Scottish Labour leader calls for public services funding increase during Caithness visit
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
FUNDING for public services needs to be "substantially increased" in places such as Caithness and north Sutherland to help the local economy and retain young people.
That was the message delivered by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard during a whistle-stop tour of the far north. During his visit on Friday he met with voluntary organisations, trade unions, Caithness Chamber of Commerce, Highlands and Islands Enterprise officials, Dounreay regeneration representatives and Caithness Health Action Team. On Saturday, he attended the Highlands and Islands Labour Party conference in Inverness.
In an exclusive interview Mr Leonard said the challenges areas such as Caithness and north Sutherland face are not helped by the squeeze on local government expenditure.
Mr Leonard, making his first official visit to the area since becoming leader in November 2017, said: "We need to move away from a decade of austerity to a decade of investment. Austerity should be left behind as it was an experiment that did not work. It was the wrong choice.
"There is a need for government to have a more active role in the economy. It is not sufficient to leave it all to market forces. We need to make the economy work for people – we can't continue the way we are. It is in the gift of the Scottish Government to do things differently.
"I don't underestimate the challenges we face. We need a more equal society and have to work with employers and unions to come up with a strategy for industry and invest in jobs. We need social and economic changes."
Mr Leonard identified public services, transport and infrastructure as some of the key areas that need investment to benefit the local economy. He backs a living wage for workers and a ban on zero-hours contracts.
Asked how these changes would be funded, he said by having a more buoyant economy which would generate more tax receipts but said the top rate of tax would rise from 46p to 50p in the £. A land valuation and wealth tax would also be introduced to help pay for the changes. The latter operates in Switzerland, Sweden and France, he said.
Mr Leonard, who had visited Dounreay 25 years ago as trade union official, is pleased to see the efforts being made to diversify the local economy with renewable energy projects such as offshore and onshore wind and tidal energy as the nuclear site is decommissioned: "That will create job opportunities."
He recognises that one of the challenges the far north faces is keeping its young people. Mr Leonard said locals have the University of the Highlands and Islands "on their doorstep" and can gain employment from the skills learned there.
"We must provide opportunities for young people and for those young people who do not want to go to university but want apprenticeships," he said. "I am encouraged by what I see happening here but more needs to be done. There needs to be a step change in the way we approach the economy."
Mr Leonard said "a lack of resources" for NHS Highland is creating problems but stressed it is "not acceptable" people have to travel to Raigmore to get "fundamental health services". That can impact on recruitment of staff and make it more difficult to encourage people to stay here, he said.
He wants more investment in public transport and free travel for under-25s. "We should move away from private providers of bus services and have more buses provided by local authorities."
On Brexit, he stressed that the result of the referendum should be respected but wants to be aligned with Europe on the customs union and single market. He believes the present impasse can be resolved by a general election.
Mr Leonard has been leader for almost 18 months and is keen to get his message for change across to the public. He did not have much time to engage directly with local people during his trip north but said: "I am keen to come back and have a public meeting in Wick or Thurso or both and talk about these ideas."
