The Scottish Liberal Democrats have today launched a petition calling on the government to “keep Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) local”.
Party leader Willie Rennie will visit Inverness to introduce the campaign.
Last week, more than a dozen north of Scotland Liberal Democrat politicians – including local MSPs – wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urging her to intervene to protect the HIE board.
Ministers have sparked anger after confirming they intend to scrap the board and replace it with a national body.
The petition describes SNP ministers as “hell-bent on further centralisation” and claims “stripping HIE of local accountability risks jobs and undermines HIE’s ability to strengthen local communities.”
Economy Secretary Keith Brown has previously dismissed the Liberal Democrat concerns as “nonsense”, arguing HIE will continue to be “locally based, managed and directed”.
But Mr Rennie, who has already backed the Press and Journal’s Keep HIE local campaign, said: “Ministers can point to no organisation in the region that has backed their proposals to abolish the board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
“There is mounting pressure on the SNP government to think again. It is important that ministers now appreciate the groundswell of opposition there is across the region.
“This petition is an opportunity for people to add their weight to the campaign against this latest, damaging piece of centralisation from the SNP.”
Mr Rennie will also visit Inverness College UHI, a funded partner of HIE in developing skills and enterprise across the region.
Economy Secretary Mr Brown has defended the changes, which were announced after Phase One of the government’s Enterprise and Skills Review.
He has said there should be “no doubt that HIE will remain firmly in place at the heart of the Highlands and Islands economy and will be as tied to the businesses and communities it works with as it ever has been”.
Along with the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Green Party have all backed the Press and Journal’s Keep HIE Local campaign.
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.
