The Environment Strategy for Scotland: Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

Background

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 defines an island community as a community that consists of two or more individuals, all of whom permanently inhabit an island (whether or not the same island), and is based on common interest, identity or geography (including in relation to any uninhabited islands whose natural environment and terrestrial, marine and associated ecosystems contribute to the natural or cultural heritage or economy of an inhabited island).

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 places a duty on the Scottish Ministers and other relevant authorities, including a number of public authorities, to have regard to island communities in exercising their functions. For the Scottish Ministers, this includes the development of legislation. This duty is often referred to as ‘island-proofing’.

An ICIA must align with the requirements of the Islands Act, namely to:

1. describe the likely significantly different effect of the policy, strategy or service (as the case may be) on island communities, and

2. assess the extent to which the authority considers that the policy, strategy or service (as the case may be) can be developed or delivered in such a manner as to improve or mitigate, for island communities, the outcomes resulting from it.