Island devolved powers’ talks 24/3/14
Scottish Government ministers are in Stornoway today (mon) to beef up a blueprint
to devolve local control -
A ministerial working group headed by local government minister Derek Mackay is holding joint talks with Western Isles Council as well as the Shetland and Orkney authorities which are lobbying for a blanket of demands for greater islands’ autonomy whatever the outcome of the independence vote.
Mr Mackay accepts the islands should get a fairer deal.
He highlights research commissioned by the Scottish Parliament which estimated that
the UK Government’s policies would remove £15 million from the islands’ economies
by 2014-
This is made up of £6 million from the Western Isles, £5 million from Orkney and £4 million from Shetland.
Western Isles Council has teamed up with Orkney and Shetland island councils to press the Scottish and UK Governments for more powers following the Independence Referendum.
It includes seeking special economic tax concessions or freeport-
Another demand is control of the sea bed around the islands, allowing revenues currently paid to the Crown Estate to be channelled into local needs.
New energy grid connections to the Scottish mainland to generate and export of wave, tidal and wind electricity is also a key issue.
Relocating the headquarters of ferry operator Caledonian Macbrayne out of the central belt to its customers’ heartland in the Hebrides is also under negotiation.
Local government minister Derek Mackay has set up a ministerial working group to develop options for devolving issues over energy, renewables, transport and governance.
However, he highlighted that some powers such as control of the seabed -