Author: Rhoda Grant

Commenting on the publication of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Strategic Framework: Business Support Funding Statistics (Tranche 5) which showed that;

• As many as 21,000 businesses faced rejection when applying for support, yet only 79% of the amount set aside for the period of 2nd November 2020 to 22nd March 2021 was spent from the Strategic Framework Business Fund (SFBF);
• Over 1/4 of applications to Local Authority Discretionary Funds were rejected, referred or deferred, and only £38m of £120m available to these funds had been allocated as of 26th of March;
• 30% (21,054) of SFBF applications were rejected, and 1% (1,420) were either referred or deferred. The remaining 2% were still awaiting processing;
• The Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund closed on 25 March 2021, yet only 64% of eligible drivers have been granted funding support and only 57% of the budget has been spent;

Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour Finance Spokesperson, said:

“Lock down has brought many businesses to the point of collapse so these statistics showing large underspends and thousands of businesses rejected for support grants will leave many local business feeling abandoned and worried about their future.

“There are now critical questions about why funding has been slow to be provided, how it has been administered and how could there both be such large underspends and rejection rates. The fact that even the discretionary fund – which was supposed to be for those businesses that had fallen through the cracks – has been underspent is alarming.

“This is money that should be in the hands of businesses not sitting in Scottish government bank accounts. SNP ministers must urgently confirm that support schemes will extended and set out how this money will be disbursed. My worry is that the consequence of this inaction will be high streets strewn with ’To Let’ signs.

“Scottish businesses need a government focussed on recovering our shattered economy. Only Scottish Labour is committed to National Recovery Plan and rejecting the distraction of the politics of division.”

Rhoda Grant, Inverness and Nairn candidate and lead candidate for the Highlands and Islands Region, said:

“I met with the Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes, just before the Parliament went into recess for the election. She told me then that there was a huge underspend of discretionary funding and I appealed to her to help owners out before their businesses go to the wall.

“I have had strong, normally self-sufficient, business owners in tears telling me the application process is confusing and they feel distraught having to almost plead for funding to save their livelihoods. Through no fault of their own, these owners’ fears for their futures are growing day on day.

“That only one third of the £120m discretionary funding has been allocated, while owners despair, is deeply distressing. The government has to inject a sense of urgency into this and get this money out to the businesses in need now before their worst fears become a reality.”

Scottish Labour’s Highlands and Islands lead list candidate, Rhoda Grant, and Scottish Labour’s Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch candidate, John Erskine, will fight for Portree Hospital to remain open if community fears of closure are realised.

Mrs Grant previously backed campaigners who wanted to keep the hospital.

“In 2019 I said there were a number of highs for me including Raasay finding a solution to having round the clock nursing cover – an issue raised since 2016 – but also the Save Portree Hospital campaign, which I supported, winning 24/7 urgent care and the retention of beds.

“I said then that the situation still had to be monitored and that’s been proved right if closure plans are back on the table as feared.

“To me this smacks of the continued centralisation by the Scottish Government and highlights that more money needs to be injected into rural health care.

“One of the reasons for keeping Portree open was also to allow speedier access to emergency care on the island and with Skye still popular for tourism too it’s essential that this is taken into consideration.”

Scottish Labour’s Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch candidate, John Erskine, is to join Mrs Grant in contacting NHS Highland’s Chief Executive, Pam Dudek, to find out more information on exactly what is planned for Portree.

“The community put up a real fight and won last time, so it’s hard to believe that this is under consideration again,” said Mr Erskine, who is also a Scottish Labour Highlands and Islands list candidate

“I’m hoping that Covid isn’t being used as an excuse to wield the axe for Portree beds which should remain open and I’m happy to support the community on this.

“As part of Scottish Labour’s National Covid Recovery Plan we have a plan for an NHS recovery that will restore our health services in the Highlands and Islands.”

Scottish Labour’s Inverness and Nairn candidate, Rhoda Grant, is vowing to continue the excellent work of colleague, David Stewart, to see a long-term improvement for Raigmore Interchange, if she is elected.

Mrs Grant, who is also Scottish Labour’s lead candidate on the Highlands and Islands list, said Mr Stewart, who retires as an MSP at May’s election, had previously supported people concerned about safety at a pedestrian crossing on the south-bound slip road where a woman was involved in an incident with a car and later died in hospital.

