‘Dickensian’ attitude to council house rent arrears
Best-kept stations
From the Groat of November 21, 1924
More than 30 Highland railway stations, a number of them in the north, had featured in the prize list of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway competition for the best-kept stations “from a horticultural point of view”.
The green-fingered stationmasters had been given “money awards” to mark their success in brightening up their platforms with floral displays.
In Caithness and Sutherland, first prizes went to Georgemas and the Mound, second-place awards went to Rogart and Forsinard and third place prizes were won by Dornoch, Altnabreac, Thurso, Halkirk, Embo and Thrumster.
Meanwhile, in the news columns, attention was drawn to an advertisement “that should be of special interest to northern mothers”, promising a “modern cure for colds and coughs”.
It was stated that “the present treacherous winter weather is apt to bring an epidemic of coughs and colds, and a well-known firm of London chemists, Messrs Francis Newbery and Sons Ltd, have put on the British market a new method of treating these, which is known as the Vick brand vapour-rub. Not being taken internally, the makers declare that it is absolutely safe even for the youngest child and much superior to the old method of ‘dosing’.”
Elsewhere, the number of unemployed registered at the Wick exchange had risen by 30 over the past week. This increase was put down to the closure of the brick works at Brora.
Bus subsidy withheld
From the Groat of November 22, 1974
Wick Town Council’s finance committee had agreed to withhold a subsidy to Highland Omnibuses for its “unproductive bus routes in the county” until the company provided more information on its profitable runs.
The previous year the local authority in Caithness had paid the company £30,000 to keep some of the little-used country bus routes viable, and Wick burgh had contributed to that sum.
However, when the application for the current year was made to the town council committee, “there was a general protest from members”.
Dean of Guild James Miller lamented the firm’s lack of information on its profitable routes, such as those going to Dounreay, and told his fellow councillors: “We’re being taken for a ride here.
“We are denied information on the money-making runs and only get the details of the bad runs.
“I’m in sympathy with the people of the country districts who really need these services but I don’t feel it’s fair to the ratepayers of Wick to support this.”
Bailie James Kay agreed, saying that the councillors had “taken an emotional decision last year when we agreed to contribute to the subsidy because we didn’t want the bus drivers out of work. But this really amounts to a local transport tax.”
A decision to pay the subsidy was deferred until the company had provided ” a breakdown of their figures for all routes”.
‘Dickensian’ attitude to arrears
From the Groat of November 26, 1999
Caithness was to remain the only area in the Highlands to practise what the chairperson of the housing committee called a “Dickensian and absolutely appalling” attitude towards council house tenants who fell behind with their rent.
The Labour grouping of councillors in Caithness had narrowly failed in a bid to have the names and addresses of debtors removed from a list circulated to every member of the local authority.
Instead, a majority of councillors who said they wanted to continue knowing who was in difficulty with their rent won the vote.
All councillors received a confidential list with the names and addresses of people in arrears with their rent, and how much they owed, along with their papers for the six-weekly meetings of the area housing committee.
The area housing committee chairperson, Councillor Deirdre Steven, said the council had clear procedures in place to enable staff to help tenants who fell into arrears, including help from the council’s money advice staff and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
She told the meeting: “Quite frankly, the information we are getting is Dickensian and absolutely appalling in this day and age.
“We are not here to discuss how to resolve individual cases and we are not trained in how to help people cope. We should be focusing on the bigger picture and how we can address the statistical trends.”
