Comhairle nan Eilean Siar chief executive Malcolm Burr has given an assurance that the emphasis is now on speedy delivery of the Barra and Vatersay Community Campus following the Scottish government's financial commitment.

In a letter to Guth Bharraigh, the community newsletter, the Comhairle chief executive said the task now is to ensure the project proceeds at pace and does not become the victim of "unnecessarily complicated or convoluted project delivery systems."

He said he and Comhairle Leader Councillor Paul Steele had written to the First Minister John Swinney to thank him for the commitment and to ensure the project moves forward with "the speed it deserves and requires."

Mr Burr continued that given the new circumstances, the Comhairle will urgently consider the governance arrangement for the community campus project, including a possible return to the original project board and how best to communicate with the community.

He continued: "The announcement that the full campus will be built is a game-changer, and there is now a clear political commitment to delivery of the facilities which the community so much needs, and for which it has waited for far too long.

"But there remains much to be done: the project has to be finally defined, the funding package has to be brought together, contractors have to be found...and the logistics of building large public sector projects in small island communities are well-known."