prioritised for the holiday market. In fact, it is very common for young people to rent one of those holiday homes for the winter, moving into a caravan for spring and summer and then back again. There are many reasons why affordable housing is a particularly acute problem on Scotland's islands. The unavailability of land is one factor, for example. Perhaps the most important, as usual, is simply to do with finance. In rural areas, there can be high development costs, but few economies of scale, with only a few houses in each site. As we all know, the SNP Government's decision to cut the level of grant to housing associations has had an effect across the country, but it has proven particularly problematic in island communities. Yet we also know where community initiatives are successful and housing is built, such as on the Isle of Gia. It has helped to double the population. Housing is absolutely essential to rural and island development. There is nothing in the minister's motion today that we object to, and I hope that we will be able to work constructively on any legislation brought in following the Government's consultation on a future island's bill. What is noticeable, however, is that the Government's motion concentrates on process when what is really needed right now is practical action. Ward boundaries are important, but what I would like to hear from the minister and his backbench colleagues is how he intends to tackle poverty, build warm homes or allow more people to go to college. The sort of steps all of us across Scotland want to see, which have a particular importance in fragile, remote or dispersed communities. I move the amendment in my name. Thank you very much, and I now call on Liam McArthur to speak to him in amendment 1, 4, 4, 8.1. Six minutes, please, Mr McArthur. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. All my adult life and probably for a good number of years before that, I've been driven by a desire to see powers delivered to our island communities. For me, the establishment of this Parliament was always only part of the story, a process, not a one-off event, certainly, but more than that it was about devolving power within and not just to Scotland, recognising, as all good Liberals in the fine traditions of Jogerman do, that power rests with the people and is passed up and pooled only by consent and where necessary. It is about giving people and communities the tools they need to shape their own future, trusting them to take decisions on their own behalf rather than a top-down minister knows best approach. I'm delighted to be able to contribute to this debate, and I'm grateful to Derek Mackay for lodging his motion. We may and do have our differences, but I've always found the minister approachable, courteous and willing to take seriously issues that are raised with him. Despite that, the SNP Government's track record on actually empowering our islands is not as the minister has characterised it with powers removed from rather than devolved to our island communities. The publication of the Government's consultation on empowering island communities is undoubtedly welcome, but it stands in stark contrast, I would argue, with the behaviour of this Government since 2007. There is, of course, the untimely demise of the historic Concordat, an agreement once proclaimed by every minister in every speech, as guaranteeing parity of esteem between the Scottish Government and local authorities. The Concordat lasted about as long as it took for the First Council to point out that a never-ending council tax freeze added to a host of unfunded SNP promises in education, housing etc. was wholly incompatible with Government rhetoric. Now local authorities are scapegoated for pretty much anything. The SNP's treatment of our island communities is scarcely any better. Mr Mackay's appointment as the minister with responsibilities for the island is one I welcomed, but we need to see more evidence of this delivering change in Government policy and Government approach, and I'll give way to Mike Mackenzie. I wonder if Mr MacArthur would acknowledge at least that what the island council, the constituency that it represents, enjoys one of the highest per capita settlements of any council area in Scotland. That shows Mike Mackenzie's willingness to simply be a spokesperson for the SNP, rather than to recognise his constituents, who, if he was doing his job properly, would recognise that Orkney Islands Council, among others, has been the most critical of the historic underfunding of the council. Despite the welcome freeze in ferry fares for next year, Orkney and Shetland remain the only island communities excluded from the Government's cheaper ferry fares. Likewise, while warmly welcoming the minister's agreement to agree to the request that Tava Scott and I made earlier in the summer to lift ADS support to 50 per cent, nevertheless, all island businesses still face 40 per cent higher airfares thanks to the SNP Government's previous cut to the ADS. Police, meanwhile, in all three island communities, continue to grapple with a botched centralisation that undermines accountability and the ethos of community policing that has been the hallmark of island forces. In terms of the consultation, as Labour's amendment rightly acknowledges, it is, of course, a response to the campaign driven by the three island authorities, one for which they deserve both recognition and real credit. Yet, interestingly, the case for empowering our island communities was not always so fondly received by SNP ministers. It was not mentioned in Mr Mackay's opening recap of the recent history of this issue, but I will recall that, when Tava Scott and I made a very similar case for giving more powers and responsibility to the northern owls that we represent, it was met with a torrent of invective from SNP spokespeople. The then Deputy First Minister, down to a range of dutiful backbenchers, lined up to denounce us as troublemakers, and indeed worse. Having been put in a flat spin by the notion that our islands might be lukewarm on the idea of seeing power centralised in Edinburgh, as opposed to London, the SNP has sought to react. Yet, to date, this U-turn in rhetoric has not seen a U-turn on centralisation. Take, for example, the centrepiece of the Government's consultation, a commitment to island-proof legislation and decision by ministers, perfectly reasonable as a concept. Yet, let's view this commitment in the context of what has gone before. Based on the SNP's track record, there seems little likelihood of island-proofing lasting any longer or being any more meaningful than the historic Concordat. The First Minister's attainment fund provides a perfect illustration, a central plank, we're told, of this Government's overriding priority. It aims to provide additional support for those children from more disadvantaged backgrounds who need it. I'm pretty confident that Tavish Scott, Alasdair Allan and I could all identify areas in our own constituencies directly affected by poverty, where the targeting of this sort of resource could make a huge difference in improving the life chances of children in our islands. Sadly, because of the way that this Government thinks, it's a broad-brunch approach to policy that inevitably sees the interests of the central belt prevail. There was never a prayer of my constituents might benefit from the attainment fund. The bottom line is that island-proofing will need to be more than a tick-box exercise. It will need to require a different way of doing things, a recognition that ministers don't know best, that one size does not fit all and that island communities must be allowed both the power and the resources, as Ken Macintosh said, to make decisions that directly affect them. As lots would have it, there is an early opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its willingness to turn over this new leaf. The Smith's commission, as our amendment indicates, backs calls by my colleagues Mike Muir and Tavish Scott to control over the seabed being passed to island and coastal communities. That call recognises that there is little to be gained by passing control of these vital assets from London to Edinburgh. Rather, it is the communities who most directly rely on those assets who need to have control and discretion over how they are used. Ministers have promised to pass on reviews, as the minister did again this afternoon, but, as well as providing a wonderful contrast with their demands for more powers for this Parliament, this less than munificent offer misses the point. Another crucial test for the Government's concept of island-proofing will be its approach to the delivery and funding of services, whether by the public or indeed the third sector. Too often in the past, funding allocations have been based on a per capita allocation. That ignores the fact that, in order to deliver any service, there is a minimum level of funding needed. Without that funding, it is highly unlikely that any sort of service can be provided or sustained and that needs addressing. More generally, the additional costs of delivering services to a small, older population dispersed over a number of islands are not fully taken into account by the Government. Last year, for example, we had the ridiculous situation where Scottish ministers were issuing press releases announcing that they had made good the historic underfunding of health boards in Orkney and Shetland. A month later, their own published figures gave the lie to this assertion. Even now, any increase that has been provided to NHS Orkney will only pay back the borrowing needed to make up the shortfall in previous years. The situation is not sustainable and will put some bearable strain on those charged with providing health and care in Orkney. Unless island-proofing addresses such practical issues, my constituents will question whether it is worth the copious amounts of paper it is written on. I welcome the appointment of an islands minister, particularly in the guise of Derek Mackay. I welcome the establishment of a ministerial group and publication of the consultation. However, it will be judged on what it actually delivers in practice and in terms of a change of mindset from a Government that has relentlessly been centralising powers and decision making, particularly over the last four years, and I have pleasure in moving the amendment in my name. I welcome the consultation paper. It is only fair to welcome the announcements that we have heard today, the freeze on ferry fares 2016-17. I know that we will be absolutely welcomed by the Strategic Island Transport Forum. Air Discount scheme extended to 50 per cent. The one thing that I would say touches on the point that Ken Macintosh made is that it is still much cheaper to go from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen to many, many capitals of Europe. It is significantly cheaper, but a quarter of the price to go by air than to go to our islands. I would like to see more done so that more tourists can visit our islands. On fuel poverty, I welcome the measures. I would say that the mention about the community broadband to Abbey Scotland, I visited them all on behalf of the Public Audit Committee and it had taken three years for these islands to get together to work together. It is a long time just to get to that stage. Before I go on to my main speech, I think that almost all education and lifelong learning committee meetings now start with apologies for Liam MacArthur. His plane has been delayed and today there is no exception to that. I very much welcome the consultation paper. It is over two years since our islands, our future, was published jointly by the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland Isles. Mike Russell did remind me in the T-room that he represents more islands that are included in Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles, so let's not just look at those three groups of islands. I want to put on record some of the excellent examples of governance in all our island authorities, and in particular Shetland. Over the years, we've become accustomed to the problems relating to Shetland Islands Council, particularly as a member of the Audit Cymru, but those issues now seem to be historic. I think that it's due thanks to the good management team work and partnership on the council, but also due to the excellent leadership of Malcolm Bell and Gary Robinson. I think that we should thank all our island authorities for bringing forward our islands, our future, which has brought us to this point today. My second point is that the three island authorities, as well as other islands in Argyll, are all very different. Their problems may be similar in terms of transport infrastructure, broadband and the delivery of public services, but their histories and distinct identity, as well as local economies, are very, very different. And neither should it be assumed that this level of devolution to our islands is all about powers from Edinburgh to Lerwick, Kirkwall and Stornoway. Of course, they are the main towns, but this is an opportunity to devolve power more locally throughout our islands. I would like to highlight the distinct nature of Walsie, where I visited on several occasions, and their museum and local traditions are so much to be admired. I hope that you will tolerate an anecdotal experience that I will go back to the year 2000, when Duncan Hamilton, SNP, Margaret Jamieson, Labour, Margaret Smith, Lib Dem and myself visited the western isles to consult in relation to the three personal care legislation a long time ago. We were told by some elderly ladies in Barra that they did not want to end their days in Stornoway. As a matter of fact, they would rather go to Glasgow and, having been born and lived on Barra all their life, they wanted to remain in Barra and when their time came, they wanted that to be on Barra. So I use that as an example that local, it's not just all about Stornoway, it's about the local islands and we need to respect them too. Part 2 of the consultation island proofing, I noted this morning in the Higher Education Scotland Bill policy memorandum that it already states that this is island proofed as well as equal opportunities, so I'm not sure if we're offering something that's already happening but it was certainly in that document and I very much welcome that. What would be helpful is to understand the process for island proofing. There's quite a bit about it in the consultation paper but I do think that it would be helpful to make it more transparent, more accountable, let us know who you've listened to, let us know what you've done to island proof decision making and legislation rather than just a sentence to say this is island proofed. I think that that would be very, very helpful. Part 3 on empowering, I do think that it's possible to be much more innovative in delivering services on our islands. For example, to look at even closer integration and collaboration between public services and I give the example of fire and rescue services, ambulance, the NHS, police and local authorities, there is much more that can be done to have something that's a bit more of a one-stop shop and fed up saying the fire station is closing here, the ambulance station is closing there and I think that islands with the smaller population it's a wonderful opportunity to look at how better they can work together and to be better integrated. I would also suggest again in this section that what may be right for Shetland under the Zetland and Orkney county council acts of 1974 may just not be right for the western isles and that's my only concern here. We should not assume that every island is homogenous in that way. Finally, page 13 of the consultation document outlines the next stages. I notice that it's a three-month consultation which would finish at the end of the year but this obviously depends on the responses and I would like today minister to get a direction of travel and some commitments to those responses, some recommendations and some proposals at least prior to the dissolution of parliament. That would be helpful. Many thanks. We now turn to the open debate speeches of six minutes please. Could members check that they have the request-to-speak buttons pressed? Please, if they wish to participate. I call Mike McKenzie to be followed by Jane Baxter. