Meeting of the Parliament 21 May 2025
I will touch on that. The member raises a really important point. Depopulation is a critical focus for us as we develop the new plan. It is not an easy thing to fix. We know that there are a number of contributing factors, which is why the work that we are progressing in areas such as housing and transport is hugely important. I will address some of those issues later.
In addition, our £30 million demand-led rural and islands housing fund continues to deliver more affordable homes in island communities, and we recently announced its extension to 2028 as part of our programme for government. To date, 44 per cent of the projects that have been completed with support from the rural and islands housing fund have been delivered on islands.
Each year, we provide nearly £40 million to croft businesses, including through schemes such as the crofting agricultural grant scheme, which, since 2015, has committed more than £31.5 million to help more than 5,000 crofters with their croft businesses. We have also delivered almost £26 million to help to build and improve more than 1,160 croft homes; more than 80 per cent of the grants that were awarded over 2024 were awarded to island-based crofters.
Those are just some examples of the projects that have been delivered; the list is much longer. I refer colleagues to the reports that we have laid annually to update Parliament on investments and initiatives that have been undertaken across portfolios to deliver on the strategic objectives that we set out in the national islands plan.
At the end of 2023, we carried out a public consultation to inform a review of the plan. I put on record the Scottish Government’s gratitude to the many organisations and individuals who contributed to that review.