Jamie Halcro Johnston: Wood stove ban will ‘exacerbate cases of fuel poverty’
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Congratulations to all those whose efforts have ensured the upgrade of Grantown health centre will go ahead.
This is welcome news, but contrasts with the wider mismanagement of Scotland's health system under the SNP. I recently spoke at the rally for the delayed new Belford Hospital in Fort William. And later this week, I’ll be on Skye with local campaigners calling for the downgrading of services at Portree Hospital to be reversed.
After 17 years of SNP government in Edinburgh, Scotland's health services are under increasing pressure, with long A&E waits, strained GP services, stretched ambulance crews, and difficulties accessing NHS dentistry. And things are only getting worse.
The public’s growing anger and frustration is reflected in the emails I receive on an almost daily basis. I just hope SNP and Green MSPs are seeing the same.
The decision to effectively ban wood stoves in new-build homes shows just how little Scottish ministers in Edinburgh understand the needs of Highland communities.
Ministers like the Greens’ Patrick Harvie completely overlook the practical need many in rural areas have for wood-burning stoves, with power outages and bad weather often leaving homes cut off.
And while the Scottish Government will claim this isn’t a ban – that ‘emergency heating’ will still be allowed - the updated technical guidance states clearly that in smaller buildings, including dwellings, there will be little justification for emergency heating.
It also says that any emergency heating can only be used in emergencies, should be connected to the normal heating system, and requires an electrical back-up power.
So where previously a wood burner would have been enough to provide heat and cooking when power is lost, now homeowners who want a wood burner must connect it to their central heating system and to an emergency power source.
Given the technical and cost implications of this, this is a ban on wood stoves in all but name.
And it is a ban which ignores the essential role they play in rural life, will leave households in rural Scotland more vulnerable in bad weather, and will exacerbate cases of fuel poverty which are already high across my region.
It further widens the urban-rural divide in Scotland, highlighting the complete disregard Scottish ministers have for those who live in rural Scotland and our island communities.
Last week, Dr Hilary Cass published her four year review into gender services in NHS England.
It found young people were being let down by a lack of research and evidence on medical interventions. And suggested "extreme caution" be taken in relation to prescribing puberty blockers or the use of hormones such as testosterone or oestrogen.
Despite its damning findings, the Scottish Government has so far refused to comment on the report. And they blocked our attempts this week to get answers
Shockingly, all SNP and Green MSPs from the Highlands and Islands voted against our motion calling for Scottish ministers to make a statement to Parliament on the Cass Review.
That is shameful.