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to have the opportunity of speaking in this debate both as an islander myself and as a representative of the Highlands and Islands region for most and if not all of Scotland's islands are in this vast region and although I'm not an expert on any of them except perhaps the one I live on I'm familiar with most of them and I can therefore say with some assurance that although each of our islands is unique each with its own romantic and rugged charm they all also as Mary Scanlon has been saying has much in common and I do take Mary's point about centralism because the centralism I see tends to be a centralism around the main towns of each island group and not the centralism that we heard Liam McArthur talking about. In fact I would challenge Liam McArthur to give me one example of real tangible detriment as a result of this so-called centralism that he's talking about. If we would give me an example of one crime, one crime not investigated as a result of this so-called theoretical centralisation I'd be very grateful to hear about it. Are you giving way, Mr McKenzie? Thank you, Liam McArthur. I'm grateful to Mike McKenzie for the challenge. I would counter-challenge him to point to one police officer in Orkney who has had anything good to say about the police centralisation and I would commend them for their efforts in dealing with a bot centralisation. There is not assisted them in their work. Order, please. Order. I thank Mr McArthur for making my point for me. It seems he was not able to give one example. As an islander and as a representative of the Highlands and Islands region, I'm pleased to welcome the consultation on the forthcoming act as one more milestone of a journey that we've heard earlier started in July of 2013 when at a cabinet meeting in Lerwick the then First Minister announced the formation of the islands area ministerial workings group. That was the Scottish Government's first response to our island's future campaign, waged by the three island authorities seeking better opportunities for Scotland's islands. I remember that day in Lerwick well, a day of blue skies and warm sunshine, but I remember that there was also some uncertainty about whether the cabinet meeting would go ahead as there was a concern that the flights might be delayed or cancelled due to the possibility of seafog that often accompanies such weather in Shetland. These are uncertainties of travel that islanders live with in summer as well as winter, and this point I think was well noted by all present. Less than a year later, in June of 2014, I was in Orkney for the launch of the Scottish Government publication Empowering Scotland's Island Communities, an 80-page document full of substantive proposals with the overall aim of levelling the playing field between Scotland's islands and our mainland areas, recognising the generations of regional disadvantage that our islands have suffered from. It is a thoughtful and comprehensive document, and it was warmly welcome both by the island authorities and by island and coastal communities throughout the whole of the Highlands and Islands. It is an important point that many of the proposals apply not just to the island authorities but to all of Scotland's islands and to our coastal communities, not least of which, as the Minister has touched on, the devolution of 100 per cent of the Crown Estate Revenues. I wish that it was possible to devolve more of the Crown Estate Revenues than that, but I understand that it could not be more than 100 per cent. However, I can only contrast that with the lukewarm and the limpid response from the UK Government, which followed in the August of that year, a document entitled, A Framework for the Islands. I am sure that everybody has forgotten about that document. It comprised of no more than a few pages of warm words and nothing much else. It promised greater transparency of Crown Estate Revenues, although those are still shrouded in fog, like somebody at airport in a summer's day. It promised a desk and an officer at the Scotland office to deal with island issues, although there is no evidence today that this officer has done anything other than twiddle his thumbs. Underpinning the meaninglessness of this document is the caveat that this framework is a statement of political intent and it does not create legal obligations between the parties. It is intended to be binding in honour only. Presiding Officer, I can only reflect that it is a contemplate the unionist parties and their various promises to the Scottish people that honour appears to be a very scarce commodity. By contrast, the Scottish Government has moved quickly to honour its commitments. Order, please. If I have time, I am willing to take Mr McDonald's intervention. I will give you time back. Ken Macintosh. Would Mr Macintosh perhaps care to confer with the minister and get back on script? I think that there is a consensual debate about Scotland's future. Mike Macintosh. From where I am sitting, the speeches of Mr Macintosh and Mr MacArthur did not appear to be all that consensual. The Scottish Government has honoured its commitments to the islands and moved quickly, first of all appointing the minister, Derek Mackay, as Scotland's first islands minister and then in proceeding for the preparatory work for Scotland's first islands act and the opening of this consultation. The proposals that form the basis of the consultation could be as profound as they are powerful, not least of which is the concept of island proofing, a recognition that what may work well on Edinburgh may not work well on Edinburgh or on my home island of Isdale. The possibility of further devolution of the powers and functions of our island authority is worthy of a debate in itself. A national island's plan is another powerful possibility. There is much in this consultation to occupy the thoughts of our islanders and what I think is the best opportunity for our islands that I have known in my lifetime. I commend the Scottish Government's approach to our islands and urge all islanders to put their thinking caps on and respond to the consultation. Thank you very much. If members care to take interventions at this stage, I might be able to give a short amount of time back but not a huge amount. Jane Baxter to be followed by Michael Russell. I will begin by telling my tried-to-get-to-the-islands-but-could-not-get-a-flight story, since everybody else has been doing that. Earlier this year, I tried to represent the Equal Opportunities Committee on a visit to Islay. I got to Glasgow airport, the plane was overbooked. There was nothing that anybody could do, I just had to go home again, but I got €250 of a compensation payment. It seems quite a good deal, but I gave the money back to the Parliament. I would like to put it on record. I did not keep the compensation that I gave it back in, so Islay's loss was the Scottish Parliament's gain on that occasion, but I digress. For me, Scotland's islands bring many happy memories to mind. As a tourist, I have experienced their culture, their environment and their landscapes. I have hill walked in sky, travelled by ferry to Mullen, Diona, Harris and Lewis. I have crossed the Atlantic bridge to Seale and Isdale. I have had a fantastic week in Orkney visiting the historical cultural sites of interest, and I have been a guest of the Geyser Y Arl at the up Hellia on Bressee in Shetland. I would be the first to agree that our island communities are a special part of Scotland. Although Scotland's islands may appear to face the same challenges as mainland communities, among those, fuel, poverty, housing and transport, we need to ensure that they are equipped to deal with those challenges. The solutions and services that are required may differ from the mainland or, indeed, among different islands. From my previous existence as a community planning officer in Fife, I know how important it is that politicians and their officials listen to local people and to stakeholders when making decisions about policies and how resources are used. The Shetland, Orkney and West Miles councils through their Our Islands, Our Future campaign launched in 2013 have worked hard so that their concerns and ideas are heard. Their campaign has set out a vision for a stronger future for Scotland's island communities and called on both the Scottish and UK Governments to commit to ensuring that the needs and status of island areas were clearly recognised in whatever emerged as the future governance arrangements for Scotland. That is why Scottish Labour supports the work of the Our Islands, Our Future campaign. In recent years, it has made a strong case for empowering our island communities to address the problems that their communities face. We will continue to work with them to ensure that the anticipated islands bill meets their expectations. The Scottish Government is now at the stage of consulting with interested stakeholders on plans for more power and protection for Scotland's islands to inform the future bill. We must ensure that the islands can get a more prosperous and fairer future for their communities as a result of that bill. I would like to focus on my speech on one key aspect of that consultation—island proofing. The principle of island proofing, as set out in the consultation document, is about building a broad-based islands awareness into the decision-making processes of relevant parts of the public sector. In practice, it will involve the consideration of the particular needs and aspirations of island communities when the Scottish Government and other relevant public bodies exercise their functions. The Government is seeking views on whether it should have the power to issue statutory guidance to other public bodies and whether those bodies would be required to adhere to that guidance. The consultation further asks which bodies should be included in the scope of that statutory guidance. The issues outlined in the consultation document seem to be considered, fair and reasonable. A word of caution, however, in my experience, proofing for any of a range of scenarios, be it equality, rural, future or island, can too easily become a tick-box exercise. If the assessment is to add real value, you have to take a participative approach to work of this nature involving all stakeholders, and that will involve additional time and expense, but the results in the long term will be worthwhile. That participatory democracy and the ability to robustly island-proof policy in the future will be influenced by the outcomes of the Scottish Government's consultation, which, as well as asking about island proofing, also raises questions on empowering island communities. What additional powers and functions could be passed to island councils to benefit or better protect the island communities that they serve? Would that be the same for all islands, or could there be geographical variations? A national islands plan, whether a legal duty should be placed on all future Scottish Governments to prepare a national islands plan, setting out on-going commitments across all policy areas of government to support, promote and empower our island communities. Statutory protection for the western isles, Scottish parliamentary constituency boundary, as the only constituency in Scotland that is made up entirely of islands and not having this protection. Local government electoral wards, whether the local government boundary commission in Scotland should have discretion to recommend wards with less than three councillors so that populated islands are not placed in an electoral ward that contains a significant proportion of mainland population. That is because of concerns among some island communities that their distinctive interests may not be represented in the larger council's discussions and that the island community may not have a councillor among its residents. Scottish Labour in its 2015 manifesto committed to use the powers of the Smith commission to devolve more power to our island communities, to use new powers of the Scottish Parliament to devolve the administration and revenues of the Crown estate to manage and develop their own seabed and foreshore. We also committed to ensuring our island communities a place at the heart of the UK Government that involved a commitment to maintain the island desk in the Scotland office and conven a summit between the UK Government and Scotland's island councils twice a year. In conclusion, Scottish Labour will play a part in ensuring a strong deal for our island communities. I look forward to the progress of the bill and the opportunity to bring about a positive impact on the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Scotland's islands. Many thanks. I now call Michael Russell to be followed by Stuart Stevens. