COSLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2015
02
APPLICATION FORM
Please refer to the ‘2015 Guidance for Applicants’
before completing this application form.
The application form is split over four sections. It is up to you to decide the content and length of each section, but your application must not exceed three pages in total (excluding the cover pages).
Please ensure that your application covers the key criteria that we are looking for and is effectively presented. Any questions relating to your application or the submission process should be directed to or 0131 474 9275.
The deadline for submission of entries is 5pm on Friday 24 October 2014.
Submitting Your Application Form
Please use our online application portal to submit this application form.
PLEASE PROVIDE SOME DETAILS ABOUT YOUR APPLICATION:
CATEGORY APPLIED FOR / ‘Local Matters’PROJECT NAME
(as you wish to see it published) / Our Islands Our Future
LEAD ORGANISATION / Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council
DEPARTMENT/TEAM / The Our Islands Our Future Team
PARTICIPANT NAMES OR PARTNER ORGANISATIONS / Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Orkney Islands Council
Shetland Islands Council
CONTACT NAME / Lesley McDonald, Programme Manager: Our Islands Our Future, Executive Office, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
CONTACT DETAILS / / 01851 822 604
CAN WE PUBLISH THIS APPLICATION FORM ON OUR WEBSITE? / YES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / In one short paragraph please describe this project is about, what it has achieved, and why it is delivering excellence.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council launched the Our Islands: Our Future Campaign in June 2013. The campaign aims to address a wide range of issues common to the three island areas through the once in a life-time opportunity presented by the Independence Referendum in Scotland. The success of the campaign to date has been outstanding. The publication of the Scottish Government’s “Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities” in June 2014 and the UK Government’s “A Framework for the Islands” in August 2014, sealed the significant and publically lauded achievements of these, the smallest councils in Scotland, on behalf of their communities. These, along with commitments from national political parties and support from island communities across Europe, were secured through a politically neutral campaign which fought to secure politically accountable commitments important to the economic future and social wellbeing of the three island areas.
PLANNING / What is your project about, and why is it important? What are you aiming to achieve, and how does this fit with the bigger picture? Does it tackle the issues that matter most to your community or your organisation?
Decisions made by governments often have economic and social consequences due to poor consideration of the impact of national policy-making on geographically remote island areas. These challenges were recognised over 30 years ago when the Montgomery Committee stated ‘opportunities should be taken whenever possible, to consolidate, develop and extend the powers of Island Councils in a continuing process of development in the local government of the islands’. Little had happened to acknowledge the special circumstances of the three distinct island groups since the publication of the Montgomery Report.
The Island Councils recognised the constitutional debate surrounding the Independence Referendum provided and continues to provide a rare opportunity to achieve the goals for which the islands had been pressing. The issues are not new; they are common to all three Island Council areas, and each has existing policies across a wide range of areas that seek to rectify the problems faced. Joining together to address them is an entirely new and inspiring approach. On 17 June 2013, following detailed research and discussions on the potential opportunities for the islands, the three Councils challenged the Scottish and UK Governments and major political parties through a Joint Position Statement to:
· implement the recommendations made by the Montgomery Commission in 1984;
· recognise the responsibility of all Governments to implement the UK's European Treaty obligations in relation to subsidiarity (Article 5), parity of transport, energy and communication networks (Article 170) and the acknowledgement of disadvantage due to remote and peripheral location (Article 174) in respect of the Islands Areas; and
· consider to a much greater extent the issues affecting island communities as a result of national and European policy e.g. economic disadvantage and the social and cultural impact on their fragile populations.
Within two months the campaign had secured: the support of the Islands Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (representing 15 million people in island communities across Europe); commitment to talks through an Island Areas Ministerial Working Group with the Scottish Government; and commitment to talks with the Secretary of State for Scotland on issues important to the Islands. During 2013/2014, the project team negotiated with both governments on issues across major subject areas of common importance to their island communities - providing research and evidence and submitting proposals for changes to policy.
DELIVERING / How have you carried out your project? How did you ensure that this was done effectively? What are you doing to continue to improve?
Our Islands Our Future has a clear vision of what it seeks to achieve, and robust programme management structures in place to support the entire process. Never before have the three councils delivered a joint campaign of this unprecedented scale. It is not simply a case of working side by side; Our Islands Our Future is a unique and united front which amplifies the message and voice of the islands. This is an innovative project demonstrating true collaboration and the sharing of expertise.
The Our Islands Our Future Project Team is wholly resourced ‘in house’ from across the three councils and programme management methodology is utilised to steer the activity. Multi-layer strategies, work plans and timelines are used to ensure the project stays on track and delivers its objectives. The programme is adaptive to opportunity and the skills built up across the team ensure a rapid response.