A new 30mph speed limit has now been introduced at the roundabout and on roads leading up to it and long-term plans are being considered.

“However, a resident has complained that on the A96 from the Tesco store entrance to the A9 slip road, he counted 27 signs which any motorist would find hard to take in, especially in such a short stretch,” said Mrs Grant.

“I believe that there is to be a survey into the number of signs which is good news, but I would like to see long-term improvement plans for the area published, or at least to know when they will be published, as by all accounts this would be safer for pedestrians and cyclists using the route.

“I have also received a report that some motorists are not sticking to the new speed limit and I will be taking this up with the police.

“While it’s good that some short-term measures have been taken by Transport Scotland at Raigmore Interchange, we need to keep up the pressure to see long-term plans come to fruition.”

Previously, the agency said that traffic lights could be installed at all four entry points to the roundabout under a planned new scheme, which would provide “an equitable split in green time between vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists”.

It added that what the system would provide, at all times, in the traffic light cycle was a green man phase for pedestrians to cross each traffic flow safely in turn.

Rhoda Grant, Scottish Labour’s lead candidate for the Highlands and Islands region for Holyrood at the elections on May 6^th has called on BBC Scotland to decentralise jobs to the region following the corporation’s decision earlier this month to move some of its key departments and staff outside London to make the corporation more reflective of the UK as a whole.

The BBC described the plan as a “top-to-bottom change” and its biggest transformation in decades.

As a result of the changes, entire departments and news divisions will be moved to Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Glasgow and Salford.

Recently, smaller BBC outposts including at the Inverness base in the Highland capital have seen job losses or relocations to the central belt.

Ms Grant has written to BBC Scotland Director, Steve Carson, to ask for as many roles as possible from the relocation to be moved out of Glasgow and into the Highlands and Islands.

Commenting, Rhoda Grant said:

“The decentralisation of jobs by the BBC in London is a very welcome move, however, moving jobs out of London to Glasgow fails to support smaller sites such as the BBC office in Inverness.

“It’s clear to me that BBC Scotland and the organisation as a whole should also now seek to move jobs out of Glasgow and not only secure the future of BBC sites in the Highlands and Islands, but to actually bring jobs closer to our local communities and away from the central belt.

“We have the opportunity to bring more jobs and employment to the region as we recover from Covid-19 and decentralising jobs and creating opportunities in the Highlands and Islands must be at the heart of our national recovery plan.”

Two regional list candidates in May’s Scottish Parliament elections have lambasted the SNP Government for a long-term campaign of starving Highland Council of cash, leaving a huge hole in the budget for road repairs and maintenance.

Although millions are being ploughed into road repairs by Highland Council, it equates to just £1,000 a kilometre, according to figures discovered by Labour’s Highlands and Islands regional list candidates Rhoda Grant.

Mrs Grant, who is also standing for Labour in Inverness and Nairn, has been lobbied by residents from across the Highlands very concerned about the state of the roads, with many posting photos of crumbling edges and huge potholes, especially on well-used stretches such as the NC500.

In a recent report by the local authority it was said that the current capital budget of £7.2million for 2021/22 sounded “a substantial investment” but the number of roads meant it equated to “just over £1,000 per km to cover maintenance and renewal of all the assets”.

The council admitted that the pandemic postponed or cancelled some planned maintenance work.

Mrs Grant commented: “Put in context that £1,000 sounds a paltry amount and the blame lies squarely at the door of the SNP Government which has starved our councils of money for too long.

“I wonder how many potholes you could find in an average one kilometre stretch of any road in the Highlands just now and I doubt £1,000 could mend it when you add the cost of materials, workers, equipment and travel.”

John Erskine, also standing for Labour in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said: “The council’s area committee will soon be meeting to divvy up a good proportion of the cash locally – what a job they will have!

“We know the SNP Government have turbo charged austerity in Scotland affecting council services across our region. The SNP needs to be brought to account for shameful budget cuts.”

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has welcomed the report from consultants WSP, who were appointed by the Scottish Government to conduct a safety review on the A9 North Kessock to Tore route, which includes the notorious B9161 Munlochy Junction.

