Scottish Labour has joined the Press and Journal’s campaign to keep Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) local.
The Scottish Government provoked fury last week by confirming the dedicated board for the agency would be scrapped and replaced by a national panel overseeing several organisations.
It was claimed that the move would undermine 50 years of progress in the Highlands and sound the “death knell” for HIE, as opposition politicians rounded on the SNP administration.
However, the Press and Journal understands that many of the north’s Nationalist elected representatives are now working behind the scenes in a bid to secure the future of the agency.
On Saturday, the Press and Journal launched a Keep HIE Local campaign, and has already secured the backing of senior figures in the region.
Now Highlands and Islands Scottish Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has thrown her weight behind the campaign.
She told the Press and Journal: “The decision to effectively abolish Highlands and Islands enterprise and merge it into a new national super-quango is an utter disgrace.
“It shows the contempt that the SNP government in Edinburgh has for the Highlands and islands that they plan to take us back over 60 years.
“It was Labour who established the Highlands and Islands Development Board, the forerunner to HIE, in 1965, with the then Scottish Secretary Willie Ross saying that no part of Scotland had been given a shabbier deal by history.
“Fast forward nearly six decades and it’s no longer history dealing the Highlands and Islands a shabby hand – it’s the Nationalist government in Edinburgh with a serious case of central belt bias.”
HIE celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, with its forerunner the Highlands and Islands Development Board having been established in 1965 in an attempt to tackle the region’s high unemployment and dwindling population.
The agency, which has just moved into £13million headquarters at Inverness Campus, claims to have played a part in growing the population by more than 20% since its creation, while rebalancing the local economy.
A review last month recommended that a new single board should be set up to co-ordinate the work of HIE, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney provoked a furious response last week when he confirmed the Holyrood government’s intention to back the plan.
A consultation is due to be held as part of a second phase of the review.
The Scottish Government insists it understands the “different social, economic and community development challenges facing the Highlands and islands” and claim they will “maintain dedicated support which is locally based, managed and directed by HIE”
It argues the changes will “benefit from better national co-ordination” with other organisations.
