Orkney will benefit from a share of the  £9.7 million of revenue generated by the Scottish Crown Estate’s marine assets.

Orkney’s share of 2017-2018 £7.2 million total was £773,673.43

And with the increase Orkney’s share of 2018-2019 £9.7 million total is £1,042,993.65

The payments will be made before the end of July 2020.

This funding will go towards providing vital support for responding to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) in coastal and island communities across Scotland.

Steven Heddle OIC  Councillor and  COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson said:

“COSLA has worked with Marine Scotland to finalise arrangements for distribution of net revenues and welcomes their timely allocation to Local Authorities.

“We continue working on the longer-term review to develop an appropriate approach for the future distribution methodology.”

This is the second tranche of payments under the arrangements to ensure that coastal communities benefit from the net revenue generated by the Scottish Crown Estate marine assets out to 12 nautical miles.

For the full list of local authorities which will receive money from the Scottish Crown Estates click on this link: Scottish Crown Estate: revenue allocations 2020 to 2021

Roseanna Cunningham, Land Reform Secretary in the Scottish Government  said:

“COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on communities across the country and particularly those people and businesses living and working in our coastal areas, which are often reliant on tourism. That is why we have widened the remit of these funds to include direct support, where necessary, to coastal businesses and third sector organisations.

“We have also worked to allocate this year’s funding as swiftly as possible to enable local authorities to help these organisations through the economic shock caused by the pandemic, and direct resource to where it is most needed in support of a wellbeing economy.”

“This year’s funding is a significant increase on the revenue which was allocated from the Scottish Crown Estate to local authority areas in the first year of this funding coming under devolved management. It will greatly help our coastal areas as we embark on a challenging period of recovery from the pandemic for all parts of our economy.”

Photo M Bell