The map is still incomplete, but it does demonstrate that vast areas of rural Scotland, and the majority of Scotland's islands, will not have a direct voice in the Chamber and in Committees. None of our MSPs are likely to have recent experience of building a business on South Uist, securing a job in Campbeltown, accessing additional support for learning in Ballater, organising care in Helmsdale, searching for a rental property in Kingussie, or running a village hall in Cockburnspath.
This gap can be bridged - there are many ways that the Scottish Parliament and place-based communities can work together.
Together, we invite recently elected and returning MSPs to:
✅ Meet with us and other organisations who can facilitate meaningful engagement with rural and island communities on issues that matter to them.
✅ Champion peripatetic Committee meetings. Parliament should sit in Thurso, in Oban, in Brechin and in Stornoway and we can help arrange visits to local communities and projects when you do so.
✅ Help reinstate the Cross Party Group on Islands - a hugely successful CPG that SRA co-secretariates with the Scottish Islands Federation.
✅ Help reinstate the Cross Party Group on Rural Policy – as above but with secretariat support by SRUC.
✅ Get to know the Scottish Parliament Participation and Communities team and ask them to work with us and other rural organisations to organise consultations, mini publics and citizens panels involving rural and island people in Committee processes.
✅ Put the Scottish Rural & Islands Parliament in your diary - it is the single best place to hear directly from rural and island communities across Scotland (location and date to be confirmed very soon!!!)
We look forward to working together in Session 7!