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I very much welcome the opportunity that this chamber has to debate the issues that are particular to islands in Scotland. I want to congratulate the Scottish Government on this initiative, not just in bringing forward a debate, not just in bringing forward a consultation, not even bringing forward an island's bill. I want to congratulate the Government for having an island's minister. He may not be as enthusiastic about his role as I am, that is perhaps because I write to him on irregular occasions. However, I am the constituency member, Mary Scanlon, who is, as usual, very nearly right. I am the constituency member who represents most islands. Not all the island groups are altogether there, but I represent more islands and our Garland butte council has more islands within its area than any of the island authority, inhabited islands. Therefore, it is of concern to me that it is the island authorities that are talked about in this debate all the time. It is the island authorities that the minister has been meeting with in the islands group. That is contrary to natural justice. It is unfair to the islands of our Garland butte. I hope that the minister today will renew not just the commitment that the Government has made to ensure that the Argyll islands receive the benefits of the policies as they roll out, but that he will endeavour to bring the Argyll islands and Argyll and Butte council into discussions of those matters, starting perhaps with the new strategic ferries group. I do think that the island authorities have shown a lack of solidarity and generosity in their attitudes. I understand why, because in matters such as the special islands needs allowance, there is a question of a finite budget, and the inclusion of the Argyll islands does threaten some of that special financial treatment. However, it is unfair to the Argyll islands, it is unfair to the people who live on those islands. There is much in the consultation that must be welcomed. I have encouraged my constituents to make their own representations. Some issues that are particularly germane at this time, for example, changes to local government wards, which are currently being proposed by the local government boundary commission in its fifth review, will disadvantage the island areas of Argyll and Butte very severely. They will make the council even less accountable. There needs to be changes to allow smaller wards and more local transparency. The type of changes that are applied presently in terms of both in ratio and parity to the islands councils but are not applied within Argyll and Butte. However, the particular problem in Argyll and Butte, in addition to the island problem, is growth. Economic growth is not happening, population is falling. The area is losing population faster than any other part of the country. I welcome the economic development task force that is presently chaired by Nick Ferguson, who is in place. I welcome its emerging conclusions, which are about connectivity. I want to make connectivity the centre of what I say today. Connectivity, digital and physical is key to the healthy future of island communities. They must have improved mobile phone service. The Scottish Government innovation and call is a good pointer forward, although companies have to contribute. They cannot ignore their island customers as they tend to do. Improved broadband is essential for island communities. Last year, there were 25 new undersea cables laid as part of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise British Telecom project, and that was the largest number of undersea cables ever laid in a single summer. However, it is a slow roll-out that is leading to frustration. Community broadband Scotland has certainly stepped in and the mall project that the minister mentioned is of great significance, but there needs to be a tangible outcome so that people feel that they are getting that service. People want it and they want it quickly. Connectivity in services is vital. Mary Scanlon referred to that. Royal Mail's recent vault fast on sorting mail on Tyree and Mull was important, because it showed that a bit of pressure from the islands could say to large national bodies that they should not do things this way. However, island-proofing is not just in Government policies, but in every commercial enterprise and in all national bodies. Recognising the particular problems and issues on island and responding accordingly, and innovating in matters such as transport and delivery. The discussion in this chamber last week about the possibility of ferry hubs for delivery is germane. Transport is also at the heart of this. I have a constituent who is sending me twice a day the link to the departures and arrival boards at the airport in Islay. She is doing it because every single day and every single flight is delayed. It is unacceptable for any carrier to be doing that. While I am grateful for what the minister has said, that must stop. If it is true that Loganair is prioritising other services instead of its island services, then the minister should stamp down on that hard. Air travel is vital and so is ferry travel. Ferry travel is central to life on islands. Just as I represent more islands, I represent more ferry routes. We should recognise that RET is a major achievement. People of a certain political vintage, such as Mr Gibson and myself, were arguing for RET in the 1970s. It has been delivered and it has been delivered by an SNP Government and I am immensely proud of that. Now we need to move on. Now we need to move on and look at the issue of transport costs and freight costs. There is a review under way and that is very important. I represent a wonderful area. It has unfortunately a local authority that is trying to destroy it with the cuts that it has brought forward in the past week. What we need to do is to look at the right way to develop services in local areas. That comes from a variety of different levels of decision making. Sometimes a change will come from community ownership as in gear. Sometimes it will come from existing through structures such as local authorities, but also through bodies such as a Tubermorry harbour association, which wants to have the powers of the county state, its biggest barrier is the local authority that wants to cut its funding. Sometimes it comes through this chamber looking at the islands as the jewel in the Scottish crown spread across the west and north of this country, recognising their special needs and going that extra mile to make sure that we support the people who live in islands, the services in islands and the links to islands so that those islands grow and flourish. I am proud of the things that this Government is doing. It can always do a wee bit more. Many thanks. I now call Stuart Stevenson to be followed by Margaret McDougall. Presiding Officer, let me draw members' attention to the entry in my members' interests. I am president of the Scottish Association for Public Transport, a subject that I expect to cover in my contribution. I was thinking about when I first went to an island that appears to have been Easter in 1965 when I first went to Skine. It has been my very great pleasure to have visited islands all across Scotland. Indeed, we have talked a good deal about aviation. I have flown so far into 13 airports on islands. Four of them are flying myself, the other ones commercially. The islands are part of my heritage and part of my family's heritage. My grandfather was appointed as a schoolmaster in Lewis in the 1880s. He was an Anglophone Scot married to an English lady. It was not the most obvious of appointments in what was actually a holy garlic-speaking community. However, that is precisely part of the disrespect that was shown to island traditions. The abolition of garlic was almost public policy in those days, and I regret that my grandfather played a little role in that. I think that Mike Russell may have missed a little trick. We are talking about islands and we are talking about island authorities, but there are also parts of mainland Scotland that are almost islands in terms of their accessibility, and I particularly think of the Mullick entire. By contrast, one could almost suggest that Skye is no longer an island and now it is connected to the mainland, but I think that we should pass on from that. I know that Dave Thompson is going to talk about air services to Skye and his contribution. I want to talk a little bit about how we could change the regulatory regime to make air services cheaper, easier and more pervasive. The first point that I pursued when I was a minister but without very much success is that we require commercial flights in the UK to be operated by twin-engined aircraft. That is not the case in Finland, in France, in Greece, in Spain and in Norway, where single-engined aircraft can operate many of the thin routes. That reduces costs and increases frequency. Now, you might think, of course, as Lord King did when asked why he was always flying a 747 whenever he can, because it has four engines, he said, and they do not make any six-engine planes. However, what is the reliability and accident record of single-engine planes compared to multi-engine? The interesting thing is that in the United States, for single-engine turboprop planes it is 1.99 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, but for twin-engine planes it is 2.37, which is 15 per cent higher when you have more than one engine. Flying a multi-engine plane with one engine not working is more complex than dealing with the total failure of the one engine that you have, and fatalities, similarly, are greater in multi-engine light aircraft compared to single-engine. We should look at the experience of others and continue to lobby the civil aviation authority in the UK Government. Secondly, we should also consider whether we have the right approach mechanisms. That is a technical issue, but it matters. We are talking about reliability of air services in Scotland. The weather has got quite a lot to do with it. I was reading an incident report on a Logan air flight that was severely affected by icing. No injury, no—the passengers may not have even been aware of it—but we have got weather that affects what goes on in Scotland. One of the things that affects that is fog and low-cloud at our airports. In the UK, we have one airport that is using modern GPS technology to allow aircraft to make approaches. That happens to be Shoram. In the United States, it has 1,800 airports where you can make your approach in single-engine aircraft using GPS. I will give an example of Provo in Utah, where the pilot's chart shows that you can descend using GPS to a cloud through a cloud base of 200 feet. If you have a WIC, for example, in Scotland, where you do not have that facility, we are talking about 366 feet, so the cloud has to be higher. Of course, it is very cheap. You want to put an instrument landing system in it and it costs you £1 million. Put in GPS, it costs the airport almost nothing. It costs the operators quite modest amounts of money. It is time that the EAA and others allowed things to move on so that we can reduce costs and improve reliability simultaneously. I know that those are not necessarily within the gift of the minister, except insofar as he can lobby others elsewhere. European authorities are not merely UK authorities. Let me just close by touching on one thing that has not yet come up. That is universal service, in particular for the delivery and collection of goods. Too many of our island communities and indeed mainland communities that are relatively remote are disadvantaged by excess delivery charges that commercial operators make. It is for high time that that was tackled with by legislation, if necessary, if possible, but certainly by exposing those rip-off merchants for what they are, by seeking to persuade them that equity is required in this matter if we are going to support people in all the islands that we live in, but in particular the islands that we are talking about today that are represented by the three island communities. A range of problems, but a range of opportunities as well, Presiding Officer. Many thanks. I now call Margaret McDougall to be followed by Dave Thomson. Thank you, Presiding Officer. As a west of Scotland MSP, I have island communities within my region, Arran, with a population of 4,629, and the Cumbries with a population of 1,280 as of 2011. I note that the Government is looking to change electoral ward rules for populated islands. This is currently a hot topic on Arran, more so with the proposed boundary changes, and I will be keeping an eye on how that develops and will encourage those on Arran to respond to the consultation. Presiding Officer, in my speech today, I am going to highlight some of the difficulties that are faced by our islands, such as housing, transport and fuel poverty, with the added factor of being in remote and difficult-to-reach locations. The main focus of my speech will be housing, although I will briefly touch on other areas. At a recent meeting of the cross-party group on housing, which I chair, Derek Logie, the chief executive of rural housing Scotland, gave an interesting presentation into some of the issues that are faced by those on our islands and in rural communities. Housing in those areas is traditionally more expensive, and the average rural price is 15 per cent higher than urban prices, with around 13.5 per cent of houses in rural Scotland for social rent. Despite having 18.4 per cent of the population, island and rural communities only receive 9 per cent of government housing investment. That means that in many of those areas, there is a real lack of not just social housing but affordable housing too, and many local people are priced out of the market. Trying to solve this problem is no easy task. Building affordable rural housing is difficult and expensive, and this problem is more apparent on islands where ferries have to be used to move construction materials and equipment, leading to higher costs. Irvine housing association experienced that issue while constructing 56 affordable homes in Llamllash for North Ayrshire Council. Those additional costs, slow construction rates, which harms both the local and national economy and causes supply and demand issues. To deal with the issues of demand and tackle insufficient social housing supply, Scottish Church's housing action established a charity called White Beam Homes. According to White Beam, local people on Arran are being priced out due to the high selling and rental costs. While they welcome the Llamllash development, they fear that it will not be enough to meet the current local demand. Given the lower investment per population share, I encourage the Government to look into the issue, identifying where demand is not being met and to outline a plan to deal with the issue. Fuel poverty is also a serious problem across our islands. Millport on Cumbria is in line with the rest of North Ayrshire, but it is still too high with around 29 per cent of the population suffering from fuel poverty. Although 40 per cent of the population on Arran suffered from fuel poverty according to Scottish Government figures, Arran is further away from the mainland, so fuel costs are higher. In addition, many of the houses are older and not as energy efficient. Regularity standards for retrofitting privately rented homes could have helped to tackle the issue, but unfortunately, that was not included in the Scottish Government's recent housing act. In my view, not enough is being done to eradicate fuel poverty. It is a national scandal and we need to do more, not only to promote retrofitting but to encourage people to switch