Hansard

At the outset of the debate, it is worth casting our minds back some 50 or so years to 1965, when Highlands and Islands Enterprise’s predecessor, the Highlands and Islands Development Board, was set up. At that time, the Highlander was described as

“the man on Scotland’s conscience”.—[Official Report, House of Commons, 16 March 1965; Vol 708, c 1095.]

There had been more than 100 years of population loss; and low productivity, low income levels and a lack of basic infrastructure were widespread. There had been some improvements, but the glens and islands were still emptying and a way of life was vanishing.

Into that void stepped the Highlands and Islands Development Board. It had six members of staff and a budget of £150,000. Today, HIE has 322 employees and a budget of £74.5 million, albeit that that sum has ominously just been cut by 11 per cent in the draft budget.

The organisation’s 1965 name is instructive. It was not simply another Government body but a board—a board whose remit was specific and definitive and which had extensive powers, dedicated to reversing population decline and revitalising the economy across the Highlands and Islands. It was a board that—uniquely—saw the significance of social development alongside economic development, because it was as important to regenerate communities as it was to regenerate the economy.

When the organisation was renamed Highlands and Islands Enterprise by a Conservative Government in 1991, the board remained intrinsic and HIE has continued with its unique remit to the present day. In fact, the board is more than intrinsic; in terms of its legal definition, HIE is defined in primary legislation as the members of its board. Therefore, contrary to what the Government’s amendment says, any change to the status of the board will necessarily change the legal status of HIE. In law, HIE is its board, and the board is HIE. It follows that, in debating the proposed abolition of HIE’s board, we are not simply discussing the dry, technical structure of just another Government agency; we are debating the fundamental nature of HIE and what it does.

We must not be sentimental; HIE is not perfect. It has not got everything right and it should probably have concentrated more on the peripheral areas in the north and west that are currently at risk of depopulation. Not all of its projects have succeeded—although an enterprise agency is in the business of risk, so there will always be winners and losers. However, it has undoubtedly been a force for good. We now have 20 per cent of Scotland’s enterprises in the Highlands and Islands, despite having only 9 per cent of the population. That is a remarkable achievement, as is the fact that the declining population trend has been reversed. The population of the Highlands and Islands has grown by 22 per cent—nearly 100,000 people—since 1965, which is more than double the national average.

HIE has played a major part in, among other things, the thriving tourism industry, the University of the Highlands and Islands and transport infrastructure. It has invested in cultural activities, in Commun na Gàidhlig and Fèisean nan Gàidheal, and, more recently, in community land ownership. It has truly transformed the region.

To those who say, “Don’t worry. HIE will carry on doing what it has always done, because its network of offices across the region will continue; nothing will change,” I say that if the Government’s ill-conceived proposal goes ahead, everything will change. With respect, there are plenty of organisations that have a presence in towns across the Highlands and Islands—any high street bank, for example—but which plainly operate as national rather than local bodies. It is the board that makes HIE special—having a separate and independent board allows HIE to use the experience and expertise of business leaders to further its aims.

When she gave evidence to the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee last month, HIE’s interim chief executive said that the board helped HIE to prioritise where strategy was implemented. She said:

“The knowledge and expertise of the board members, based on the walks of life from which they come, is useful, as is their insight into the Highlands and Islands.”—[Official Report, Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee, 6 December 2016; c 18.]

She said that HIE ensured that board members, as the visible face of HIE, spent time meeting and engaging with businesses and communities. She said that communities appreciate that, because it gives them an opportunity to talk to and influence the board. That is why it is imperative that the HIE board remains and that it

“continues to take all strategic, operational and budgetary decisions”,

as the motion states. Nothing else will do, because nothing else will achieve the same kind of success. Members should be in no doubt that the loss of the board will, in effect, mean the end of HIE as we know it.