Len Scoullar
Presentation
Scottish Islands Federation Conference
‘A
voice for Scottish Islands’
15/16
November 2007
Argyll
and Bute Council Islands’ Spokesperson
Good Morning Ladies and
Gentlemen, and may I add my own welcome to all of you
who have travelled to the lovely Island of Mull to take
part in this islanders conference.
Let me introduce myself, I
am Councillor Len Scoullar, I live on the beautiful
Island of Bute and am the Islands Spokesperson for
Argyll and Bute Council. My role gives me a place on the
Council’s Executive Committee, which is the main
decision-making body of the Council in terms of policy,
strategy and budgets.
Can I give you apologies
from the Council Leader who would have wished to address
you today, but cannot be present, as he has very
important meetings elsewhere, both today and tomorrow.
I would like, first of
all, to give you a bit of background to Argyll and
Bute. Unlike its name, Argyll and Bute has not one, but
25 inhabited islands. Over sixteen thousand people live
in communities on these islands, from Tiree and Islay in
the west to Bute in the south. All of these islands
have their own identities, their own characters, their
own economic profiles and their own particular needs.
As a local authority, the
Council’s job is to deliver services to all sixteen
thousand islanders. The Council has responsibility, as
you know, for education, for roads, for planning, for
trading standards for environmental health, for
transportation and many other services. The cost of
this service delivery, as with many other things on
islands, is often greater. And what this means is that
we have to be resourceful and inventive about the way we
go about getting the best value for islanders from the
Council budget.
One of our best examples
of this approach has been the development of the Three
Islands Partnership which delivers services in Islay,
Jura and Colonsay. Local Service Points have been put
in place on these islands, part funded by the Council
and HIE Argyll and Islands. As well as providing a
‘front door’ to a wide and inter-agency range of public
sector services, they also provide a community resource
to internet connections and video conferencing. There is
also office space for visiting workers.
All three offices provide
services far beyond a simple access to public services
with all being busy over the summer period with visitors
to the islands looking for local information and those
undertaking family searches. The offices on Jura and
Colonsay co-locate with the island development
organisations and play an essential role in supporting
these groups and providing a focus point for community
development activities. The 3 islands service point
project was set up initially with modernising government
fund money and the council remains committed to
supporting these offices. We were delighted when the
project received a commendation at the eEurope awards.
The Council as part of its
best value process, continues to find optimum ways for
delivering services to our constituents. New Customer
Service Centre developments are focused on providing
improved customer service at a first point of call,
whether that be by telephone, internet or in person. New
technology systems, which themselves address the issues
of living on an island are being used to bring together
a whole range of frontline council services e.g. from
Council tax enquiries to special waste uplift
arrangements, benefits enquiries ,sports pitch bookings
etc..
Elements of this will roll
out to Council offices to support the face to face
contact, and all island residents should find the
Council becoming much more responsive, and more
efficient, at dealing with a range of enquiries by
telephone and via the internet
Many of you will be aware
of the Council’s existing decentralised structure of
service delivery, which ensures that services are
accessible to islanders, and also that the funding spent
on Council salaries is spread across the islands. This
does present us with challenges
when considering the need
to find efficiency savings against the social and
economic benefits of having a distributed workforce with
services accessible in a way that people prefer (i.e.
face-to-face), but our commitment to islands remains
strong.
Argyll and Bute Council
attaches a very high priority to islands and islands
issues, as does the Convention of Scottish Local
Authorities (COSLA) and the Highlands and Islands
Convention, where we work closely with our colleagues
from Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, North Ayrshire
and Highland Councils. There are regular agenda items
concerning islands and we regularly highlight the island
dimension. Recent discussions have included the
Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation, which has been
developed with a highly urban focus. WE are actively
seeking to have this addressed, so that it recognises
the particular issues relating to islands.
The fact that we have
recognised as a Council the need to have an islands
spokesperson is a further indication of the
Council’s commitment to island issues.
The Council’s newly
approved Corporate Plan identifies Remote and Island
Areas as one of our main campaigning themes, and this,
along with other topics, will focus the attention of our
dialogue with other partners and the Scottish
Government.
The Plan also identifies
‘Service Delivery Challenges’ as a very important theme
that will also touch on some of the issues that are
particular to islands, or which affect islands
disproportionately..
Argyll and Bute Council
participates in a wide range of partnership initiatives
which impact on islands, principally the Community
Planning Partnership, and also including Initiative at
the Edge, which we support financially and in staff
terms.
The Council has also acted
as lead partner in the WHELK LEADER plus programme,
which brought European Rural Development funding to over
30 islands in Argyll, the Islands and Lochaber. Many
Community groups found this a useful source of funding,
and indeed, the programme supported this event here on
Mull. The Council is committed to leading on the new
LEADER Programme, and looks forward to working with
Communities and partners to ensure that the islands
again benefit from practical assistance through grants.
I hope that my role of
islands spokesperson will provide a useful contact point
for island communities to raise issues at a strategic
level within the Council. I would encourage those of
you from the Argyll and Bute Islands to keep me
updated and involved with local issues and
projects. This means that I can continually ask the
question ‘how would this affect our island
communities’ when considering policies -- –
‘island proofing’ if you like.
This can bring a political
voice to campaigning subjects – and whilst we may not
always be successful,
by working together I am
sure that we can make our voices heard.
Thank you, I hope that you
very much enjoy your time here on the Island of Mull and
that your participation in this conference will be of
benefit to all our islands and their inhabitants.
