Fetlar 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 Scotland 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 Bluemull Sound 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. 2 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 Shetland’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.