service providers because islanders tend to have a loyalty to their power supplier, even when it could save them hundreds of pounds a year. Before I finish a feel that I have to mention the current CalMac situation, CalMac provides a lifeline ferry service to Arran, Cumbria and many other islands across Scotland. That service may now be under threat due to the contract being put out to Tender, a process that many of the opposite benches argued against last time, if you just let me finish, stating that tendering those lifeline services could lead to them deteriorating. Will the member appreciate that the timetables, the investment, the fares and the vessels themselves irrespective of the legally required tendering process will remain in public control and public ownership, and therefore there is no need to scare munger about the ferry services to Arran? I welcome the minister's assurances but there is a lot of skepticism out there and the strong protections that we need to have in place for the workforce. Will there be the protection for the workforce? Will there be no compulsory redundancies in the new contracts? In addition to that, can the minister confirm what communication he has had with the European Commission on the Tendering issue, given that the SNP-MEP Alan Smith has said in the past that there were alternatives to the tendering process? I am delighted to take a further opportunity to intervene on the member. Over the course of the summer, I met the trade unions specifically on employment matters and they are satisfied with the outcome of those discussions. They feel that degree of protection that the member is seeking. All the questions around engagement with the European Union have shown that we have no choice but to undertake the procurement exercise that we are undertaking, but what we are doing is ensuring safety, ensuring the provision of services and also the continuity of service that everyone would expect. If we had not undertaken this course of action, then, yes, Europe may well have had to intervene and that would have put all the island ferry services at risk, so we have totally complied with all the necessary legislation that is engaged with Europe and I am very positive about the engagement with the trade unions, which has ensured protection for staff also. Mark, you must start to conclude, please. Bell, we will wait and see what happens in the tendering issue. To conclude, there are many other issues that I could have mentioned such as access to broadband, which Mike Russell has spoken of, which, unfortunately, some areas in Arran still do not have. However, due to time constraints, I do not have time to discuss that today. I feel that areas that I have mentioned are not just important to the islands in my area, but across all the islands in Scotland. More so, given the recent report showing that we need to double construction of affordable housing from 6,000 to 12,000 to meet demand. Fuel poverty is also a very serious issue across Scotland, but our island communities suffer the most. We need to do everything that we can to drive down costs and provide energy-efficient affordable homes to our islands. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I echo my colleagues in welcoming this important debate following the Scottish Government's launching of its consultation on a proposed islands bill. On the back of last year's Our Islands, Our Future campaign, the bill proposes that island communities acquire additional powers and stronger representation in the Scottish Parliament and the creation of a national islands plan. As an ex-islander myself, having spent 10 years in Stornoway, I very much welcome the section on island proofing, which will ensure that the Government will take into account the needs of the islands at the earliest possible stages of policy formulation. The proposed bill is a fantastic development, and especially so for my constituency of Skye, Lchabar and Bardnog, which includes many islands and remote coastal areas. In considering this proposed bill, I have reflected particularly on my nearly five years as constituency MSP for Skye, Lchabar and Bardnog, and have concluded that there is an immensely strong case for the west islands and islands from Uig and Skye to Glencoe in Lchabar to have its own local authority and its own Scottish parliamentary constituency. Mike Russell is right to complain that this debate has been dominated by Orkney, Shetland and Nahail in a year, which are very worthy island groupings and authorities, but they are very little different to Skye, Lchalsh and Lchabar in terms of the challenges they face. I give notice to the minister that I am starting a campaign today to get such recognition for Skye, Lchalsh and Lchabar. In this, I have the support of Ian Blackford MP for Ros Skye and Lchabar and will work closely with him to convince the minister and bring this to fruition. The electorate of Skye, Lchalsh and Lchabar is around £27,000, compared to around £22,000 in Nahail in a year, £18,000 in Shetland and £17,000 in Orkney. Skye, Lchalsh and Lchabar has islands and remote mainland communities akin to islands and suffers from all the problems of connectivity that the three main island groups do. The roads are often reusable, the telecoms are terrible and the air services are absolutely non-existent. I hope that the minister will seriously consider my proposal and I will respond formally to the consultation so that he can do so, and I will also write to him to ask for a meeting to pursue the matter. Of course, island communities like those in Skye, Lchalsh and Lchabar need ferries, and since the Scottish Government came to power in 2007, it has invested significantly to support lifeline ferry services, including the commissioning of new vessels and harbour infrastructure. A record £1,000 million has been invested, and with the road equivalent tariff now fully rolled out, this will mean a reduction in the cost of ferry travel for all passengers, coaches and small commercial vehicles to all of Scotland's islands. I also very much welcome the ferry fare freeze for 2016-17. All of this on top of the recent excellent news from Karl Mark, the new direct daily return sailings will be put on between Loch Boysdale in South US and Malig in my constituency, as well as an increase in sailings between Malig and Armadale in Skye. Although the increase in sailings between Malig and Armadale is to be welcomed, I would caution the minister that total capacity must also be maintained and even increased. Those improvements that I have mentioned exemplify clearly that the Scottish Government is committed to essential ferry services for our island communities that rely on them, ensuring that our islands remain attractive and accessible to visitors. Of course, in the context of devolution for the islands, it is not just about essential ferry services, but also air services. As I said earlier, our air services to Skye, Lochals and Lochaber are absolutely nonexistent, but there is hope on the horizon. The Fly Sky campaign group has been promoting the case for the restoration of passenger air links to the island of Skye for a number of years, and there is no doubt that the reintroduction of air links from Skye to the central belt would benefit the economy of Skye and Lochals and would bring it into line with other regions of similar populations to Skye, who already have a range of transport options. Take Wick, for example. It is on the mainland and is around the same distance from Edinburgh as Skye, but it also has a well-used passenger airport, so all we are talking about is equity. The capital cost of such a service would be no more than £2.8 million, and it is estimated that such a service would result in an additional annual spend in the local economy of around £300,000 and would create numerous jobs. In conclusion, Presiding Officer, I would welcome support from the Government on that, as I believe that a fully functioning air service to Skye is long overdue. The bill is an important opportunity for everyone to help to shape a fairer and more prosperous future for our islands and help to shape important island-specific legislation, which will have a significant impact on the lives of islanders for years to come. That is an opportunity that we should not miss, not only to consolidate island groups such as Orkney, Shetland and Nihalyn in a year, but also to create a new peripheral and island local authority and parliamentary constituency in the West Highlands. I will go against Skye just finishing, Presiding Officer, to Glencoe and Lochaber, which would be a huge step forward for the people of Skye, Lochalsh and Lochaber. The clock is running down now. It is up to six minutes, please. Colin Angus Macdonald to be followed by Lewis Macdonald. The more observant members in the chamber this afternoon will be aware that there are no islands in my Falkirk East constituency, apart perhaps from a roundabout that Falkirk Council has designed to look like a Hebridean island, which I have to admit does not resemble any Hebridean island that I have ever visited. Needless to say, the locals have christened at Tracy Island or Fantasy Island, and if you know the workings of Falkirk Council, you'll understand why. However, as a born and bred Lyosoch or someone hailing from the Isle of Lewis, for those unfortunate enough not to have any gallic, I couldn't resist contributing to today's debate. At the outset, can I say how pleased I was to see the islands bill consultation being announced and its concentration on equality and empowerment for our island communities is very welcome indeed. Proposals for additional power, stronger representation and the creation of a national islands plan are all welcome steps in the right direction, and I hope that islanders in the northern isles and the western isles seize this tremendous opportunity. Hailing from the Isle of Lewis and having had my own business and helped to run family businesses on the island, I'm acutely aware of the challenges island communities have faced in the past and currently face. Of course, as part of our evidence-taking sessions on the land reform bill, our RACI committee has visited islands as diverse as Orkney, Isle, Dura and Skye. And over and above the evidence that we took on land reform, we also heard of major challenges facing each and every island that we visited at first hand. On Orkney, we visited in early summer when farmers were having to consider selling off their breeding stock because there was no grass due to the prolonged period of exceptional weather. But it's not just Orkney, of course. Most of our islands have been affected by poor weather this year, however the impact on Orkney farmers and crofters has been particularly harsh. Cattle have been sold early, the quantity and quality of silage is poor and it is estimated that the harvest is at least 30 per cent back on last year. The cost of bringing straw to Orkney or Lewis is substantial, with an average load costing between £2,000 and £2,500 of which the haulage costs are more than half. In a normal year, I believe, around 30 loads are brought into Orkney of straw, but this year there have been over 220. Of course, there are many challenges to the agricultural sector on the islands, but there are many positives too. Before I go on to the positives, I, too, must highlight an issue that has already been raised this afternoon in the chamber, and it is becoming a more prominent issue, one that, unfortunately, frustrated members of the Racky Cymru experienced recently. That is what is becoming a far too regular delay on logon air and fly V flights, with flight delays of two to three hours to and from the islands becoming increasingly commonplace. I am reliably informed by that bastion of local democracy, the West Highland Free Press, that the island's minister himself was delayed on route to Stornoway last week when heading up to announce the launch of the consultation on the bill. I am glad to hear the minister's statement earlier on in his introduction that action has been taken to address reliability, and hopefully islanders will see a return to better air services in the near future. Those are just two examples of the myriad of challenges currently being faced by islanders. However, hopefully, if the further powers proposed for the islands are approved, some of those challenges can be addressed and dealt with at a local level rather than calling on the Scottish Government to intervene at every turn. Since the launch of our islands our future campaign in 2013, there has been a welcome positive working partnership formed between the Scottish Government and the Islands Councils to address some of the challenges that islands face. It will be proof positive that joint working can pay off to the benefit of local communities. In addition, the creation of an islands minister when the First Minister took up her office sends the strongest signal possible to island communities that the Scottish Government takes the future of Scotland's island communities extremely seriously. One of the most important aspects of the consultation, Presiding Officer, is the section on island proofing. The measures that the Government could take to ensure the special circumstances of the islands are always taken into account during the early stages of policy development. The consultation also seeks views on what additional powers should be devolved to the islands councils to benefit the islands and recognise the special status. There is also a proposal that I welcome to statutorily protect in the Heron and the near Scottish Parliament constituency boundary. That, I have to say, Presiding Officer, is an old brainer and I hope that the feedback to the consultation will agree with that proposal 100 per cent. I vaguely remember in my younger days the crazy situation where Lewis was in the Rosshire County Council area and Harris was in the Invernessshire County Council boundary. It was a ludicrous situation and, I believe, the best thing that happened to the Western Isles was the creation of a unitary local authority covering the whole of the Outer Hebrides. I would therefore wholeheartedly agree that the parliamentary boundary should be protected in an act of Parliament. In closing, Presiding Officer, I welcome each and every proposal in the consultation and I look forward to the feedback from it. This is an opportunity for island communities to secure additional powers for themselves and flourish. I hope that they grab it with both hands. Island communities are special. The very existence of living communities of men, women and children in so many Atlantic islands is a tribute to the toughness and tenacity of past generations. Sustaining those communities into the future is the responsibility of the present generation, not just to know those islands but across the whole of this island as well. Today's debate is about how that is to be done and it is a subject close to my heart. I was born in the Isle of