Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review: Orkney case study

What could be improved?

Funding timescales

Participants said the short timelines of Community Led Local Development funding caused significant strain and often meant delivery times were a challenge. Whilst the Expression of Interest process in Orkney has helped to a certain extent, participants identified a core need to have longer-term funding commitments from the Scottish Government. The financial processes and reporting were considered relatively extensive in relation to the limited smaller pots of funding, with participants suggesting these should be relaxed and simplified:

“We applied for six months of funding for this project… We got the funding in October, and then we still had to advertise for [the] post, interview, get contracts, get them in place. So we were able to start by, like mid November. We ran it December, January, February, and then… I need the reporting done by like, the 10th of March, because we have to have the whole process complete by the end of March. So we’re like…we’ve got six months of funding. We’ve had to spend it in like, three and a half months, or four months.”

In addition, participants said the lack of available revenue funding meant that recruiting for and sustaining staffing for Community Development Trusts was challenging. This job insecurity harmed broader efforts to attract and retain people to live in Orkney, thereby negatively impacting upon rural and island sustainability:

“If we've got to keep people on the island, we need to create jobs, but those jobs need to be meaningful and they need to have purpose. But if we can't guarantee somebody two or three years in a position, why are they going to apply?”

Finally, participants described how structural issues such as the higher costs of contractors, lack of access to suppliers, and unreliability of transport meant that costs and delivery times were often greater in Orkney. Participants said this should be factored into the funding or process of Community Led Local Development for island communities.

Community Led Local Development and Community Development Trusts

Participants said that, while there are some benefits from the approach taken in Orkney to the integration of Community Led Local Development with Community Development Trusts, there were also some downsides. Firstly, Community Development Trusts were not always considered to be representative of the whole community. Also, Community Led Local Development was regarded by some as not well known within the wider Orkney community organisations:

“I think the council's information could be easier to access, and if it feels to me a little bit of a “you have to know who to talk to”. And if you go to the council website and look for information, I haven't done it recently, but usually it's out of date, or it suggests that there isn't a round coming up.”

The Orkney mainland has fewer Community Development Trusts and though there are other structures like community associations to enable community development, these often did not have the capacity to make the most of opportunities like Community Led Local Development:

“I think the Isles are really good at doing their own development and delivering their own thing, particularly, you know, through Development Trusts. The linked isles [i.e. those with bridges/causeways to the mainland] and mainland of Orkney is not as good at it, because those geographic boundaries or barriers are more blurred and there isn't that obvious stuff around things like transport, housing….And I think we often forget about mainland Orkney, and there's pockets of real need in mainland Orkney.”

Finally, while having key, highly-experienced, individuals coordinating the Local Action Group and Community Led Local Development funding was considered to be beneficial, it also bears specific risks for sustainability if those individuals leave or are unavailable.

Recognition and knowledge of the Scottish Rural Network and Scottish Rural Action

Participants had limited knowledge of the Scottish Rural Network, although were familiar with their resources like mailing lists. Community Development Trust officers noted having limited time for engagement in wider networks, especially when their value was not known. Similarly, Scottish Rural Action was also relatively unknown amongst participants. However, Youth Local Action Groups, which are supported by Scottish Rural Action, were viewed very positively, with some participants considering them a very exciting element of the Community Led Local Development programme:

“...the ability to use that money to bring people to us, to then build capacity with young people. And that's a really key one for us. We already have so many challenges and barriers in the way of getting whoever, in this case, young people, to engage first of all, and then travel, and then the cost of that and accommodation, that actually it's been great to have a really joined up approach integrating other people and coming out to the isles.”