EIR/202600522560 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Island Business Resilience Fund information: EIR release
Information requested
1. Confirmation of whether the £10 million Island Business Resilience Fund has been formally established.
2. If established, the date of approval and the responsible directorate or unit.
3. If not yet established, all documentation (including emails, briefing papers, and ministerial submissions) relating to the development, delay, or revision of the fund since May 2026.
4. Any papers or correspondence which set out the proposed eligibility criteria, scope, or delivery mechanism for the fund.
5. Confirmation of whether the £10 million allocation is currently held within any Scottish Government budget line or reserve.
Response
A response is provided to each of your five points below.
1. Confirmation of whether the £10 million Island Business Resilience Fund has been formally established.
We have interpreted your request as referring to the £10 million Islands Resilience Fund announced by Scottish Ministers. If this is not what you intended, please let us know. The First Minister has pledged to implement a £10 million Islands Resilience Fund as part of the Government’s first 100- Days Commitments, and work is underway to deliver that pledge.
2. If established, the date of approval and the responsible directorate or unit.
As the Islands Resilience Fund has not yet been implemented, there is no approval date. Development of proposals are being led by the Islands Policy Unit in Land Reform, Rural and Islands Policy Division within the Directorate for Local Government and Communities.
3. If not yet established, all documentation (including emails, briefing papers, and ministerial submissions) relating to the development, delay, or revision of the fund since May 2026.
Relevant documentation is attached.
4. Any papers or correspondence which set out the proposed eligibility criteria, scope, or delivery mechanism for the fund.
Relevant papers and correspondence are attached.
5. Confirmation of whether the £10 million allocation is currently held within any Scottish Government budget line or reserve.
Work is underway to deliver the commitment to implement an Islands Resilience Fund, and that work will include identifying appropriate budget.
In addition one item has now been published and is in the public domain. It is available at this link: https://www.hie.co.uk/research-and-reports/our-reports/2026/july/9/islands-business-resilience-fund-evaluation/
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under Internal communications - Regulation 10(4)(e) of EIR Regulations applies to that information.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because of the need for open policy making. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in the risk of prejudice to future policy in this area.
In addition, an exemption(s) under personal data - Regulation 11 applies to some of the information you have requested.
This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
It is available at this link: https://www.hie.co.uk/research-and-reports/our-reports/2026/july/9/islands-business-resilience-fund-evaluation/ While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under Internal communications - Regulation 10(4)(e) of EIR Regulations applies to that information. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. In addition, an exemption(s) under personal data - Regulation 11 applies to some of the information you have requested.