Island Communities Impact Assessment
IMAGE: The logo identifies OHAC, Orkney Health and Care.
The purpose of an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) is to improve the work of the Integration Joint Board by making sure it considers whether the impact of any policy, strategy or service on an island community is likely to be significantly differently from its effect on other communities (including other island communities).
| PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS | Responses |
|---|
| Please provide a brief description or summary of the policy, strategy, or service under review for the purposes of this assessment. | The Strategic Plan 2025 – 2028 and the annual Strategic Plan Delivery Plan 2025/26. |
STEP 1 - Develop a clear understanding of your objectives
| Responses |
|---|
| What are the objectives of the policy, strategy, or service? | The Strategic Plan provides an easy-to-understand overview of the prevailing issues and demands on services, along with the priorities of the Integration Joint Board. |
| Do you need to consult? | The priorities for this Strategic Plan were informed by consultation and engagement with multiple Community Councils, groups and professional colleagues. |
| How are islands identified for the purpose of the policy, strategy, or service? | The ferry-linked islands are identified as a specific Locality in the Strategic Plan. |
| What are the intended impacts/outcomes and how do these potentially differ in the islands? | The challenges faced by delivering services in the isles is acknowledged in the Strategic Plan, specifically in the Localities section.
One of the over-arching Priorities of the Plan is Tackling Inequalities and Disadvantage, whilst the Community Led Support Priority will ensure that innovative approaches to community health and care services are adopted in the isles. |
| Is the policy, strategy, or service new? | This is the fourth iteration of the Strategic Plan. |
STEP 2 - Gather your data and identify your stakeholders
| Responses |
|---|
| What data is available about the current situation in the islands? | The Island Wellbeing Survey, conducted on behalf of the Islands Wellbeing Project, is one of the most popular (in terms of number of responses) and comprehensive surveys ever undertaken in the isles, and has directly informed development of the Strategic Plan. |
| Do you need to consult? | No. Island communities have contributed to the development of the new Strategic Plan already. |
| How does any existing data differ between islands? | Access to some services, including health, social care, and travel services, differs between some islands. |
| Are there any existing design features or mitigations in place? | There are no elements of the Plan that address any issues specific to a given island. However, some of the Priorities directly address issues that are more keenly felt in the isles, not least the over-arching priority of Tackling Inequalities and Disadvantage, |
STEP 3 - Consultation
| Responses |
|---|
| Who do you need to consult with? | No further consultation is considered necessary just now. |
| How will you carry out your consultation and in what timescales? | N/A |
| What questions will you ask when considering how to address island realities? | N/A |
| What information has already been gathered through consultations and what concerns have been raised previously by island communities? | Please see the response above. |
| Is your consultation robust and meaningful and sufficient to comply with the Section 7 duty? | Yes. |
STEP 4 – Assessment
| Responses |
|---|
| Does your assessment identify any unique impacts on island communities? | Accessing services locally is often difficult or impossible, meaning some, such as Care at Home services, are limited, or even not available, in some isles. The Strategic Plan has identified Priorities to address many of these issues. |
| Does your assessment identify any potential barriers or wider impacts? | Please see the answer above. |
| How will you address these? | The Plan identifies several Priorities. These include the prioritisation of Community Led Support, Supporting People to Age Well and, crucially, Tackling Inequalities and Disadvantage. |
You must now determine whether, in your opinion your policy, strategy, or service is likely to have an effect on an island community that is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities).
If your answer is NO to the above question, a full ICIA will NOT be required, and you can proceed to Step SIX. If the answer is YES, an ICIA must be prepared, and you should proceed to Step FIVE.
To form your opinion, the following questions should be considered:
- Does the evidence show different circumstances or different expectations or needs, or different experiences or outcomes (such as different levels of satisfaction, or different rates of participation)?
- Are these different effects likely?
- Are these effects significantly different?
- Could the effect amount to a disadvantage for an island community when compared to other islands in Orkney (especially the Mainland)?
STEP 5 – Preparing your ICIA
| Responses |
|---|
| In Step Five, you should describe the likely significantly different effect of the policy, strategy, or service: | |
| Assess the extent to which you consider that the policy, strategy, or service can be developed or delivered in such a manner as to improve or mitigate, for island communities, the outcomes resulting from it. | |
| Consider alternative delivery mechanisms and whether further consultation is required. | |
| Describe how these alternative delivery mechanisms will improve or mitigate outcomes for island communities. | |
| Identify resources required to improve or mitigate outcomes for island communities. | |
STEP 6 - Making adjustments to your work
| Responses |
|---|
| Should delivery mechanisms/mitigations vary in different communities? | This Plan describes Priorities rather than delivery of specific services. The Delivery Plan for each service will address delivery mechanisms in each locale. |
| Do you need to consult with island communities in respect of mechanisms or mitigations? | Please see the answer above. |
| Have island circumstances been factored into the evaluation process? | Yes: please see the responses in Section 3. |
| Have any island-specific indicators/targets been identified that require monitoring? | No. |
| How will outcomes be measured on the islands? | There are no island-specific indicators or targets attached to this Plan. |
| How has the policy, strategy, or service affected island communities? | The Priorities identified in the Plan are intended to have a positive impact upon island communities. |
| How will lessons learned in this ICIA inform future policy making and service delivery? | The need to tackle inequalities and disadvantage, not least those experienced by Orkney’s island communities, will feature heavily in all future strategic planning decisions. |
STEP 7 - Publishing your ICIA
| Responses |
|---|
| Have you presented your ICIA in Easy-Read Format? | No. |
| Does your ICIA need to be prepared in Gaelic, or any other language? | No. |
| Where will you publish your ICIA, and will relevant stakeholders be able to easily access it? | As an appendix of the Strategic Plan covering report, on the Orkney Islands Council website. |
| ICIA completed by: | Shaun Hourston-Wells. |
| Position: | Acting Strategic Planning Lead, Orkney Health and Social Care Partnership. |
| Signature: | |
| Date complete: | 15 April 2025. |
| Who will sign-off your final ICIA and why? | Stephen Brown, Chief Officer of the Orkney IJB. |
| Signature: | |
| Date approved: | 16 April 2025. |
Form Updated January 2022.
