Consultation opens on Scottish Government's Rural Delivery Plan

A Scottish Government survey will help to develop the forthcoming Rural Delivery Plan and is an opportunity to take a fresh look at to bring about change and address the issues in mainland rural Scotland. A separate National Islands Plan looks at how the Scottish Government is delivering for island communities.

Rural Scotland accounts for 98 per cent of the land mass of Scotland and 17 per cent of the population. The plan will cover a range of areas, such as agriculture, transport, housing, health and social care, marine, land reform, population, skills, digital connectivity and economic development.

Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands said: “The Rural Delivery Plan will introduce a vision for rural Scotland with specific objectives and achievements we want to reach, how we intend to get there and how we will measure success along the way.

"This builds on our record of support for rural communities, such as preserving direct support for farmers and crofters, to improving online connectivity, and comes on the back of a lot of work with partners and communities to better understand the opportunities in our rural communities, as well as the particular challenges rural Scotland faces.

“I would encourage all those with an interest to take part so that the Plan we produce reflects their experiences and what is most important to them.”

The survey will run until March 17 and can be found at https://consult.gov.sco.