Supporting and Strengthening Scotland's Island Communities

As an amendment to motion S5M-02686 in the name of Humza Yousaf (Supporting and Strengthening Scotland's Island Communities), leave out from “, and notes” to end and insert “; further acknowledges the Islands Strategic Group and the forthcoming Islands Bill but notes the financial and administrative powers that have been removed from island communities, including Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, since 2007; agrees that the centralisation of key public services and functions has reduced local accountability to island communities; calls for an active islands plan to provide a framework within which the unique interests across island communities are considered, and further calls for the decision by Scottish Ministers in 2011 to exclude isles-based businesses from the Air Discount Scheme to be reversed and for ferry fares on routes serving Orkney and Shetland to be reduced from 2017, in line with existing reductions on west coast routes."