Mrs Grant, who has been campaigning on behalf of constituents for improvements at the Munlochy Junction is pleased that a Case for Change has been established and that this will now lead to the Preliminary Appraisal stage which will include wider stakeholder and public engagement.

Rhoda Grant said “The report highlights issues at the Munlochy Junction in terms of vehicles merging from the B9161 on the southbound A9, vehicles turning right from the A9 onto the B9161 and safety risks due to traffic queuing on the main carriageway while they wait to turn right on to the Munlochy road.

“It highlights four Transport Planning Objectives (TPOs) one of which is ‘To achieve an improvement in vehicular road safety and a reduction in conflicts at the Munlochy Junction (A9/B9161) in the short (3 years), medium (3-10 years) and longer term (beyond 10 years).’ Of the 40 options identified, 28 options fulfil this objective.

Mrs Grant continued “These options range in the short term from introducing speed reduction measures, improving visibility and driver awareness to influencing route choice and restricting turning movements at the junction.

“Medium term options include improving the slip road and extending the right turn lane on the A9. Converting Munlochy junction into a roundabout and creating a grade separated junction are amongst the options in the longer term.

She concluded “There is a lot of work still to be done to consult wider on the various available options but I welcome these options and will be pushing for short term measures to be introduced quickly in the meantime while the longer term options are explored further.

“I am pleased that TPOs have also been identified in terms of improving active travel access between North Kessock and Tore, with improvements to other junctions and road safety at Tore roundabout also being highlighted.

“As the gateway to the North and West of Scotland, we need to make vast improvements on this stretch of road and this report is the first stage in doing that.”

The report can be accessed via the following link:-

https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/stag-appraisal-case-for-change-report-march-2021-a9-north-kessock-to-tore-study/

Today in Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism, was asked to reassure Parliament about the smelter owner’s operations in Scotland, particularly in Lochaber, following the collapse of the Greensill Capital UK finance firm.

Mr Ewing told the chamber jobs at the smelter were secure and the order book was healthy.

Highlands & Islands MSP Rhoda Grant raised follow-up questions around community land ownership.

She said: “I am pleased to receive the reassurance with regard to GFG Alliance’s operations in Scotland and especially in Lochaber.

“When it purchased the Alcan Estate and Smelter in Lochaber a commitment was made to the Scottish Government and the community that they would transfer some of the vast estate to community ownership, this would have created more jobs and boosted the local economy.

“I understand from East Lochaber and Laggan Community Trust that this has not happened. 

“I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary about this, and in his response, he appeared to wash his hands off this matter. 

“Therefore, can I prevail push upon him to ensure that GFG Alliance make good this commitment?”

The Cabinet Secretary accepted there was work to do in this area, saying community involvement was something he would very much like to see taken forward. He said he has had discussions with the owner, Sanjeev Gupta, and that they had spoken to Community Councils and had been looking at one project in particular – to which there was no further mention.

Speaking afterwards, Mrs Grant said: “I was pleased to hear some work is being done on this but we definitely need to keep the pressure up on them to get things moving. If anything is coming down the line, it’s a long time coming.”

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, recently visited the mobile speed camera unit, stationed on the Tain bypass.

Mrs Grant, who backed the community’s campaign for more safety measures around Tain’s Aldi and Lidl junctions, was shown how the unit helps to reduce speed on the bypass where the limit is now 50mph.

The North Safety Camera Unit issued an invitation to Mrs Grant given her work with constituents who were keen to see improvements at the accident spot.

“As with all drivers, I know that a glimpse of the camera unit does keep my speed in check and is a handy reminder of any changes to limits on the road,” she said.

“Thanks to the member of staff who showed me around, socially distanced of course, as it was good to see its inner workings.

“The site I visited was an already established location for the North Safety Camera Unit and it will continue to monitor traffic, with the reduced limit, with the aim of making the area safer for all road users.

“I do hope that a lower speed will lead to fewer accidents on this stretch, especially with travel restrictions easing after April.”

Mrs Grant was initially contacted two years ago by constituents who told her that ‘nearly every week’ an incident happens’ around the Asda and Lidl junctions.

At the time it was highlighted that 11 accidents had taken place around the Tain junctions, labelling it the worst A9 hotspot.

Transport Scotland is looking into other safety measures including the community’s call to have roundabouts at the junctions.

