Shetland Partnership Annual Report 2023/24

The Shetland Partnership is the Community Planning Partnership for Shetland. Community planning is about how public bodies work together, and with local communities, to design and deliver better services that make a real difference to people’s lives. The Partnership is made up of a wide range of public agency partners, and community and third sector bodies, who work together to deliver our collective ambitions for the future.

This is our Annual Report for 2023/24. The purpose is to share information with communities and partner agencies on what has been achieved through Shetland’s Community Planning Partnership to support activity to improve outcomes for Shetland’s communities.

Progress is monitored using outcome indicators, alongside case studies illustrating collaborative working to improve outcomes across the four priority areas of Participation, People, Place and Money.  

Most indicators show a worsening picture over the last few years; this is not unique to Shetland.  However, it has led us to take a considered look at our data in three areas: Population, Socio-Economic Outcomes and Climate Change.  These Data Deep Dives are already provoking interesting discussion, such as:

• How can the Council and other partners support the shift to early intervention and prevention, rather than crisis intervention;
• How can the Energy transition support socio-economic outcomes in Shetland; and
• How can Shetland prepare for the continued decline in working age population, a challenge that is being faced by most areas of the UK?  

This Annual Report also provides an update on progress against the current Delivery Plan and Locality Plan.

Our Duties

Our Duty	Achieved?	Progress Report
Prepare a Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)	Yes	The Shetland Partnership Plan outlining the agreed long term vision and priorities for Shetland was published in 2018. The plan was initially supported by a delivery plan published in 2019. Since the conclusion of our first Delivery Plan a decision was made to move away from the model of three yearly plans, moving instead to publishing a rolling Delivery Plan on the Shetland Partnership Website. The partnership continues to meet monthly to discuss and review priorities.
Carry Out Locality Planning	Yes	In 2020 the Shetland Partnership produced its first Locality Plan, the Islands with Small Populations Locality Plan. A Second Locality Plan for these Islands was approved by partners and communities during 2023/24.  Delivery on this second plan has begun, with a renewed emphasis on developing relationships and understanding.
Review and report publicly on progress with the LOIP and Locality Plans	Yes	We are accountable to the Shetland Community for the work we do as a Community Planning Partnership and whether or not we are making a difference to the people of Shetland. This report is an important tool for helping people understand what we do, what we have achieved and whether we are fulfilling our statutory duties. In this report you can find details of the work that has been carried out in 2023/24 as well as a data update, which describes how the outcome indicators included in Shetland’s Partnership Plan have changed since the Plan was agreed.

Shetland’s Partnership Plan 2018-2028 was adopted by community planning partners in June 2018.  It identifies a shared vision and four key priorities for all of us to work towards, both individually and collectively, to improve the lives of everyone in Shetland. 

Our shared vision:

“Shetland is a place where everyone is able to thrive; living well in strong, resilient communities; and where people and communities are able to help plan and deliver solutions to future challenges”

Our shared priorities:

We've split our Annual Report into different sections, covering; Data Updates and Analysis; Activity Updates and Case Studies; updates on our Locality Plan (Shetland's Islands with Small Populations Locality Plan).

You can follow the links below to find out more.

To view copies of our previous Annual Reports follow the links below.