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We aim for there not to be conflicting policies in the portfolio. Obviously, with agriculture, fisheries, land reform and forestry sitting in the one portfolio—you will no doubt be aware of the various pieces of legislation that will be introduced relating to those areas—we have to ensure that those policies are aligned and working for our island communities.

We have had the consultation; we need to go through the process of analysis before setting out our next steps. You can see from the commitments that we have set out in the national islands plan, which cover 13 strategic objectives, that work is on-going.

I should just say that Cameron engaged extensively in that work and undertook the consultation.

One thing that has been great throughout the process has been having the islands team. In my opening remarks, I thanked them for the work that they do, because having an islands team, with the officials that we have, has been critical in ensuring that we have islands representation across all parts of Government. We talked a bit about that and about the extensive engagement in relation to the island communities impact assessments.

The team is also heavily involved in the population work that we are undertaking. The ministerial population task force draws in other parts of Government, so, in that sense, the work is extensive.

The officials in the islands team have been involved in the process for longer than I have, so they will probably be able to give a better indication of how the process has been. Having that team is critical. You can see from the objectives that we have set out in the report that they cover every part of Government, which, of course, includes aspects for which I am not responsible. I see my role as one of making sure that our island communities’ voices and concerns are represented in each area when other policy decisions are being taken across Government.

I will hand over to Francesco Sindico.

The growth deals—I would include the islands growth deal in that—dovetail quite well with the objectives that we have set out. The deals have a low-carbon focus and are about having sustainable, thriving communities.

There is good cross-over in relation to our objectives and what the growth deals are seeking to achieve.

If you have read the plan and the implementation route map, I cannot see how you could come to that view, because it is also recognising, as I was staying at the start of the committee—

At the start of the meeting, I spoke about it not being a case of ticking off commitments, saying that we have solved one issue and then moving on to the next one. A lot of the programmes are on-going and deal with problems that we cannot solve overnight.

We must also bear in mind the significant period of challenges that we have faced. We have had Brexit and a pandemic, which, as I said, meant that we tended to pivot our focus—quite rightly—towards our response to those issues. To frame it in that way does a disservice to all the people who have been involved in developing the projects and driving them forward.

I thank the convener for inviting me to discuss the Scottish Government’s third annual report on our delivery of the national islands plan. As in previous years, the report summarises the progress that has been made on each of the commitments in the national islands plan and it provides the details of projects and any relevant resource spend. It also provides me with the opportunity to put on record my thanks to local authorities, our island stakeholders, community groups, individuals and businesses for the support that they have given during the past year. Their continued input and collaboration is key to our delivery of the national islands plan.

I will take a moment to acknowledge the work commitment of the Government’s islands team over the past year. Some of the team are islanders or live on islands, so their involvement gives the Government a great source of real-life experience, knowledge and expertise on the issues that islanders face.

Our island communities still face many challenges across the board, which have only been amplified by the likes of Covid-19 and the current cost crisis. Sadly, all that we warned would happen with Brexit is happening, and the long-term harm to the wellbeing of our islands cannot be overestimated.

The national islands plan continues to provide the Scottish Government with a framework for improving the lives of the people on our islands, and I am really pleased to see continued progress on the plan’s 13 strategic objectives as outlined in the annual report. I will provide a couple of quick examples to demonstrate the breadth of the work that has been undertaken. First, we have delivered the £4.45 million islands programme across all six island local authorities, to enable us to work together to support critical projects and to help to make our islands even better places to live, study, work and raise a family. Additionally, the £1.4 million islands cost crisis emergency fund was provided directly to island local authorities to support them in taking the urgent action needed to help households through the cost crisis.

Housing continued to be a key focus for our island communities in 2022. Our national islands plan commits us to improving access to homes for people looking to settle in or return to island communities, and, to deliver against that commitment, we have been developing a remote, rural and islands housing action plan, to ensure that we meet the housing needs in those areas and to help to retain people and attract others into communities.

Finally, our innovative carbon neutral islands project continues to support our mission to maximise the opportunities of the green economy for Scotland’s islands. We have been working really closely with communities on Cumbrae, Islay, Barra, Raasay, Hoy and Yell to support them in carrying out in-depth carbon audits, which, in turn, are providing input into the six community climate change action plans.

Drawing my remarks to a close, I note that we continue to progress delivery of the national islands plan. As is required by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, the plan will be fully reviewed in the current year to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, and I look forward to the committee’s input into the review process.

As I said, we have commissioned another national islands plan survey, which will help us build on that. We hope that it will be launched this summer, but I cannot say that it necessarily will be completed unless officials can give me that confirmation now. Because of the nature of some of the projects, the work is on-going, but I think that we have been making progress when we look from last year to this year. We will continue to make progress and build on that data as we move forward.