Lewis, my father was born in North Lewis, his father was born in Burnerly, my mother was evacuated to the Isle of Arran during the war, my wife's mother comes from Shetland and my wife's father's family came from Orkney. I have lived in or visited many of Scotland's inhabited islands and quite a few of those that are inhabited no longer. I know that islanders view the world in a very distinctive way. Like many people from island cultures, I attach great importance to historical context. Understanding the long view is important to getting policy right for the future. Islands today are disadvantaged by geography. The sea marks the limit of island communities. Most journeys today are journeys by land. Historically, it was very different. Communities were linked, not separated by the sea. It was easier to travel along coastlines than across country. Orkney was at the crossroads of the North Atlantic world. Shetland was strategically placed. The lordship of the isles formed a bridge between the Scottish and Irish Gael tachds, and was a principality in its own right. It is wrong to think of Scotland's islands as intrinsically remote or isolated or less important than Scotland's mainland. If we recognise our islands as of equal importance, we can design policy accordingly. When I was a boy, Lewis and Harris were divided not just by the steep climb up and down the Clesium or by the sea locks on either side but also by a line on the map. As Angus MacDonald said, Lewis was in the county of Ross and Cromarty, Harris was in Invernesia, and both islands felt that they were governed remotely by mainland councils far away. The creation of Corlyon Islandshire was one of the great success stories of local government reorganisation in 1973. For the first time in centuries, political decisions at a local level were taken in the islands themselves, not on the east coast of the Scottish mainland. That was a truly revolutionary change. Bringing power home to the islands released tremendous energy and creativity from completing the chain of causeways joining so many islands together to the revival of pride in the Gaelic language and culture. Another revolution was accomplished in the northeastern quarter of Lewis as long ago as the 1920s, when the people of the parish of Stornoway acquired ownership of the land. It is no coincidence that the one Hebridean community to enjoy the benefits of community ownership for most of the 20th century has also been the community most successful in retaining its population. It is no wonder that so many other Highland and Island communities have wanted to follow suit. Devolving both political and economic power, strengthens and sustains island communities, that is the lesson of the Stornoway Trust and the lesson of Corlyon Islandshire. Much of the same conclusions can be drawn from the recent history of Orkney and Shetland. In the context of today's debate, the principle of subsidiarity offers the political power that the islands need, protecting the parliamentary representation of the western isles can be part of that. Economic power can come from the double devolution of the assets, the economic assets of the Crown estate to give islands councils control of the seabed and of the foreshore where they do not have that already. As Labour's amendment suggests, effective empowerment of island communities does not stop there. When I was transport minister in Scotland's devolved government, we worked night and day to protect Clyde and Hebridey's ferry services from privatisation and we succeeded. European Union rules were much the same then as they are now, so it is deeply disappointing that the present Scottish Government has failed to achieve the same outcome today. There is little point in talking about community empowerment, then leasing out the right to provide lifeline transport services to our private profit-making company. Is the member seriously suggesting that the Labour Party's position is that we should not have undertaken the procurement exercise and carried the wrath of Europe and potentially have put all those services in jeopardy because we failed to comply with what we have established is a clearly necessary legal process? Mr Donald? The Government has been in public ownership since 1948 and we have been in the European Union since 1973. No previous Government has allowed itself to be boxed into a position or chosen to take a policy decision to privatise the services. If this Government does that, then it will be responsible for making that choice. In my view, only by sustaining a public sector provider within the public sector can people in the islands hope to have any direct influence on their single most strategic public service. Ministers should therefore give that objective the highest priority. Stewart Stevenson was right to highlight the issue of discriminatory charges for partial deliveries to Highland and Island communities, as a number of us did during a member's business debate a couple of weeks ago. Many island communities face very high fuel prices and suffer exceptionally severe fuel poverty. They could more than solve those problems if they were able to realise the full potential of energy from their own resources of wind, wave and tide. Enhancing the electricity, transmission and distribution networks to enable island generators to produce heat and power cheaply for local consumption and to sell power to the grid would make a major contribution to the economies of many of our islands and help to tackle fuel poverty. In developing an island strategy, the Scottish Government should assess what more it can do to support investment and development by communities and local councils in renewable energy projects, and what can usefully be included in the islands bill to help to make it happen. If we address those issues of lifeline services and economic opportunities, we can go beyond good intentions and institutional reform and address the issues that matter most if we are to deliver a sustainable future for Scotland's islands. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Much has been said about the issues of connectivity, fuel poverty and so on. I think that it would be a good idea for us to look at some of the things that have worked over the length of this Parliament and some that have not. During the first four years of this Parliament, there were land reform proposals that allowed for a lot of community buyouts. Indeed, it is the communities in the western isles in particular that have most benefited from that. It links to that example that people in the mainland need to learn that lesson a good deal stronger than they have. However, it does not make it easier for communities in the western isles if they cannot have links to the mainland—the connectivity that is required from the transmission system. We have heard at least some praise for the fact that this government has been doing its very best to make sure that those links can be made. When you think about it, there are possibilities for the export of electricity from community-owned projects that communities are raising directly income that does not rely on state handouts or the local government settlement. It is the area in which they can perhaps add most value to the money that they have to spend in those areas. We can already see in the south-east the income from the renewables that they have and the gear and so on. We can see that when people control the electricity, there is an opportunity to use it. I think that one of the things with ferries that should be talked about in terms of their development is a greater ability to store electricity or to use the electricity produced in the islands to power the new ferries in the next generation. We have small ones at the moment to rase, etc., that are partly electric. We have to move to a situation where we can actually have more of the ferries, for example, in Orkney's northern and southern isles, which Liam McArthur wants to speak about just now. Very grateful to Rob Gibson for taking intervention. He will be aware, perhaps, of the surf and turf project in Orkney, which is looking very much at that issue. It is at its early stages, but I think that as I step along the way in terms of the hydrogen economy, I am being smarter about the way in which we use those natural resources to provide the lifeline services—in this case, ferries services. I am, and I am also aware of the fact that there needs to be charging points, for example at the pier on the mainland before you reach Rousey, and that was one of the things that we noticed on our visit to Orkney. Talking about our visit to Orkney, the development director Lincae is Paul Macston, who gave evidence to our committee and suggested that at that time they did not have any proposals to devolve the Crown Estate beyond the council, but, thanks to the discussions in our islands and our future, they were beginning to change their mind about that. Of course, in the Smith commission, it suggests that it is not just Orkney, Shetland, Nihilan and Anshir, but other areas that seek such responsibilities that should be given to them. When it comes to the devolution to this Parliament, it is got to make sure that that can happen, not just to harbour boards but to smaller islands so that they can control the seas around them. In that respect, it is also important to recognise that we have had the several order around Shetland, which has been an important 10-year experiment in local management of the inshore waters. Perhaps we have not talked much about fishing and there is a need for that kind of democratic control, but also some assessment. I have mentioned that before, but I believe that it is something that can add to the value of living in these islands and make many more incomes for people there. In terms of the devolution of the Crown Estate, I should also warn that it is necessary to keep the skills together that have been built up in the Crown Estate for renewables development. In the evidence received in the Rural Affairs Committee, it has come to us that the group of people who do that job need to be able to empower islands but will be based probably in the mainland somewhere and maybe a part of government in future. That is why what is discussed in this Parliament about how we actually structure the Crown Estate in future is something that involves both the mainland and the islands. There is a degree of amnesia among Labour and Liberal speakers today. A decentralisation of more power to the islands was not being discussed fully in the first eight years of this Parliament. I am glad to say that the SNP Government has taken those forward. I certainly think that it is important to recognise that, although land reform was proposed, there were not situations where there was going to be a change in the tax structure. We have a tax commission now. It should be possible, hopefully, for us to see next year the means to raise more of our taxes at local level. If we get the land reform proposals correct, we may be able to tax some ways of large landowners who, at the present time, do not pay any tax at all except for their council tax. If they were more of that being able to be taken in the land that is not owned by communities, that would be an added bonus for local authorities. I represent several islands, the Crollin Islands, in the middle of a torpedo range, IOU, Grunyard, which used to have a test range for anthrax, the summer aisles in which people cannot live in because the sea is too choppy, Handa, which is a burn sanctuary, Garvey Island, which is bombed regularly by the M.O.D, Elin and Ron, and Stroma, which were evacuated, and so, even in the small islands around my constituency, there is a need to have the possibility that people could use them better and indeed live on them in future. So, this debate is very useful, and it is not just about the big councils of the three that we have talked about earlier. Many thanks. Now, Colin, Gino, to be followed by Dennis Robertson. Six minutes, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I, too, welcome this debate and very much welcome the consultation on the islands. I am delighted that we have a Minister for the Islands in Derek Mackay, and I know that so far he has done, I think, a remarkably good job. A lot of the obvious issues have been covered, Presiding Officer, in terms of transportation and accessibility and so on of all of the island, of the archipelagos and the small islands of Argyll and small islands of the Highland Council local authority areas. And one of the issues has been the provision of broadband and superfast broadband and that kind of access. And I would like to put a slightly different, have a different take on that minister, and that is one where we are very keen to always to talk about how open this Parliament is and how accessible and that we want clarity of government and so on. But it seems to me that there's a real opportunity here to engage with all of those people on the islands by using technology. But this Parliament is the stumbling block in many cases. Through the University of the Highlands and Islands there is a fantastic network of videoconferencing across the islands and across mainland Highland. The NHS Highland 2 has very good communication and there are a number. Now it's quite common place for doctors or specialists, consultants to consult using videoconferencing, but not so for parliamentary business. Although people can of course tune into parliamentary stations and so on, we have a number, I think, about 100 cross-party groups on specialist issues, many of which are relevant to people living in the islands. I think that there is a case to be made now where we can surely attract their attention. Just to help the member, she may be aware that now the technology that's in her meeting rooms can be used for Skype teleconferencing precisely for cross-party groups and was introduced for that purpose. I'm absolutely aware of all of the rooms that have any upgrade on the IT systems and I would have to say to Mr Stevenson that one person being able to Skype in is restrictive in terms of any other visual presentation that may be made and there are only a few rooms that have that facility, not all the rooms that are used by cross-party groups. However, I'm pleased that I know that a number of people within the Parliament do know about this but I think that it would be an enormous gesture too that we start to engage with more of the people from rural highlands and islands in this way. I do believe that the resurgence of political interest has come about because of the referendum. I think that without the referendum, I doubt that there would have been on our islands our future at all and in my own experience, in a very privileged position to represent all of the islands with the exception of Arran, I do know that that kind of political debate was definitely as a result of the kind of discussions that were going on around a referendum and I think that we