Convention of Highlands and Islands invitation and apologies list: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for the Scottish Government to provide a list of individuals who received invitations (including details of by whom they were invited) for the Convention of the Highlands and Islands at Strathpeffer Pavilion on 12th May, and a list of those who sent apologies.

Response

You will find some of the names in the response below have been redacted. This is because an exemption under section 38(1)(b) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. This is with regards to personal information of third parties, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. Further to this, in line with Scottish Government standard approach, the names of any officials below the grade of Senior Civil Service, Deputy Directors, and Directors have been redacted.

The Convention is attended by members, who are appointed by the Deputy First Minister, and chosen from public agencies and institutions with responsibilities for, or interests in, the economic and social development of the Highlands and Islands. There is a core membership made up of Council Leaders, Chief Executives and Chairs or equivalent, with additional delegates asked to attend specific meetings as agenda items dictate. A list of core member organisations can be found here Convention of the Highlands and Islands - gov.scot

Member organisations are expected to attend Conventions and as such are not invited. They confirm their attendance through the Eventbrite system so we do not receive apologies. Only members and those invited to speak on specific issues may sit around the table. The Convention is open to members of the public, journalists, MPs, MSPs and other local politicians to observe alongside supporting officials, however they do not have a seat at the table and cannot contribute to the discussion.

I have provided the in person registration list for the most recent CoHI at Strathpeffer at Annex A. This includes those at the table as well as supporting officials. The Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes chaired the meeting and the Minister for Business, Richard Lochhead was also in attendance.

At the CoHI in question we were joined by the Head of Markets Engagement at Ofgem, a Deputy Director from the UK Government’s Smart Metering Implementation Programme, The Chief Commercial Officer at Building Digital UK, Head of Engagement at BT (virtually) and a representative of Energy UK (virtually), to speak to specific items on digital matters in the afternoon session. All were invited by the Scottish Government following planning meetings with the membership organisations.

ANNEX A

ATTENDEES AT COHI SPRING 2025

NAME	ORGANISATION	POSITION
Cara Aitchieson	SFC	Interim Co-Chair
[redacted]	SG	Comms
Stuart Black	HIE	CE
Malcolm Burr	CNES	CE
Raymond Bremner	THC	Leader
Derek Brown	THC	CE
Sarah Compton-Bishop	NHS Highland	Board Member
[redacted]	Ofgem	Head of Markets Engagement
[redacted]	SDS	Regional Skills Planning Lead
Gary Campbell	Crofting Commission	CEO
Alastair Dodds	HIE	Chair
Fiona Davies	NHS Highland	CE
[redacted]	SG	Head of HIES Growth Deals
[redacted]	SG	Head of Rural Policy Unit
Karen Greaves	Moray Council	CE
Nick Halfhide	NatureScot	Interim CE
Stephen Hennigan	UKG	DD
Alan Hill	North Ayrshire Council	Councillor
Craig Hatton	North Ayrshire Council	CE
Martin Johnston	HIE	Director of Strategy and Regional Economy
Kate Lackie	THC	Assistant Chief Executive
Bill Lobban	THC	Convenor
Jim Lynch	Argyll & Bute Council	Leader
Ealasaid MacDonald	Bord na Gaidhlig	CEO
Robbie McGhee	SG	DD Digital Connectivity
Frank Mitchell	SDS	Chair
Emma Macdonald	Shetland Islands Council	Leader
Pippa Milne	Argyll & Bute Council	CE
Donna MacKinnon	SG	DD Europe Division
Eleanor Mackintosh	Cairngorms Park Authority	Deputy Convenor
Euan McVicar	Crown Estate Scotland	Chair
[redacted]	SG	Consumer Policy Team Leader
Rod Mackenzie	Crofting Commission	Commissioner
Anne-Marie Martin	SG Deputy Director,	Regional Economic Development
Alastair MacColl	UHI	Chair
[redacted]	Crown Estate Scotland	Head of Corporate Affairs
[redacted]	SG	Skills Policy
Vicki Nairn	UHI	Principal
Sean Neil	SG	Director, Housing
Ronan O’Hara	Crown Estates Scotland	CEO
Oliver Reid	Orkney Islands Council	CE
John Risby	Scottish Forestry	Conservator
Kathleen Robertson	Moray Council	Councillor
Ranald Robertson	HITRANS Partnership	Director
Maggie Sandison	Shetland Islands Council	CE
Stephen Sheridan	UHI	Director
Paul F Steele	CNES	Leader
Chris Taylor	VisitScotland	Director
Martyn Taylor	Building Digital UK	Chief Commercial Officer
Andrew Thin	Crofting Commission	Chair
Heather Woodbridge	Orkney Islands Council	Leader
Damian Yeates	SDS	CEO
Judith Young	SG	Deputy Director, Business Relationships
[redacted]	SG	Secretariat
[redacted]	SG	Secretariat
[redacted]	SG	Secretariat
[redacted]	SG	Deputy First Minister Private Office

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