Where all the money goes

CAMPAIGNERS against rural school closures have in recent years frequently railed against what they perceive to be Shetland Islands Council’s agenda of centralising services to Lerwick.

But outgoing head of finance James Gray has compiled figures (see table, right) which he suggests confound that “widely held belief”, demonstrating “extraordinarily high levels” of spending in rural communities where the perception exists that Lerwick benefits from largesse at their expense.

In 2014/15 the average Lerwick citizen will benefit from £4,609 of council spending – slightly below the Shetland-wide average of £4,724. With a population of 7,755 out of a Shetland-wide total of 23,176, Lerwick accounts for £34.75 million of the SIC’s £109.5 million spending. 

The lowest per-head spend is for those in other parts of the mainland. If you are one of 4,567 central mainlanders, for instance, then the average sum the local authority spends on you is only £2,814.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shetland’s nine main inhabited outlying islands – all of which are served by ferries and some by inter-island air connections – account for proportionally higher spending levels.

Topping the table is Papa Stour and its 15 residents, who receive an average of £34,013 of council spending per head. The larger island populations of Yell (966 people) and Whalsay receive £9,661 and £6,716 per head respectively.

Gray states in his report: ”Despite the higher spending per head of population in the most remote parts of Shetland, there is a widely held belief in the community that the council does not spend sufficiently in these areas because it focuses expenditure on Lerwick.”