are fools if we don't recognise that all of us. The repoliticisation of councils if you like and I hear the case that's being made for devolved powers in every case and centralisation being used I think or abused as some kind of stick to beat the Scottish Government with. When it comes, there are so many examples over the last four and a half years that I've been involved in the islands and that has to do with the Scottish Government policy actually being preferred above local government and so with great caution I say on behalf of all of the people who live on the islands that when it came to Scottish Government education policy to keep small schools open there is no doubt where they turned to for help and got it so I think while I absolutely support everything that's here I hope the consultation I will certainly encourage people to respond to that that there are many issues that can be addressed through that I also say that that government policy and party policy given that there's an election next year will still be to the fore in all of these in many of these issues and people should pay attention to that and finally minister I would just like to say that you mentioned very early on in your opening speech that the islands had a very distinct culture and language and so on and I would just ask that whoever is in government in Scotland that we start actually to try and encourage whether it's through school trips or sports trips cultural groups to engage with the whole of Scotland that just how special the island communities are and that we shouldn't deny any child growing up in this country the possibility of at least once possibly twice in their school in their education that they have a chance to visit the islands on many of the wonderful ferries that we have thank you so much and now calling Dennis Robertson to be followed by Michael McMahon thank you very much Presiding Officer and I welcome the opportunity to take part in this afternoon's debate and like so many other speakers no I'm not an islander although I've had the privilege of visiting islands on many occasions and in fact for many different reasons when I was working for guide dogs I had the great privilege of working in Shetland Orkney and indeed in Mull and in one of two other islands where at that time I was assessing people for guide dogs and can I say that we still have good I think we still have guide dogs in most of these islands that I've just mentioned but my other visitations to islands was generally for pleasure and leisure when I was sailing and can I say when Mr Mackintosh was talking about the sort of fair weather aspect of going to the islands can I say as a sailor visiting many of these islands in a force nine it was great to get some shelter and that was during the summer but Presiding Officer one of the things the minister said at the very outset was what this consultation is about it's about empowering the people within the islands it's giving them a voice it's giving them a voice so they Presiding Officer they decide they make the decisions they shape the future of what is coming forward it's not coming from government it's not coming from Mr Mackay and I'm sure Mr Mackay himself we welcome the opportunity for people to have their say and perhaps one of the challenges for our minister Presiding Officer is perhaps to maybe visit the 93 inhabited islands within his portfolio I'm not quite sure how many the minister has managed to get to so far but 93 is certainly a high target maybe it's similar to those who actually climb on Monroe's and he can become an island bagger as opposed to a Monroe bagger but Presiding Officer when I was listening to some of the challenges that they have in the islands and I take on board exactly what to Michael Russell was saying and I was slightly surprised that Michael Russell in his contribution Presiding Officer didn't actually mention rural schools and what this government has done for rural schools in trying to ensure that rural schools do not close under the auspices of this government and I think there was a certain Michael Russell had something to do with that particular aspect of legislation in this Parliament Presiding Officer so I was surprised that he didn't actually put a light on himself during his contribution but when I was listening to many of the contributions it did remind me of my own constituency especially in some of the remote and rural aspects of my constituency where we have the same same sort of issues regarding connectivity whether that be the transport or whether that be to do with digital connectivity and one of the things I welcome the minister in his contribution was when he was talking about the improvement within the mobile phone connectivity or indeed the broadband connectivity for the islands and to ensure that people can be connected I sincerely hoping that that same commitment can come to some of our remote and rural parts of Scotland which don't enjoy maybe the connectivity that maybe some of the islands are enjoying now Presiding Officer but one of the things this connectivity does do it does give our islanders hopefully more connection with our NHS because that digital connectivity does prevent people maybe having to take the flights or take the ferries perhaps into Aberdeen because the consultations can be done digitally and quite often even just moving around the different islands to go to the hospital for a consultation the connectivity providing it's there providing it can the patient and the consultant or the doctor can have that conversation and this is something I think is the crux of where we are at Presiding Officer it is the conversation and whether that be health whether that be social care it is the conversation and I believe that is what the islands are being given the islanders are being given the chance during this consultation but I can just say to the minister when we're asking people to enter into a consultation process we must ensure that they have the ability to do so so although I've mentioned the broadband and the mobile connectivity we must ensure that people are aware that that communication is out there and people who are not connected or who don't use that particular type of connectivity also have the opportunity to have their voice heard it's incredibly important Presiding Officer that we do listen and I believe this is a government that does listen and despite the fact that I heard Mr MacArthur saying all the things that wasn't said by the minister he did say at least he is glad it is Derek Mackay that is taking it forward because he seems to entrust Derek Mackay with the fact that I hope he is a listening minister and I believe he is a listening minister and I'm sure he heard the plea of David Thompson my colleague for the airport on Skye thank you Presiding Officer thanks very much and now call on Michael McMahon after which we'll move to closing speeches thank you Deputy Presiding Officer as many speakers this afternoon have mentioned our island communities are well recognised as a special part of Scotland they make a huge contribution to the economy of our country because their natural beauty causes them to be of major benefit to our domestic tourist industry when it comes to holiday options I'm quite partial to a staycation because I find the natural assets of Scotland's breathtaking landscape hard to resist indeed 30 years ago my honeymoon was spent touring the Highlands and Islands but going there as a tourist rather than a politician may have blinded my visits to the Scottish island somewhat and I was only recently when I went to Arran as a member of the finance committee that the scales fell from my eyes in terms of appreciating the practical problems facing island communities and businesses now I'm as guilty as anyone who when we choose holiday destinations to get away from the everyday routines and tell ourselves that we're looking to find peace and quiet we always seem to check right away whether we have a good signal on our phone or whether we have Wi-Fi access when we arrive at our destination the I can and do switch off when I'm on holiday but I have to confess that knowing that I can be contacted if necessary or that I can keep an eye on what's happening in the wider world I still find very reassuring and that's how I felt this year on my summer vacation in Tenerife there I was stuck out in the Atlantic Ocean in a quiet holiday resort for slow paced local culture the hurly burly of urban Lanarkshire left thousands of miles behind and how good it was to know though that I had Wi-Fi access in a strong telephone signal available at all times that I was there but one day on holiday occurred to me that that was a stark contrast to that visit I'd had been on with the committee colleagues someone's earlier on Arran there we were barely a few miles off the mainland the west coast always in sight and yet totally cut off from the internet and seldom in a position to make a phone call due to the lack of a strong signal the many challenges this causes to people on the island was repeatedly driven home to us as we took evidence from the community representatives business leaders educationalists and others it really is hard to comprehend having to be told that broadband connection on the island is almost primitive in comparison to that which people take for granted only a few miles away across the Firth of Clyde it's barely believable that in the modern high-tech communication era when we can receive signals and images from NASA missions on mars and even as the lever galaxy on their way through the the rest of the universe that on Arran the broadband cables are regularly broken by workers trimming the hedges because the cable companies didn't bury the lines underground as they do elsewhere but merely laid them on top of the hedges roads that run along the sides of the roads around the island and to hear business people telling us that their supplies are regularly laid because they cannot get internet downloads for days on end is hardly credible in this day and age the people that we heard from quite understandably were frustrated if not downright angry but what struck me though was that in recognising that it falls to government to ensure that such island communities are equipped to deal with issues like connectivity the strength of feeling conveyed to us was aimed most at recognising that empowering local democracy was felt to be the best way for the community to realise their full potential rather than rely on the government and that's why I completely support the work of our islands our future campaign in recent years they made a strong case for empowering our island communities to address the problems their communities face and I'll be very interested therefore to see whether the much anticipated islands bill will meet the island communities expectations we really must commit this parliament to use the powers that we're going to receive through the Smith commission changes to devolve more power to our island communities that's what they demanded when I was on Arran they want to be given the power as a local community to make decisions for themselves in a way that reflects the uniqueness of those island communities and as a lifelong Lanarkshire man looking on from the inside from the outside I can see no valid reason why that should not be the case thank you many thanks and I now call on Tavish Scott as we move to closing speeches Mr Scott up to seven minutes thank you very much Deputy Presiding Officer Alex Salmond used to attack me in leaders debates in the past for saying that self-determination didn't begin and end in Edinburgh and the minister's right islands now have options I think they've had options for a long time but by gosh they've certainly got options now there are some in my part of the world who'd actually quite like to go back to being ruled by Norway but I think that's maybe a little bit extreme although at times I can well understand it but what did come across to me when Liam McArthur and I were both in Jersey this summer supporting our team Auckland team Shetland's in the Nat West Island games in a discussion with the chief minister of Jersey was just the options that are available to islands who think about their future and in that I'm very grateful to the minister for starting this process I'm not quite sure where this finishes but that in itself is a good thing now we sent our biggest ever team to Jersey we won more medals than we've ever won before and what was just a fantastic week of sporting excellence but what really got came across to me in that meeting ministerial and parliamentary friends from across islands from across the world was the camaraderie of all of us who shared the same broad spread issues and our desire to find the best solutions to those problems I thought about that the other night when I was in the Vo Hall in the north of Shetland listening to Ross and Ryan Cooper play fiddle and guitar in only the way that they can it seems to me that sport and music in particular are two of the enshrining attributes of much of island life and in that I hope the minister might add his political pressure to those of his colleagues as we argue for some financial assistance for our sporting teams who can then take part in competitions on the Scottish mainland and get to the same level as those who have now represented such as Andrew Strachan who now represented Scotland team Scotland in the Commonwealth games in the so successful Glasgow games of the other year. I also want to recognise the role that Derek Mackay has played both as a minister who understands that constituency MSPs are just doing their jobs and I respect him for that. I'm just not quite going to take the fact that he's the first islands minister. Ken Macintosh and I well knew Alistair Morrison and my recollection under the Donald Dure administration is that we had an islands minister then and I seem to remember the SNP in fairness welcomed that certainly Alistair and Derek Mackay are probably two very different characters but the less said about that probably the better but this is now a debate I suspect not just about that big picture of what could happen in the future Presiding Officer but also about island proofing because I think as a number of colleagues Liam McArthur and others have argued for those of us who do live in the islands who do argue for sensible and constructive change that helps the people that we are in this parliament to serve then we will certainly attach that test to the government's proposals and government's actions and it's the actions that matter most particularly if I may say so in the run-up to an election when everything is seen through the prism of electoral politics. So I strongly welcome the minister's announcement today both on the fair freeze and on the air discount scheme increase although I'd rather he'd also increased the eligibility of ADS back to what it was before when Stuart Stevenson very sensibly continued the