‘Highland Council needs to get serious about improvement’
Council must deliver improvement across the board
We are pleased to see evidence of improvement since the last Accounts Commission report and are encouraged to see The Highland Council is trying to turn things around with these ambitious plans.
This has to be placed in the context of the council having its budget relentlessly cut by the SNP national government over the years with a quarter of a billion pounds removed from public services in Highland since 2014.
The future task of saving a further £54 million during the next three years whilst working to deliver the ambitions of the administration’s plan will be challenging.
All of us receive contact daily from constituents who have not received the standard of service they can reasonably expect.
The pressure on Social Services who have some of the most committed professional staff dedicated to caring for their clients is immense. The need to support them with the resources they require to meet the needs of these most vulnerable Highlanders must be a priority.
The disappointing performance and culture of complacency within the education department so starkly outlined in the 2020 report cannot be allowed to continue.
It is frustrating that the publication of key performance data is delayed. The marking your own homework approach of the in-house assessment of performance does not build confidence that the current administration is as serious about achieving improvement as it is about using public relations to divert attention from the scrutiny of elected members.
The aims of restructuring, the investment plan and the digital and IT strategies are welcome, and we hope they will achieve the hoped for changes.
As representatives of the people of Highland we intend to monitor closely the delivery of these plans.
Highlanders have experienced large increases in council tax and rent hikes and fully deserve best value from the Highland Council in return.
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant and Labour councillors Andrew MacKintosh and Michael Gregson
Councillors to be briefed on short-term lets
Fears that growing numbers of short-term let properties are adding to the housing crisis are to be discussed by councillors this month.
“I see no issue with Airbnb properties that are part of a home being used (room, annex, cabin, converted garage etc) but I feel with a housing crisis that properties as a whole being used for Airbnb needs to reduce as it means there are less and less properties available for people to live in whether it be private rental or purchase.” - Erynn Nicol
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