The Scottish Government has rejected Labour MSP’s Rhoda Grant’s call for care homes to be nationalised.

Mrs Grant raised fears for five cares homes in her constituency, which are going on the market.

Moss Park at Fort William, Blair Buidhe in Stornoway, Castle Gardens in Invergordon, Cradlehall in Inverness, and Kintyre in Argyll, are among 52 care homes being sold by HC-One, the UK’s largest care homes company.

The Highlands & Islands MSP wrote earlier this month to Jeane Freeman, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, asking the government if it would take the homes under public ownership.

And now, the government has issued the MSP with a reply stating it does not believe nationalisation would address the problems lying at the heart of the care home sector.

Pointing to an independent review of Adult Social Care in Scotland, the reply written on behalf of the “over-stretched” health secretary by Gillian Barclay, the Scottish Government’s deputy director of Social Care and Delivery Division, said evidence within it suggested nationalisation would “not in and off itself” improve outcomes for people using care.

Mrs Grant said this would be a blow for care home staff, residents and their families, but has vowed to continue to press for the need.

She believes transferring ownership to NHS Highland would give security to the residents, their relatives and the staff who care for them.

She said that the health board had set a precedent by bringing HC-One’s Skye care home facility, Home Farm, on board last year. The move came after a major Coronavirus outbreak at the setting in which a number of residents died. HC-One came close to being stripped of its operating licence after “serious and significant” concerns were raised about the management of the facility.

Mrs Grant said: “The SNP government is saying it has adopted Labour’s proposals for a National Care Service, but their watered-down version will only lead to centralisation. Nationalising the care home sector would not cost very much more because the public purse already pays 80 per cent of care home fees, which includes the capital costs as well as the revenue costs. The refusal to go down this route, after everything that has happened in the last 12 months, really sickens me. Adult social care cannot continue to be about corporate profit, tax avoidance and shareholder dividends. It should be about human dignity. Public services should be run for people not profit, for public interest instead of private markets.”

She added: “We will keep the pressure on the Scottish Government to bring those five care homes, and others, under public ownership. The Scottish Government’s primary aim, throughout this period, should be to see the best possible care for the residents. These homes should be brought under public control. We would be talking about better care for our elderly, and a stable, well-paid and valued workforce.”

HC-One’s care homes sell off was announced earlier this month.

The company said it also plans to close four care homes south of the border.

It said the facilities being sold were “in areas where we feel our communities would be better served by a local operator in conjunction with other local services”.

Ends.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has secured a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance before the Parliament goes into recess next week.

Mrs Grant contacted Kate Forbes, a fellow Highland MSP, again in a last ditch attempt to get help out to some businesses who, so far, have not received any public funding to help them mitigate the financial impact of the Covid restrictions.

Rhoda Grant said “I met with business owners and Highland Council officials earlier this week, and we discussed how the strict eligibility criteria that is attached to many of the Scottish Government’s funding pots is hampering them getting much needed support.

“Almost a year since first lockdown, some of these businesses have not received any public funding to help them through the crisis and they are fearful that their businesses will fold if they cannot access funding in the immediate future. Marine based businesses, in particular, are amongst the hardest hit as they pay harbour dues rather than business rates which excludes them from much of the funding on offer.

Mrs Grant continued “Ms Forbes gave a commitment to my colleague, Jackie Baillie, in response to the budget statement, that she would speak with local authorities if ‘tweaks’ to the funding criteria were needed. I’ve asked the Cabinet Secretary therefore to give me a half hour of her time before recess next week to discuss what talks, if any, she has had with Highland Council on this.

Mrs Grant has since been advised by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, Fiona Hyslop, that discretionary funding is being quadrupled to £120m.

She continued, “When I met with representatives of Highland Council they acknowledged that there was a particular problem with marine businesses accessing funding.

“Since then however, I have been advised by the Scottish Government that Council’s discretionary funding is being quadrupled from £30m to £120m.

“I hope this means that the cap of £2,000 will be lifted from their discretionary funding in order to provide these businesses that have not yet received any funding with the money they need to pull through this. However, I acknowledge that some of the businesses I have been dealing with need a significant uplift to that amount.

“It is desperately unfair that these businesses have received no support and are perilously close to folding through absolutely no fault of their own.”