policy of the previous administration that was a good policy Stuart Stevenson continued with and I'd encourage Mr Mackay to go back to the policy that his own colleague had at that time and on fairies while the freeze is welcome people in Auckland and Shetland have noticed and believe me they have noticed that this government have spent money money and more money on reducing fears on the in the Clyde and the Hebrides rather than in my part and Liam McArthur's part of the world. Can I also just reflect on as only Mike Russell can his assertion that RET has been fully delivered well I would hate to think how Mike Russell would define what the post office delivers these days if that's his definition of the full delivery of RET. I'll probably ask for this. Mike Russell. You may not have asked for it but you're going to get it. The reality was that the commitment that the government entered into was to deliver RET in the Hebrides and Western services and the Clyde services by the end of this parliament. That is and has been delivered. The final part of it will be in Mal later this month therefore it has been delivered. Something about commercial vehicles comes to mind but there we are. Well I'll leave Mr Russell to argue that with his own minister I'm sure he's more than able to do that. The essence of the other issues that I think confront islands at this time are around and in the context of island proofing are as Liam McArthur has rightly argued around such issues as the attainment fund. I spoke to teachers this weekend no constituent member could not but listen to the arguments that they are making in respect of how helpful that fund would be. I think the attainment fund is a really good thing for a government to do but it should apply that right across the country and to all local authorities including to those in the islands and similarly on health funding it's the government's own formula that is under funding by their own formula for example NHS Shetland to the tune of £900,000 a year. If you're going to island proof you've got island proof right across the board. Many colleagues have mentioned this afternoon broadband and on that I suspect we share a common desire over the policy objective but I and others have argued for some time that the policy if I may say so is the wrong way around we should start should we not with the hardest to reach areas concentrating then on the centres of population and that contract needs a jig needs to change and community broadband Scotland that Mary Scanlon and others mentioned needs more support to do exactly that. Two other areas where the minister could make a difference in his in his role and that is in terms of the islands is on as Rob Gibson mentioned the seafood industry which hasn't had a lot of attention this afternoon it's worth £351 million to the Shetland economy yet that discard ban for our whitefish industry is without doubt challenging as is the introduction of the new cap for agriculture right across the constituencies and areas that we all represent I am very concerned that the way in which his government are implementing their reclassification of land is causing some very significant concerns for crofters and farmers in those areas can I finish presiding officer with one point about the crown estate it's pretty simple here really what we said in paragraph 33 and Rob Gibson had this right what we had said in paragraph 33 the Smith commission report is responsibility for the management of those assets will be further devolved to local authority areas the full responsibility presiding officer not the revenues the full responsibility John Swinney signed up to this I hope his government will too many thanks I know Colin Alex Johnson up to seven minutes please mr thank you very much deputy presiding officer I feel something of a fraud standing up here to speak in a debate about islands however I do have to say that my colleague Jamie McGregor would have been here had he not been in Brussels returning today representing the interests of his constituents in the islands and islands I visited some of Scotland's islands but I'm a long way shorter bag in the full 93 but it's enough to know that our island communities are vibrant they are economically successful and of course they are culturally one of the stars in Scotland's firmament for that reason I think we have to praise successive governments over many years for the work that's been done to secure the viability of Scotland's island communities and it's only fair that this government and this Parliament should find itself discussing today ways in which we can actually improve that going forward now it has to be said that it is the intention of the Conservatives today to vote for the amendments and for the government motion regardless of whether it is amended but there have been one or two times during the course of this debate when the consensual views have been given way to a more confrontational approach and I think my colleague Mary Scanlon has already made it quite clear to Mike McKenzie that he came very close to tipping her over the balance however we will we will work together today to ensure that this motion passes however there have been some interesting key points in this debate and I'd like first to touch on the issue of ferry services I am delighted that the government have taken steps to introduce road equivalent tariff although the fact that that's not available to commercial vehicles does cause some concern and some impact on prices on some of our islands I'm delighted to hear that there will be a price freeze carried over to next year because that will give the predictability and the continuity to those who use our ferries who may have been concerned about the impact of potential price rises but the main issue that's been raised during the course of this debate regarding ferry services is the accusation which I find hard to understand but it comes regularly from the Labour Party that this government is somehow on the verge of privatising ferry services to the Western Isles I would it was true but yet they have failed to deliver what can be delivered in ferry services if they embrace the concept of competitive tendering and did it in a way that will reduce costs we need to get every penny's worth of value from the money that we use to support ferry services and we need to ensure that both the tax payer and the fare payer gets value for money while we have the best services possible now I will hold up as an example the privately run ferry unsubsidised ferry services that run on the Clyde and on the Pentland Firth today the Pentland Firth service in particular two years ago when we lost a ferry for a whole month that unsubsidised ferry service took up the slack and ensured that Orkney remained connected to Scrabster in a way that did not cost the tax payer a penny this demonstrates to me that Scotland has some very successful small ferry companies and if we wish to have a successful ferry industry in Scotland what we ought to be doing is tendering services in such a way as these small ferry companies can become involved in that process and that's where excuse me not the moment but that's where I will criticise this minister and do it unashamedly for failing to live up to the expectations of those who wish to see a truly competitive tendering process on a scale where there was adequate unbundling to allow our small ferry companies to participate in that process I think it's a missed opportunity and I'm delighted to criticise this minister for missing that opportunity and confused by the Labour Party's attitude towards this the one thing I would ask the minister to do if it's still possible is to consider if it is within his power to ensure that there is some degree of market testing takes place on routes in the future because if we can allow small companies to demonstrate the efficiency they can generate on individual routes on a subcontracted basis we can genuinely go forward knowing what it costs to run ferry services and knowing what the subsidiary levels will need to be in future. I also need to say a few things about airfares the fact that airfares have been rising largely due to the fuel costs in many cases has been a particular disadvantage to many in our island communities and I like many in this chamber will have been lobbied by those who wish to see airfares restricted and the air discount scheme extended I'm delighted that the announcement that the minister made earlier but it still leaves people at a disadvantage when they live on the islands other things were mentioned during the course of the debate including grid connections which I don't quite have time to go into but housing in particular is something which I think all governments recognise as a higher cost on the islands than it is on mainland Scotland. Rural housing expensive island housing is more expensive still and I think when we talk about all the problems associated with the provision of affordable housing the island situation needs to be right at the top of our list of priorities the final issue of course that's been raised was the crown estate and it's been slightly peripheral to the debate but one or two speakers have majored upon it and the it is the case that the proposal to devolve the crown estate which came from the Smith commission did have with it that encouragement to devolve on down to local authorities I have to say that I understand that and I support it in principle but I have also been heavily lobbied by people who are concerned that the expertise contained within the crown estate in Scotland today will be lost if it is simply divided up and passed on so I would urge the minister and others within the government to consider seriously how that might be done with minimum impact to the successful and stable organisation that is the crown estate in Scotland. Now call on Ken Macintosh up to nine minutes please Mr Macintosh. Thank you Presiding Officer and I didn't have the opportunity to expand on the importance of jobs to the islands in my opening remarks and I wish to briefly do so now in closing. This debate has allowed members from all sides to voice our support for more powers and greater devolution to the islands it's clear that we want islanders to have more say over their own lives but the proposals brought forward by the Scottish government certainly in the motion today do not touch on the issues that are most bearing on islanders wellbeing and prosperity their jobs their homes their educational and training opportunities and I know my own personal experience of the village of Elgal in Skye for example is that of a community turned around by economic opportunity prawn fishing and to a lesser extent salmon and scallop farming have given young people in the village the chance to earn a good living to buy or more likely to build themselves a house to bring up and look after their family and in turn boosting the local primary school role. Yes they want more say over the decisions that affect their lives I dare say they have a positive view on island proofing legislation and I'm sure they positively danced a jig when they heard that Mr MacGuy had been appointed islands minister but most of all they want the opportunity to work to earn to look after themselves and their families and to share and contribute in Scotland's prosperity and turning to this afternoon's debate we've had an interesting exchange about this government's devolutionary credentials. Lee MacArthur I thought began by offering a critical but I have to agree entirely accurate assessment of the Scottish government's approach to Scotland's islands essentially that these are welcome moves from an otherwise relentlessly centralising administration here in Edinburgh several other members talked about the importance of reflecting the dispersed population within the islands themselves. Mary Scanlon said that it's very important that we don't just devolve power to Lerwick, Kirkwall and Stornoway and she recounted her own experience of a visit to Stornoway in 2000 and I have to say to Ms Scanlon that I'm reliably informed that they're still recovering from that visit but she talked about the danger of jumping to inaccurate assumptions and for experience of talking to women from Barra who said we talked about if they were facing an end of life that they would rather go to Glasgow than to Stornoway but their choice was to stay in the islands themselves and Mike Mackenzie continued in very much the same theme that solutions which may work for Stornoway do not necessarily work for for south-eust. Margaret MacDougall and Mike Russell both pointed out that neither do they necessarily work for the many non-Hebridean islands and in fact I find myself in danger of making common cause with Mr Russell not just on ear services but in much of his contribution. I think he pointed out that he represents more islands than any other MSP and it's worth noting that the islands which have recorded the greatest drop in population have been those islands in Argyll and Bute and North Ayrshire, not that I'm trying to make a link between Mr Russell's representation and people leaving in droves. He didn't make a serious point that he was disappointed that there was no representation from the islands in Argyll and Bute and North Ayrshire on the ministerial working group and I think that it's something that the minister perhaps should pursue in terms of making an appointment. Margaret MacDougall, similarly talking about the islands of Cumbria and Arran, highlighted and repeated the theme in my opening remarks about the importance of housing and I have to say that she acknowledged, which I didn't properly do, the contribution of Derek Logie from rural housing Scotland to the cross-party group recently. She talked about the fact that with fewer houses for social rent in the islands there's even greater need for private housing yet planning is difficult and land ownership patterns mean that little land often comes forward for development. There's poor infrastructure from the utility companies, building costs can be higher, the cost of materials on the ferries for example makes them higher and even for local housing associations there are higher management costs in dispersed communities. I suggest to the minister that as well as the islands bill there are forthcoming opportunities both in the planning, the review of planning and in the land reform bill to address the subject and I thought that Mr Gibson made some very thoughtful remarks about the potential use of the land reform bill. On the same theme, my colleague Lewis MacDonald pointed out that more than half the land in the Newland and Shear is now under community ownership and it has been recognised as an important factor in encouraging people to stay or to return to the islands but again within the islands there is a localised trend of movement towards the larger settlements with the population in the more outlining areas declining and it's no coincidence