RHODA GRANT: Rural areas like Caithness need better support to thrive
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Holyrood Notebook by Rhoda Grant
There is never a dull moment in politics and that is certainly the case in recent times.
For too long, a culture of secrecy has been allowed to grow at the heart of the SNP. This deep-seated cultural issue appears to be coming home to roost and I fear that it will be distracting the party from governing and tackling ongoing issues affecting everyone.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour is relentlessly focused on the priorities of the Scottish people – finding a solution to the NHS crisis, and fixing the economic mess the SNP and Tory governments have left us in. Scotland needs leadership and change. Scottish Labour is that change.
This month, I accepted the new role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands for Scottish Labour. I look forward to this challenge.
Caithness is such a rural area that will be in the forefront of my mind in taking on this new role. Only last week a fuel poverty report published by Changeworks highlighted the scale of the problem.
Caithness and Sutherland was used as a case study. Fifty-eight per cent of respondents to the most recent Sutherland Affordable Warmth survey indicated that they had an income of less than £20,000 a year yet their fuel bills (based on a three-bedroom home) are a quarter higher than the national average – at nearly £1000 more a year.
This will come as little surprise to readers who see the realities of poorly insulated homes, poor wages and poor working terms.
This report suggests a range of solutions including the introduction of a targeted, immediate, rural uplift payment. This will be a flat rate payment (very much like the winter heating payment) to account for higher fuel and living costs in rural and remote areas. This sounds like an idea worth exploring and I intend to raise it in parliament as the Scottish Government winter heating payment was a flat rate throughout Scotland rather than tailored for the differing needs of communities.
Since my last column the Scottish Government have once again said to me that they cannot tell me when they will review the NHS patient travel scheme.
Currently patients can only claim £50 for an overnight stay and very little for travel expenses, and it does not cover the costs. The Scottish Government guidance on this has not been reviewed since 1996.
Caithness residents will be all too aware of the necessary distances travelled to access healthcare. The expenses paid out are unique to the Highlands and Islands and it further widens rural inequalities. It urgently requires addressing.
To end this column, I wish to pay tribute and send my condolences to friends, family and acquaintances of Bill McAllister, who recently passed away.
He was a long-standing Scottish Labour party member, a Highland media powerhouse in both news and sport and, most importantly, a gentleman and family man who possessed the power to light up a room with his humour. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.
- Rhoda Grant is a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
