The Covid19 pandemic caused the recent Comhairle meeting to be held online. The current lockdown period of social distancing required Councillors to contribute on a decentralised basis from their homes using media technology.
The SNP Comhairle Group congratulated the Comhairle workforce on their response to changes required to counter the Covid19 pandemic. They observed that the Chief Executive had moved with the speed of greased lightening at the start of lockdown to rearrange staff to working on a decentralised basis so that they could continue to deliver Comhairle services. Comhairle Chief Executive, Malcolm Burr responded, saying that he would cherish for a long time the idea that he was being described in term of greased lightning, and that he in turn would like to take this opportunity to thank Comhairle directors and Comhairle staff who had made these changes possible, particularly IT staff who had put these remarkable facilities into place to allow the workforce to be devolved and decentralised safely to their homes so that the business of the Comhairle can continue to be delivered during this period of lockdown.
Education director Bernard Chisholm was also congratulated on the success of eSgoil which is being used as a means for continuing the education of Island scholars. The number of people used eSgoil has increased significantly with eSgoil provision now being delivered to other areas of Scotland and with fourteen hundred pupils enrolled for sixteen hundred lessons being delivered over the past few weeks. eSgoil is developing a working collaboration with Strathclyde University to deliver language lessons throughout the Islands and across Scotland.
