Community Council

MINUTES OF A REMOTE WEBEX MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 15TH SEPTEMBER 2020 AT 7PM

PRESENT IN ATTENDANCE Murray Cooper Graham Booth, Fetlar Community Association Mike Fogarty, Vice Chair Frances Browne, Community Development James Rendall, Chair Janice Hawick, Citizens Advice Bureau Tom Thomason Kevin Main, SIC Ferries Bridgette Thomason, Clerk

1. APOLOGIES Apologies had been received from Michael Duncan and Councillor Ryan Thomson.

2. MINUTE OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS Minutes of the previous Meeting held on the 4th August 2020 had been circulated and were taken as read and adopted. Proposed – James Rendall, seconded – Tom Thomason.

3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST No declarations of interest were made.

Agenda item 6.1 was discussed first on the Agenda to allow Janice Hawick, Citizens Advice Bureau and Graham Booth, Fetlar Community Association to join in the Meeting. Ms Hawick and Mr Booth left the Meeting at 7.30pm and Kevin Main, SIC Ferries joined at 7.40pm.

4. ONGOING BUSINESS 4.1 Islands with Small Populations Fetlar Ferry Succession Planning Kevin Main, SIC Ferries had previously expressed that he was hugely enthusiastic about any future plan that would ensure the Fetlar Ferry is continually manned/crewed with the appropriate level of trained and qualified staff and that engagement with FCC would be welcome as part of this plan.

A Meeting had therefore been arranged and Mr Main shared potential long-term employment options which included details of Career Graded Deckhands, Modern Marine Apprenticeships and Junior Cadetships with Members. Mr Main explained further that when vacancies arise within the Ferry Service the most common solution to filling a post is to advertise and recruit, however, there had been little uptake in non-resident candidates applying for positions on ferries requiring overnight stays in the remoter isles. Primarily, with the need to source suitable and affordable accommodation on the island, Mr Main added that he felt this was also worth exploring alongside a succession plan ahead of any future recruitment.

Mr Main advised that Ferry Service management had been working on better understanding the intentions of their current Fetlar Ferry staff in terms of their positions within the organisation and confirmed they now had a sustainable crewing model in mind both for the short and medium/long term which could be aligned with age demographics, staff needs and aspirations alongside the intentions of staff.

Mr Main used the Fetlar ferry service as an example, whereby, some staff had a supernumerary role and were able to work on the ferry whilst also being supported to gain relevant qualifications. Also noted were initiatives taking place in currently with Modern Marine Apprenticeships being used as a platform to build careers.

4. ONGOING BUSINESS 4.1 Islands with Small Populations (cont) Fetlar Ferry Succession Planning (cont) Mr Main felt that Fetlar had a good balance, quantity and number of experienced staff which provides an extremely efficiently run service, with options for recruitment to be considered further alongside maintaining a crewing level of around 5, which relies on certain criteria and flexibility, for example, a deckhand being able to undertake engineering duties, a mate being able to act up as skipper and such like. Within this scenario, there are also challenges to overcome, such as securing candidates with appropriate qualifications and a pool to recruit into from Fetlar. Mr Main felt this could also be looked upon as an opportunity to secure the Fetlar Ferry service alongside the positive impacts this would have to the local economy and priorities identified by the community within the IWSP Locality Plan.

Mr Main confirmed that only when there is a vacancy, then Ferry Services could be reactive in their approach, with a like for like process to recruit into given due consideration, level of qualifications required, etc. Mr Main also reiterated that it was therefore important to build in qualifications and provide staff with opportunities to develop through a career graded model, which had proved successful in the past, with marine related qualifications undertaken through the College in Scalloway where careers can be built with staff that initially are supernumerary. Mr Main provided an example of this – a Modern Marine Apprentice (MMA), typically 16 to 17 years old who can gain practical experience on the ferry whilst also attending college by way of block release, which has proved to be an efficient method of gaining qualifications which the SIC can attract external funding for and provides a good learning platform. A career graded plan such as this can take a number of years to progress through and requires considerable initial investment, requiring 4 or 5 interested parties to enable the college in Scalloway to deliver the course.