For over 18 months the Our Islands Our Future team has implemented a full programme of engagement and negotiation with:
· The Scottish Government (negotiation through the Islands Areas Ministerial Working Group)
· The UK Government (negotiation with the Scotland Office and other Whitehall Departments)
· Political parties
· Public sector partners
· Local communities, businesses, Community Councils and Community Planning Partners
· European Union institutions and colleagues in the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions
The team adopted a strategic roadmap for the production of resource materials which were at the fingertips of the Leaders and Chief Executives as they made key decisions and negotiated their case. Wide-ranging collaboration, internally and externally (both nationally and in Europe), has resulted in a knowledge hub of more than 3000 documents vital to the success and ongoing work of the campaign.
The building blocks of this extensive knowledge system include:
· an electronic library of background research held on SharePoint and Huddle
· establishment of three campaign matrix teams, with lead specialists directing the acquisition, collation and analysis of key information
· an extensive network of contacts including council colleagues, local and national partners, businesses, industry bodies and academics, spanning not only the UK but also Europe, providing expert knowledge on the issues important to island communities
· timelines identifying the critical points where key subject matter is required
· briefing packs for every subject based on the ‘inverted triangle’ approach
· diagrams and tables which provide information in a ‘crib-sheet’ format for quick reference during meetings.
This information system has also formed shared learning with local authority colleagues, government officers and counterparts in the UK and Europe. It has enabled the team to challenge long held views with robust evidence and demonstrate that small councils can influence national policy. There is a three year timeline for the campaign from 2013 to the 2016 election. The campaign was recognised in Scottish Labour’s submission to the Smith Commission.
INNOVATION & LEADING PRACTICE / Why is your project innovative? How is it helping to prepare for the future? What is happening to help other organisations benefit from your approach?
Our Islands Our Future is supported by our local communities and applauded by politicians, political commentators, public sector colleagues and across the media as an innovative and far-sighted approach to a unique opportunity. Working as one and using a core team to collate evidence to support the work, the three islands areas have secured, in a period of 12 months, a range of commitments they have individually been seeking for years, if not decades. A major conference took place in Orkney in September 2013 to raise awareness of and promote the campaign. It has not gone unnoticed: “These islands have been quick off the mark. I like this initiative. It represents a lesson for other parts of Scotland.” (Professor James Mitchell).
As part of the negotiations the team gained exceptional access to Ministers, MPs and senior government officials. Other local authorities have since established similar campaigns, most notably ‘Our Borders Our Future’, set up on the recommendation of the Scottish Affairs Committee Post referendum discussions have been initiated with both Governments and commitments are being mainstreamed into services.
The spotlight has been firmly on the three Island Councils, with invitations to speak to Parliamentary Committees, to take part in Commissions and to speak at both national and European events about the campaign and the issues placed before government. The Leaders from the Councils represented Our Islands Our Future on the Commission for Strengthening Local Democracy in Scotland, contributing experience and knowledge. The presentation ‘Differential Devolution’ at the COSLA Conference in 2014 gave local authority colleagues a flavour of the project work. In September 2014, Convener Heddle became president-elect of the Islands Commission, working to influence European decision-making in relation to islands communities across Europe.
Such has been the impact of the campaign that the National Library of Scotland has deposited the public documents of Our Islands Our Future as important items for the national archive.
RESULTS & IMPACT / What impact are you having, or expect to have? How are you measuring this, and what does this tell you? Are you delivering what you set out to achieve?
The Scottish Government’s “Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities” (June 2014) and the UK Government’s “A Framework for the Islands” (August 2014), are direct responses to the proposals of Our Islands Our Future. In these documents we have identified 152 principles and commitments covering 23 primary areas from the Scottish Government, and 108 principles and commitments covering 17 primary areas from the UK Government, to the three island communities. These include commitments on local control and decision-making, community benefit, island proofing, energy, economic growth, closer working with Europe and constitutional change. In many areas the campaign has exceeded its ambitions. The current focus is on taking this work forward with both governments to implement policy and activity that will benefit the island communities for generations to come. Others will also benefit from the commitments secured, as both governments also made pledges to other local authorities in these key documents.
This is an ongoing campaign. Having secured a framework for forward working with the UK Government, the Scottish Island Councils are firmly established in a role for influencing future decision-making that affects the three island communities. And, having also secured published commitments from the Labour Party as well as the two governments, the influence of the campaign extends into the ongoing constitutional discussion post referendum.
The practice of collaborative working is now widening across the services of the three councils. A positive step, based on the trust, experience and expertise gained from a singularly unique way of working as a result of Our Islands Our Future.
Please limit your application to 3 pages or less and use font size 11or greater
NEXT STEPS
ü Have you answered the criteria set out in the guidance?
ü Is your application form 3 pages or less. (Anything more, including appendices, will be automatically rejected)
ü Has your application form been authorised by an appropriate person?
ü Have you indicated whether you wish the application form to be published?
ü Have you provided details for someone we can contact about your application?
SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION BY 24 OCTOBER 2014 USING OUR ONLINE APPLICATIONS PORTAL: