COVID-19: Islands Survey Results: FOI release

Information requested

The results of the islands consultation that the government undertook late last month.

Response

I enclose an analysis of the engagement exercise undertook between the 2nd and 26th March to gather the views of islander communities in regards to the easing of lockdown restrictions.

Analysis of the targeted exercise in relation to the easing of lockdown restrictions across Scotland’s islands.

Background
Scottish Government undertook an engagement exercise between the 22nd and 26th of March to gather the views of island communities in regards to the easing of lockdown restrictions. This exercise was developed at pace to allow Scottish Government to ensure a wide range of views were taken into consideration as decisions were being made. This exercise was undertaken in parallel to meetings with island local authorities and continued engagement with island community groups, businesses and tourism organisations. 

This targeted engagement directly informed policy decisions around the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on our islands as part of a rounded approach that considered the 4 harms and clinical advice based on the science and data available.

Summary Analysis
Our engagement approach asked islanders to indicate their preference of the proposed options based on the FM’s statement of 16 March:

• Island communities move in lockstep alongside the rest of the mainland on 26th April (and therefore are part of the relaxed freedom to travel across LA boundaries). This would mean islands currently in level 3 would remain in this level and those currently in level 4 would move to level 3 at the same time as the rest of the mainland.
• Island communities move individually to a different lower level of restrictions (and therefore continue to restrict travel to and from islands for essential purposes only).
• Other.

Please find a breakdown of the responses provided by local authority area below:

Local Authority	Total Number of Responses	Lockstep (%)	Individual Levels with Travel Restrictions (%)	Other (%)
Argyll & Bute	137	72	18	9
Highland	10	80	0	20
North Ayrshire	54	74	9	17
Orkney	710	24	60	16
Shetland	97	30	62	8
Na h-Eileanan Siar	111	74	19	7
Unknown	88	38	57	6

The inclusion of a qualitative section allowed respondents to detail any concerns or considerations they thought should be taken into account when decisions were being made around the easing of lockdown restrictions on islands. This ensured that a binary approach to the consideration of options available was avoided and allowed a snapshot of the considerations/concerns of islanders around the easing of lockdown restrictions.

Conclusion

We received 1207 responses from across the islands within the timescale of the exercise. Of these responses 38% wanted to move in lockstep with the rest of Scotland, 49% wanted to move to individual levels with travel restrictions and 13% suggested another option. 

The majority of respondents from Argyll and Bute, Highland, North Ayrshire and Na h-Eileanan Siar indicated they wished to move in lockstep with the rest of Scotland.
The majority of respondents from Orkney and Shetland indicated they wished to move to an individual lower level with travel restrictions

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.