Members highlighted that with a skipper retiring shortly, although the MMA is a good career graded model, the Fetlar service would require someone with practical skills such as boat handling experience which they felt would need to be addressed sooner rather than later, especially with the number of folk commuting daily from the island to work and other ferry users. It was also felt that the Fetlar ferry provides a lifeline service for the community, with the service previously dependent on the goodwill of existing staff staying on beyond retirement to meet the needs of the service, which was agreed was not an ideal situation going forward.

Mr Main explained that existing staff on both Yell and can be used as a stop gap in the interim/short term and when the skipper retires, essentially there would then be a post to be filled and an opportunity for staff to act up, with a replacement then only coming into post following the usual recruitment process. Mr Main said it was worth acknowledging that there could therefore be a couple of months of sporadic crewing from Yell or Bluemull Sound, whilst at the same time considering and planning ahead to meet the longer term goals of filling a permanent post, ie, short term disruption with medium to longer term gains and benefits.

Mr Main noted that temporary accommodation would be required locally and the SIC had supported short term lets, provided caravans, used B & B accommodation in the past. It was suggested that the vacant sheltered houses at the Stakkafletts could be utilised, with consideration given to a discounted rent. With certification issues in building accommodation on board the Geira similar to what’s used on Yell Sound, this would not be a feasible option at present.

It was agreed that Fetlar should be promoted as a place to stay and any post advertised would hopefully encourage a family to move. Mr Main explained that in other routes, it had been decided to advertise externally for the post of master and mate which had proved successful and it was certainly worth building around and considering the bigger picture and community implications.

If the post is to be advertised externally, Ms Browne suggested that the Welcome Pack could be made available and support given to anyone thinking to move, information shared alongside looking at ways that folk can be encouraged to stay, work and live on the island.

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4. ONGOING BUSINESS 4.1 Islands with Small Populations (cont) Fetlar Ferry Succession Planning (cont) Mr Main reiterated the desire to look at a wider package and in encompassing the community element which ties in with the IWSP priorities, notably with the ferry being a lifeline service, which provides employment, attractive salaries and career graded posts with training and support to staff to progress through. With material gains and investment also considered in the longer term for apprenticeships and such like, all of which require resources and time, which are deliverable, but requires deliberation and approval by the SIC in the first instance.

With ferry succession planning identified as the top priority by the community, it was felt this could be useful for Ferry Services to use to sustain, maintain and provide reassurance on progress going forward, with short term issues worked through until the time of retirement and then long term gains and opportunities realised. All of which would help to make Fetlar a more sustainable and viable community as a whole with local jobs available and benefits to both the Ferry Service and the community.

Fetlar Priorities The Fetlar Priorities Response Form had previously identified the following 8 actions in order of priority for Fetlar as follows:

 Ferry Succession Planning  Resolve outstanding NHS Actions  Attract new residents  Explore commuter ticket on the ferry  Community Growing Project  Understand potential of Local Lettings Policy  Tourism - links with other Isles and “North Isles Golden Triangle”  Decentralise office based posts

Following the priorities identified by each community, Emma Perring, Community Planning and Development had circulated ’s Islands with Small Populations (IWSP) Draft Locality Plan alongside consultation questions for comment and feedback. The final draft had been made available and circulated to every household on the island and was duly approved by Members.

Healthcare Following concerns raised by the community in between Meetings surrounding the lack of resident and on call nursing cover whilst the nurse is off duty/shielding during the recent pandemic, Edna Mary Watson, Chief Nurse (Community), NHS Shetland had been contacted regarding the plans for nursing cover on the island for the foreseeable future and to consider ways in which this can be made more sustainable for both the nurse and community in the longer term.

Lisa Watt, NHS Shetland had been temporarily covering Ms Watt and had advised that temporary measures had been put in place to provide a visiting service to Fetlar twice a week on a Tuesday and Friday up until the end of September, with anyone requiring an appointment contacting the Yell Health Centre. Although, not the same as having a nurse resident on the island, Ms Watt hoped that residents would make use of the visiting service should they need nursing support. The Clerk confirmed the update had been circulated within the community by way of the email distribution list.

