UK Government Minister for Scotland visited the Hebrides to meet
community groups, businesses and council representatives.
Levelling up was top of the agenda as UK Government Minister for
Scotland visited innovative island
businesses and community projects on a five-day visit to Skye,
Lewis and Harris, ahead of the inaugural Islands Forum later this
year.
Starting his visit in Skye, Minister Stewart met with the Staffin
Community Trust and local fishermen to discuss plans to redevelop
Staffin Harbour and consider ways the UK Government could support
the project. He then headed to Skye’s largest town, Portree, to
host a roundtable discussion with representatives from local
community groups, where he invited views on how levelling up
could enhance the area.
The Minister then made his way to Harris where he paid a visit to
the Harris Distillery. He enjoyed hearing about how the
island-based enterprise has grown through training and employing
young people from the local area, meaning they don’t have to
leave the island for work.
In Lewis, Minister Stewart’s busy itinerary included meeting
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – Western Isles Council - to talk about
how levelling up could benefit the local community. He visited
the headquarters of Gaelic Media Service MG Alba to learn about
how they are creating premium Gaelic language content, and also
paid a visit to Charles Macleod butchers, makers of the
world-renowned Stornoway Black Pudding, to discuss their success
in exporting from the island.
He also met with Lewis-based Horshader Community Trust, a charity
taking forward green initiatives including decarbonising
transport and nurturing trees to create woodland. The trust has
received more than £70,000 from the Community Renewal Fund to
help local residents gain new skills, support the development of
two green projects, and work with business partners to strengthen
the island’s renewable energy sector.
Minister said:
It was a pleasure to visit Skye, Lewis and Harris. From
discussing plans to regenerate Staffin Harbour, to seeing how the
Horshader Community Trust is making Lewis more sustainable, to
hearing how the Harris Distillery is supporting jobs for young
people, it’s clear these islands have talent, innovation and
resourcefulness in droves.
It’s also clear that the Islands Growth Deal and investment
through the UK Government’s Levelling Up Funds are making a real
difference in these places, for the benefit of people who live
here.
However, while our island communities have unique strengths, they
also face unique challenges. Infrastructure, transport and
depopulation are issues that islands often have to contend with,
and must be addressed for our rural areas to truly thrive.
The Islands Forum was set up to discuss these problems. It will
give a platform for those who understand remote communities and
their needs best, putting islands at the heart of our Levelling
Up agenda which has so far resulted in more than £2 billion being
invested directly in Scottish projects.
The UK Government’s first Islands
Forum will take place in Orkney later this year. The
forum will put islands at the heart of the Levelling Up agenda,
with island communities across the UK invited to discuss common
challenges including connectivity, infrastructure and demographic
trends.