that the local authorities tend only to own land which they can make available for social housing in and around these larger communities. My colleague Margaret Madougill also pointed out the staggering levels of fuel poverty in the islands and the Clyde and fuel poverty is a serious problem across Scotland's islands. We know that they're often not connected to mains gas supply far more likely to be dependent on more expensive forms of fuel and too many in dire need of better insulation. We certainly need to do more to ensure that people do not have to live in a cold, damp home. A report last year from Scotland's rural colleges showed that on average 59 per cent of people aged over 60 in rural local authorities were experiencing fuel poverty compared to only 45 per cent in urban areas and the highest levels of fuel poverty were found to be in Orkney and the Neiline and Shear where a frightening 75 per cent of over 60s were affected. Now I'm not sure but the SNP seemed to have given up on achieving the target set 15 years ago of abolishing fuel poverty as far as is reasonably practical by 2016. If that is the case the minister should say so openly and if not I think he urgently needs to review the steps that he is taking particularly on those hard to treat rural properties. Now there are other contributions particularly on air services. I was particularly pleased that it marks from Dave Thompson and Dennis Robinson that I've always dreamed of an air service to sky and I hope perhaps I can make common cause with him and Ian Blackford in making that happen. Stuart Stevenson made his usual fascinating contribution on air services. He would make a serious point about improving reliability but he also pointed out that multi-engine planes are more dangerous than single-engine planes. I think that a point he should perhaps have made to the minister before the minister highlighted that he has bought several two-engine otters in his opening remarks. Mr Stevenson? If the member may, all these aircraft are very, very, very safe. It's merely that single-engine have an extra ferry. Mr Macintosh, you've got plenty of information. I know absolutely. I hope that the travelling public is suitably assured by these remarks. I'll be getting the ferry with Mr Gibson next time we're heading to Ireland. The minister was at his most animated this afternoon when ferries were mentioned. Several times at every contribution of ferries he seemed to leap to his feet to accept actually when Alex Johnson talked about it. Margaret Macintosh and Lewis MacDonald were simply trying to highlight that there is a great deal of anxiety. My colleague Lewis MacDonald just pointed out that, as transport minister under a Labour liberal administration, under exactly the same EU terms of procurement, we were able to maintain and keep the ferry service in public ownership. It's something that matters. Accountability to the public is something that matters to our islanders. I hope that the minister, because he wasn't able to offer the reassurance when he was asked this. He wasn't able to offer the reassurance that this will happen, and I hope that we'll take those points on board. Sorry, do I have time for him, Mr Hurk? No, you haven't. Sorry, Mr Hurkert. Presiding Officer, to conclude, Scottish Labour is, as is so often the case, taking a constructive and consensual approach where possible to the Government's proposals, but we will not shy away from highlighting the real work that needs to be done, the public services that need to be supported, the homes that need to be built, the jobs that need to be delivered, and if the Government would be equally willing to work with us, then perhaps our island really can have a secure future. Many thanks. I now call on Minister Derek Mackay to wind up the debate. Minister, you have until five o'clock. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. First of all, it's the Government's intention to accept the Labour amendment, so there we go. That spirit of co-operation and cross-party working has already begun, not so the Liberal Democrat amendment, sadly, but I'm still sure that the constructive relationship that we will have will continue to work for island communities. I'm advised that Alasdair Morrison's position in that executive at the time was Deputy Minister for Highland and Islands and Gaelic, whereas I'm Minister for Islands and the transport system in the whole country as well, but I'm very focused on the islands issues and, of course, that it's right that it's connected to the transport agenda, because it quite clearly is such a critical issue to our island communities. I'm sorry to Ken Macintosh if I became, in any way, animated when ferries are mentioned. It's just when you spend over a billion pounds on public services that you don't like people raising anxiety when it's caused by the Labour Party winding people up. I think quite unfairly about the current procurement exercise, and let me say that I'm in no more of a position to prejudice the outcome of a procurement exercise that the then executive was able to do and had to go through the exact same procurement exercise and reach a conclusion, but I really want to get back to the consensus. Okay, but I must move on. I completely sympathise with the Minister. Ken Macintosh and I might just observe. Could he maybe have a word with Fergus Ewing, because he did exactly the same scheme on when we were going through exactly the same exercise? Minister? Well, I'm the Minister responsible for transport and conducting this exercise, but I think I have put in further safeguards around the independent procurement panel, further engagement with the trade unions involved, and even on the consideration of the procurement exercise, I do believe that I have improved the process to try to get the right outcome for everyone involved. To Margaret MacDougall, first of all, I think that it was a very helpful contribution, particularly around fuel poverty. I want to reinforce the point that our new fuel poverty scheme heaps warmer homes Scotland launched on the 14th of September and has been delivered on a regional basis by the managing agent. It includes a separate island region to ensure that more remote parts of Scotland receive the same level of services as urban areas, because I think that the point was well made around fuel poverty particularly. Dave Thompson has given me a heads-up, a warning that he is embarking on a major campaign for constituency and transport improvements and will commit to the same level of correspondence that Michael Russell MSP engages with around transport matters. Stewart Stevenson stretched my technical expertise and aviation once again, although I understood the wider points around reliability, airfares, connectivity, operational matters and the relationship with Hial. Clearly, I have a bit more to do on the technical issue around the twin otters, but I think that they are working very successfully and I know that I enjoyed the early landing on Barra. However, the point that was made around universal services was well made as well, and delivery charges. That is a matter that we discussed in Parliament very recently, and I responded on behalf of the Government. I referred the member to the remarks through that debate. Michael Russell gave a very helpful reminder around the fact that there are 93 inhabited islands of Scotland, and although our islands are future local authorities and campaign has been very effective, the work that we do as a Government touches on all 93 inhabited island communities, and that requires extra engagement on the part of the Government to ensure that the commitments that are made apply to all islands as appropriate. Although some are quite specific to individual islands, such is the request and the aspiration to have that constituency protection for the Western Isles constituency within the Scottish Parliament, of course. Michael Russell is very grateful for that reassurance, which will be well received in Argyllun Bute. I wonder if I can press him to go one step further to confirm that there will be representation of Argyllun Bute in any new strategic ferry group that he announced earlier on. Yes, there will be. The strategic islands forum will involve other island communities to ensure that it reaches out so that I can assure the member that that is the case. The islands area ministerial working group is comprised of those who came from our islands our future campaign. That is the nature of that forum, but I give the commitment once again, as island minister, that I consider the engagement with all islands when making commitments and decisions around delivering on the Government's prospectus. I know that a number of members have said that the motion does not cover everything that it could not possibly, but within the prospectus empowering our island communities much more is said on a whole host of other areas as to what we can do for our island communities. There is a monitoring framework, an action plan that sets out across the portfolios about what can be achieved in partnership focusing on the island's work. On the subject, I did note Jeane Urquhart's comment that I, as ministers, am doing a remarkably good job so far. I look forward to the future as well, seeing through that prospectus made very valid points around culture. Ken Macintosh's point around planning and land reform is well made as well in unlocking the economic potential of local communities to deliver that sustainable future. Tavish Scott made the point around the legislation and the current consultation. Tavish Scott has achieved consensus in the chamber today and he said, I am not sure where that finishes. In truth, I am not sure where that finishes either, but surely that is a good thing and embarking on an engagement that will bring in the comments of elected members and, more importantly, local communities as to what they would like to see transferred to them from London to Edinburgh to local communities and within those local communities. That is an exciting and open-minded approach to take on that. Angus MacDonald covered the importance of the creation of an island's minister to give that cross-portfolio focus across a range of different matters. Our island's future, the leaders of that campaign, would admit that it was taking the constitutional opportunity of the Scottish independence referendum to think about how we could do things differently. Although we did not get the answer that we wanted as a Government, we are still seeing through the commitments that we can deliver within continued devolution to support our island communities. We have been able to do so through legislation such as the Community Empowerment Act and unlocking local potential and creating new schemes to be delivered locally. We will continue along that vein for the Crown Estate, where we have made a commitment around the local benefits of revenues and resources that are driving from local communities through the Crown Estate. Jane Baxter was very fair when she pointed out that the consultation on further empowerment is considered fair and reasonable. It has asked a number of pertinent questions about what could be done in terms of further supporting island communities on island proofing and the policy there, and Mary Scanlon's point about how that is analysed and how transparent we can be around that. On empowering our island communities, what powers would be appropriate to transfer on the potential of a national island's plan to show what Government and all our agencies can do to calibrate our decisions and our investments to support island living, the issue of constituency protection for the western isles and, of course, the issue of electoral ward flexibility, that, with the best will in the world, could not be implemented for 2017, but I think that it represents an opportunity to take local government even closer to the people and local communities by changing the way we do business in having potentially fewer than three or four multi-member wards so that we can more accurately represent island communities, and particularly our smaller island communities in Arran was a particularly good example of how and where that would apply. I have enjoyed a good relationship with all six local authorities. There is more to do in land reform, being extended for the reasons around community ownership, energy, housing and digital infrastructure that I covered in my opening speech. I look forward to the islanders conference, where we can bring together all the islanders communities to try to share best practice and show how we can sustain local communities. I suppose that I was delighted that Alex Johnstone was criticising me for not privatising the chiefs in the CalMac services, as others have described. I would happily take that criticism and simply point out in terms of aviation that this Government is supporting island communities through the air discount scheme at the same time his Government in the UK is undermining communities with air passenger duty, and that shows you the difference between the Scottish Government and the UK Government. In conclusion, today's announcements of freezing ferry fares extending the air discount scheme from 40 per cent to 50 per cent, progressing the island's bill, more powers and protection, delivering indeed in some cases exceeding the commitments in the island's prospectus, delivering on-road equivalent tariff, the purchase of new ferries and new infrastructure, renewed focus on digital and energy, and all a clear commitment to our island communities. If today's relative consensus is anything to go by, I believe that the next Parliament will be very well placed to take forward legislation to support our island communities. Thank you. That concludes the debate on Empowerment Scotland's island communities. We now move to decision time. There are three questions to be put as a result of today's business. The first question is at amendment 14448.2 in the name of Ken Macintosh, which seeks to amend motion 1448 in the name of Derek Mackay on the power of Scotland's island communities being agreed to. Are we all agreed? The amendment is there for agreed to. The next question is at amendment 14448.1 in the name of Liam McArthur, which seeks to amend motion 1448 in the name of Derek Mackay on the power of Scotland's island communities being agreed to. Are we all agreed? The Parliament is not agreed. We move to a vote. Members should cast their votes now. The result of the voter amendment 14448.1 in the name of Liam McArthur is as follows. Yes, 44. No, 60. There were no abstentions. The amendment is there for not agreed to. The next question is at motion number 14448 in the name of Derek Mackay, which is amended on the power of Scotland's island communities being agreed to. Are we all agreed? The motion is there for agreed to. That concludes decision time. We are now moving to members' business. Members should leave the chamber, should do so quickly and quietly.