Following this, Members had been saddened to learn that the nurse had resigned from her post and will be hugely missed. It was agreed to contact Ms Watson to see what their plans are for the future regarding nursing provision on the island. It was felt it would be useful to also promote Fetlar as a place to live and work, similar to what was done when the Community Maintenance Post was advertised which worked very well. Ms Browne advised that the work that was done on the "Welcome Pack" for Fetlar was not far from completion.

Action – Clerk to contact Ms Watson for an update on the visiting nursing service and regarding the nursing post/recruitment and Yell Health Centre for an update on GP visits.

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4. ONGOING BUSINESS 4.2 Energy Isles Statkraft A Meeting had taken place last year with the 5 development groups in the North Isles which had agreed that Partnership would be the community body who would proceed with a bid for the Enablement Grant for a study into Shared Ownership in the EIS project for the time being. A press release had been received in early October announcing that Statkraft UK had been chosen as a development partner to help progress the project. The full planning application had been submitted, which if successful, should see the project delivered by 2026.

Mr Cooper had joined in the remote Community Liaison Group Meeting held on the 11th August. The Meeting had discussed feedback on the Public Exhibition held in February, the new EIS website, planning update and Shared Ownership Memorandum of Understanding.

The Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit had forwarded details on the Environmental Impact Assessment and Supplementary Information for the proposed wind farm. Noted.

4.3 Fetlar Webcam (4.4/08/20) Andy Steven, Shetland Webcams had met with FCC in September 2019 to explore ways in which the existing Fetlar webcam could be replaced with a full high definition stream, with due consideration of costs and ways in which the camera could be developed to fully promote the community further. Mr Steven had put together an extensive proposal for discussion on options of who could support the replacement and ongoing running costs via a sponsorship/advertising model.

No response had been received from the community inviting either a local sole sponsor or a few different businesses who may have been interested in advertising and supporting the running costs. The grant application to Cooke Aquaculture for financial assistance towards the project had also been unsuccessful.

Members had advised Mr Steven, that there were insufficient funds within FCC’s core running budget to contribute towards the annual running costs of the webcam and that whilst FCC secure funds each year from the SIC's Community Development Fund, the fund is always oversubscribed and running costs aren't covered within the grant, either as a one off or on an ongoing basis.

Various options had been explored to help fund the running costs of the webcam, which had sadly been unsuccessful, Members therefore agreed to close this Agenda item.

4.4 Roads (4.7/08/20) It had been reported at the February Meeting, that the pot holes and road from the Southdale brae up to the grid/draw off just before the Bealance is generally in a poor condition.

John Duncan, SIC Roads had advised in early March that the North Isles squad would repair this as soon as possible and had advised further in early August that the North Isles Squad had looked at this previously and would investigate this further on return from annual leave.

Members believed temporary repairs/patching had been undertaken, however, felt that with the winter approaching more permanent repairs to the road would be necessary. In particular, the pothole and spring in the middle of the road, near the first draw off up past the Velzie/Northdale junction which will cause further problems in the winter if it freezes.

Action – Clerk to contact Mr Duncan for an update and enquire if any further improvements are planned for this area of road.

5. FINANCE and ADMINISTRATION 5.1 Financial update, core funding and administration The Clerk summarised FCC’s current restricted funds as circulated via e-mail in between Meetings - FCC’s Core Running budget and Community Development Fund was also discussed in detail.

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5. FINANCE and ADMINISTRATION 5.1 Financial update, core funding and administration Members had previously resolved to execute internet banking access for Mr Rendall following guidance from the ASCC and the Clerk confirmed Mr Rendall now had access to internet banking.

The following invoices were approved for payment: Bridgette Thomason – Clerk’s salary – Aug - £270.20 (fps) Bridgette Thomason – Out of pocket expenses – Ink cartridges - £38.99 (fps) Bridgette Thomason – Out of pocket expenses – Norton Internet Security Renewal - £69.99 (fps)

5.2 ASCC Meeting – 8th September Correspondence for the ASCC Meeting held on the 8th September had circulated in between Meetings and apologies forwarded on behalf of FCC as no one was able to join in on this occasion.

