Diary of a Shopkeeper, 16th October
Heading for Orkney, Kevin Dutton
Last week’s column dived into ancient history: BC, Before Covid. It was a necessary reminder of the near panic many felt in the early months of 2020. We were worried not just about the health of our nearest and dearest, but the health of the Orkney economy and the community it supports. As that year progressed, central government measures like the furlough scheme provided much needed support for individuals unable to work as usual. For businesses, Orkney Islands Council efficiently distributed government Support Grants, and banks offered easy-to-access Bounce Back Loans.
Meanwhile, the businesses, HIE staff, councillors and council officials on the Economic Recovery Steering Group (ERSG) had agreed on a set of principles that they thought should guide our islands’ economy, post-pandemic. They agreed that Orkney should be:
Ambitious: taking control of its own economic and demographic future.
Sustainable: committing to an environmentally responsible path.
Prosperous: campaigning for increased government funding, and investing local authority funds locally.
Inclusive: increasing transparency in decision making, and ensuring everyone is taken along.
Resilient: dramatically improving connectivity and our ability to overcome challenges.
Enterprising: uniting and utilising the different skills of the public, private and third sectors.
The headline words spell ASPIRE, which is both an admirable sentiment and a catchy name for the small organisation that was created to try and make the principles reality.
What about that? Has there been substantial movement towards achieving any of these goals?
Critics (including a few councillors at a recent Policy and Resources meeting) would argue no. I’d say that none of those keywords represents a goal that can be ticked off and forgotten about. ‘Increasing transparency’ or ‘improving connectivity’ are not like putting the bin out, either done or not done. Rather, they are principles that should underlie decision making and policy development over a timescale of years. They’re entirely uncontroversial. Is there anyone out there who thinks we shouldn’t be environmentally responsible? Anyone who’s against better funding from central government? More broadly, does anyone want a less prosperous and less inclusive Orkney? Surely not!
So who is tasked with making sure these easy-to-support principles are taken forward and built upon? The answer is in the final bullet point: ‘the public, private and third sectors.’ All these groups are represented on the ERSG, and all have an equal responsibility to make the principles a reality. ASPIRE has one member of staff, manager Luke Fraser, but his role is not to single-handedly transform our economy. He is a facilitator, a go-between.
It’s the members of the ERSG – councillors, officials from OIC and HIE, and representatives of businesses and charities – who must ensure those aspirations are turned into reality. Not just once, but on an ongoing basis.
Easy for me to say, as I’m no longer on the ERSG. When Kirkwall BID started post-lockdown events in summer 2021, it wasn’t possible for me to stretch across two time-consuming voluntary roles – not if I wanted to keep this shop going.
But I’ve remained keenly interested in what ASPIRE is trying to do, and the extent to which its steering group, the ERSG, has been supporting it and pushing it forwards. I’ve heard lots of good ideas from business and charity members, and witnessed their determination to make it work. Sadly, reports from that OIC Policy and Resources committee reveal many councillors to be uninformed about both ERSG and ASPIRE, and confused about the groups’ role and potential. One example: the idea of a new Chamber of Commerce was floated. Why consider creating a business-representation organisation from scratch, at enormous cost, when volunteers had put hundreds of hours into building one over the past two years?
Councillors need to ask whether they have been properly briefed on ASPIRE, and the ERSG which steers it. If not, why not? The success of both bodies might just be key to the success of Orkney in the years ahead.
Visit www.aspireorkney.com for more detailed statements of the ASPIRE principles.
This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 19th October 2022. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.