Francesco Bertoldi acknowledged this and confirmed that the Scottish Government is aware of the impact on local government, communities and business but has to act within constraints, including reliance on the UK Government budget setting, that Scotland has little control over. Kirsty MacFarlane highlighted the disparity between the interests of organisations many of which may receive work, funding and contracts through the NIP and are therefore positive about the NIP status quo, and the interests of island residents and businesses, She suggested that greater effort must be made to engage with the latter groups, and that this would require a rethink of the NIP’s governance, as well as a broader redesign of Scotland’s democratic institutions and processes.