Northern Isles MSPs dismiss SNP HIE efforts

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has branded SNP efforts to close down the row over scrapping the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) board as “a panicked attempt to save face”.

Scottish Government proposals to centralise the dedicated Highlands and Islands development agency have been met with stiff opposition.

Last week, in an attempt to protect the Highlands and Islands’ voice after the merger, SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Ian Blackford called on the government to ensure HIE retains its own management or advisory board in addition to the merger. SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Kate Forbes, has also called for the government to instead base the new overarching board in the Highlands.

Mr McArthur and Shetland MSP Tavish Scott, who have campaigned against the merger and helped the Liberal Democrats launch a petition to keep HIE local, have dismissed these conflicting SNP proposals.

Commenting, the Northern Isles MSPs said: “The SNP are now in a blind spin over the future of Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Ministers want to abolish the Board. Nationalist backbenchers agree.

“Now a SNP MP wants to keep the Board but make it accountable to the centralised pan-Scotland Board in the central belt. That is a proposal based not on logic or good decision-making, but on a panicked attempt to save face.

“What a shambles. There is no support for the Scottish Government’s abolition plan. No one suggested abolishing the HIE board during the government’s consultation. They have failed to bring this plan to Parliament for a vote. It is a vote the SNP know they would lose.

“Removing strategic decision-making over economic development from the Highlands & Islands will damage the region. It is a centralisation too far. Rather than come up with more convoluted ways to justify a policy no-one supports. Ministers should now just abandon their plans to abolish HIE’s board.”

Kate Forbes responded the criticism this afternoon stating that the Liberal Democrats are “once again, carping and criticising from the side lines” without suggesting improvements to services.

She said: “We are in the midst of a review on the enterprise agencies – that means that all ideas and suggestions are welcome.

“I, like other SNP colleagues, are participating in the public debate about the structure of HIE so that HIE is as accountable and resourced as possible to serve Highland and Island communities.

“It would be nice to hear a Lib Dem make one constructive comment or suggestion about serving the Highlands and Islands.

She added; “The Lib Dems’ relentlessly negative rhetoric is more about newspaper headlines than improving the services and infrastructure of the Highlands and Islands.”