I will continue ...

to stay in touch with the issues, concerns and aspirations of the folk of the North Isles ward, through my attendance at community council meetings, parent council meetings, community events, being available for a chat on my frequent ferry journeys, and dealing with the casework of individual ward constituents and community groups—not to mention that I actually live in the North Isles;

to report back to ward constituents via my monthly “Letter from School Place” (now also available on-line at clackson4northisles.pbworks.com) and invite your comments on what I am doing on your behalf;

to stick up for the North Isles at School Place—all of them:  Auskerry, Eday, Egilsay, Gairsay, North Ronaldsay, Papa Stronsay, Papa Westray, Rousay, Sanday, Shapinsay, Stronsay, Westray and Wyre;

to defend Orkney’s interests in the wider world (as I have been doing through my membership of OIC’s Constitutional Reform Working Group and Our Islands, Our Future).  In particular, to get Scottish Government funding for Orkney Ferries and improvement to our Internet connectivity, and in facing the uncertainties of Brexit and a possible Indyref2.

 Priorities

Finance:  This underlies everything Orkney Islands Council is able to do.  The future of central government financing of local authorities looks bleak.  If we are even to maintain our current level of services, we are going to have to rise to the challenge of developing enterprises to generate much more of our own income.  I will support the use of our strategic reserves to establish such income-generating enterprises, such as an Orkney Telecoms Company or even an Orkney Bank.

Transport:  The recent Inter-Island Air & Transport Study commissioned by OIC has unequivocally demonstrated that according to the Scottish Government’s own Routes & Services Methodology we are under-provisioned.  I will continue supporting OIC’s demand for the Scottish Government to fund new ferries and finance the running of our internal ferry fleet, and I will push for the money thereby saved from OIC’s budget to be re-allocated to our inter-island air service. Meanwhile, I shall be pressing for a review of Orkney Ferries’ fare structure.

Education:  I will work to make sure North Isles’ schools are able to maintain their high academic standards and that subject choice is safeguarded for pupils in our junior high schools.  I want us to grow all our island schools (primary and junior high) into educational resource centres available to the whole community.

Empowering communities:  Currently being piloted in Papa Westray and Stronsay, I will support the roll-out to other islands of this initiative designed to decentralise council services to communities and give community councils a greater role in the management and delivery of those services.

Island proofing Orkney’s own islands:  In the Our Islands, Our Future campaign, OIC has been calling for a commitment to “island proofing” to be incorporated into all Scottish Government legislation to ensure island groups are not inadvertently disadvantaged.  I shall work to make “island proofing” of Orkney’s own islands an integral part of OIC’s policy-making processes and activities. (A recent example of something that needed "island proofing" is the ActiveLife scheme.)

Brexit / Indyref2:  To the best of my abilities, I shall play my part at OIC to steer Orkney on a safe course through the unsettled waters of the near future.