McArthur: HIE cannot be lost in Scottish Government shake up

Northern Isles MSP Liam McArthur has this week sought assurances about the role of Highlands and Enterprise (HIE) following  a planned shake up of Scotland’s enterprise and skills agencies.

The Scottish Government has this week proposed setting up a new Scotland-wide statutory board to co-ordinate the activities of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The announcement follows concerns that Ministers were considering merging HIE and Scottish Enterprise.

Earlier this month, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, gave assurances that the Scottish Government would ensure HIE was in a position to continue to carry out the services it provides to the Highlands and Islands area.

Commenting, Mr McArthur said: “The focus of this review must reflect the improvements in support that businesses in our region need, and cooperation across Scotland is of course important to that.

“Last month, however, the First Minister assured parliament that HIE will continue to perform its distinct role, amid reports that it was about to be abolished. Proposals for a new board to oversee HIE’s activities will only raise further questions, however.

“When John Swinney did away with local enterprise boards, he said he wanted to ‘de-clutter the landscape’. It now looks like Keith Brown wants to ‘re-clutter’ that same landscape.”