6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 6.1 Citizens Advice Bureau Janice Hawick, Shetland Islands Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) was keen to share information about their services and be of help to anyone who feels they would benefit from some advice and support. CAB are able to assist people with a wide range of problems - consumer benefits, money worries, housing issues, employment, relationships, health and community care, high energy bills and such like. They provide free and confidential advice on any topic and will do their best to help. Ms Hawick agreed to forward on their Welfare Benefit Check Form and CAB Referral form and are also hoping to organise zoom meetings/individual clinics in due course. Owing to the pandemic, all their services are currently being provided by phone, email and letter.

Ms Hawick also explained that CAB have found that many people in Shetland are not getting all the social security benefits they are entitled to and they had helped people to get over £1.9 million of benefits in 2019/2020. They therefore are encouraging folks to fill in a benefit check form so that they can check to see if they might be entitled to more money. If they find that someone might be eligible for extra money, they can help fill in the application form. Being eligible for one benefit can act as a "passport" to other types of help such as support with heating costs, etc.

Action – Clerk to circulate this information, contact details alongside the relevant forms and details of one to one sessions when dates have been confirmed.

6.2 Shetland Community Benefit Fund (4.3/08/20) Members had previously opted not to have an Observer or Director on the SCBF, mainly owing to work commitments, distance and the time involved. Following changes to the SCBF rules, Mr Bunyan had contacted FCC again and asked if further consideration could be given to this.

Members agreed to each take it in turn to join in the SCBF Meetings as an Observer, with Mr Rendall to join the next remote Meeting planned for the 7th October.

Action – Clerk to advise SCBF accordingly.

6.3 Fetlar Growing Project Graham Booth, Fetlar Community Association provided an update on the Growing Project and the possibility of obtaining the land which used to be the children’s playground at the Stakkafletts, which could possibly be acquired by asset transfer or direct purchase.

Other costings for the project are nearly finalised and all residents are to be contacted shortly explaining the change of use for the land, the possible development of further play facilities at the school and the potential costs and timescales for the project. It is hoped, that all going well, a funding application will be submitted in November subject to obtaining widespread acceptance of the proposal.

The Clerk confirmed that the questionnaire had been circulated to the email distribution list.

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6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 6.4 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme The Scottish Government had announced a voucher scheme to connect people to superfast broadband and the launch of an online checker where people can see if they are eligible. The Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) will provide grants to broadband customers in both residential and business premises, offering support to customers to ensure they can access superfast broadband of at least 30 Megabits per second (Mbps). It is intended to launch the SBVS in September 2020 and anyone whose home or business broadband speed is less than 30 Mbps and where there are no plans to bring superfast broadband to their address by the end of 2021, will be eligible for a voucher.

The SBVS will feature two distinct levels of subsidy and vouchers can be used to cover the cost of installation associated with securing a service across a range of superfast-capable technologies, including fibre, fixed wireless, mobile broadband and satellite. The online checker to ascertain eligibility for SBVS will provide information on the premises within the scope of signed R100 contracts and planned commercial roll-outs.

FCC had received an enquiry to see if a common approach for Fetlar residents could be considered. Members agreed it would be beneficial to invite Marvin Smith, Shetland Telecom to the next Meeting for an update on broadband and to explain the SBVS further.

7. CORRESPONDENCE 7.1 RSPB – installation of hide – Mires of Funzie 7.2 SIC, Community Development – various updates and guidance on funding, third sector support/service delivery & business grants 7.3 Community Council – Letter - Shetland Islands Council 7.4 Scottish Government – Consultation – Proposed Changes to Pre-Application Consultation Requirements in Planning 7.5 Shetland Islands Council – Update – Active Travel 7.6 Beatrice Wishart MSP – Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme Information 7.7 Shetland Islands Council – Crown Estate Fund 7.8 HIAL – Air Traffic Management Strategy – Local Consultation Impact Assessment 7.9 Voluntary Action Shetland – Shetland Community Spirit Award 7.10 Island Innovation – Virtual Island Summit 7.11 Shetland Islands Council – Community Listening Event 7.12 Scottish Islands Passport – Shetland Pilot

All other correspondence had been circulated in between Meetings.

8. MEETING DATES Proposed Meeting dates for the remainder of 2020 as follows:

 Tuesday, 27th October at 7pm  Tuesday, 8th December at 7pm

The Chairman thanked everyone for joining in the Meeting and since there was no further business the Meeting was brought to a close.

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