The first minister has admitted that the Scottish Government has to “learn” from the way it handled a proposed shake-up of the north’s development agency.
Nicola Sturgeon said that her administration “always look at how we handle things and try to do it better” when quizzed about the reorganisation of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
But the SNP leader insisted that the aim of the controversial review of HIE and other agencies was “absolutely the right one”.
The Scottish Government faced heavy criticism after announcing plans last year to axe HIE’s dedicated board and replace it with a new panel overseeing all of Scotland’s skills and enterprise agencies.
Opposition parties united against the move and former HIE bosses backed the Press and Journal’s Keep HIE Local campaign.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown eventually performed a U-turn in March and agreed to keep the board, while still pressing ahead with the new national strategic panel.
Asked if she was happy with the way the issue has been handled, Ms Sturgeon said yesterday: “The Scottish Government will always look to learn about how we do these things.
“It was never the intention to get rid of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Obviously we weren’t able to convince everybody of that, but I think we’re now absolutely on the right track.
“But while we will always look at how we handle things and try to do it better, the motivation behind the Enterprise and Skills Review is absolutely the right one.
“We’ve got fantastic people working in HIE, Scottish Enterprise, Skills and Development Scotland and Visit Scotland, but we need to make sure that what they are all doing is aligned so it is adding up to more than the sum of its parts.
“We’re talking about the massive opportunities in the Highlands, and that’s really exciting for the future, but we also have challenges in the Scottish economy, and if we’re going to overcome those challenges then we need to make sure everybody is playing absolutely at the top of their game.
“So it’s about just making sure the work of these organisations is properly aligned, and I think that’s absolutely essential.”
Last night, Conservative MSP Edward Mountain said: “I’m delighted that the first minister wants to work out what they got wrong with the handling of HIE, but I also think they need to work out what they got wrong with schools projects in the Highlands, such as in Wick, and with our hospitals.”
