‘We need our own council again’: Caithness plea after bottom ranking for Highland local authority area

Highland Council’s unenviable ranking as the worst-performing local authority area in Scotland has led to a renewed call for Caithness to be given the chance to look after its own affairs.

An investigation by The Sunday Times revealed that Highland has the worst public services in the country, being placed bottom for health and education out of 29 mainland areas.

Highland Council – the UK’s biggest local authority geographically – insisted the information has been presented by the newspaper in a way that “does not reflect the true picture”.

As well as looking at council services, the investigation took account of health and other matters that are outside local authority control.

However, the findings have been seized upon by local campaigner Iain Gregory, who believes Caithness has been “largely ignored” by decision-makers in both Inverness and Edinburgh.

For over three years, as co-founder of Caithness Roads Recovery (CRR), Mr Gregory has been demanding greater investment in the county by the Scottish Government and Highland Council.

“For far too long, we have suffered as a result of the obsession with centralisation, driven by Holyrood and endorsed by Inverness, while we have effectively lost all local control,” he said.

“We need our own council again, we need our own local health trust, and we need Holyrood to stop imposing its agenda on Caithness.”

Last month saw national media coverage of the campaign led by CRR highlighting what it calls a “patchwork quilt of neglect” in the county.

Mr Gregory said this week: “Dispiriting it may be, but it comes as no surprise whatsoever to hear that the authorities responsible for running our area have managed, between them, to achieve an unfortunate and highly embarrassing position at the very bottom of the rankings across Scotland.

“It is also significant that the Sunday Times article contains a link to their recent story about the ‘Caithness moonscape’, reported in many papers across Scotland, following the BBC Breakfast programme in which CRR and local people spoke of the disastrous road conditions across the county.

“CRR was formed in early 2021 in order to lobby for urgent action to deal with the catastrophic state of the council-maintained roads in Caithness, but has now developed into a major representative body for the county.

“From day one we have maintained that the condition of our road network is a symptom of the fact that Caithness is neglected, marginalised and – until we started our very high-profile publicity campaign – largely ignored by the administrations in Inverness and indeed Edinburgh.

“The results of the survey are perfectly clear. There are 29 mainland authority areas in Scotland. Highland came in at number 29, and I have no doubt whatsoever that Caithness is in the worst state of all.

“We have women being expected to travel vast distances at all hours of the day and night on crumbling and outdated roads to have their babies. We have thousands of patients every single year being obliged to make the same journeys for essential treatment.

“The promised capital funding for our long-awaited health hubs has been ‘paused’ – I suspect that ‘cancelled for the foreseeable future’ would be a better term. We have had major problems with school buildings.

“There is no word whatsoever of the investment needed to upgrade the A9 north of Nigg roundabout, despite it being 106 miles from there to Scrabster. The A99 is no better, the A836 and the vast majority of local roads remain in disastrous condition, and quite frankly a ‘20-year investment plan’ is simply not going to meet the desperate need for immediate action.

“We have lost all respite care facilities at Thor House in Thurso. Avonlea children’s home [in Wick] is gone, despite a huge sum of public money having been spent on it barely a decade ago. And throughout the county we see the cumulative effects of years of neglect and underinvestment.

“At the same time the county is rapidly being turned into nothing more than a giant wind farm, along with all the associated infrastructure, but precious little in the way of benefit to the population – which is declining by the day.”

Mr Gregory added: “I am well aware of the difficulties in getting government ministers to actually engage, and their tendency to pass any inconvenient questions to civil servants, but I would strongly suggest that the writing is on the wall – it is time to speak to us personally. We are waiting.”

In response to the analysis, the convener of Highland Council, Bill Lobban, said: “Highland is the most fantastic area to live, work and do business which is why a large number of international businesses are flocking to set up operations here.

“We have a hugely ambitious, self-funded, development programme in education, housing and public services.”

A council spokesperson said: “It is disappointing that a recent analysis on the performance of Scottish councils has presented information in a way which does not reflect the true picture of Highland.

“The analysis does not take into consideration the unique geography of our region which serves a third of the land area of Scotland, including the most remote and sparsely populated parts of the United Kingdom.

“The methodology of the analysis includes selective data and does not capture the full context of the delivery of services. There are factors, were they included in the analysis, which would have shown Highland in a more positive light.”

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