News / Renewables could fill public sector gap
SHETLAND’S private sector may have to step in to support the islands’ economy if forecasts of public sector spending cuts of up to 20 per cent come true.
Yesterday (Thursday) Highlands and Islands Enterprise chairman Willie Roe gave local councillors his stark warning during a private session at Lerwick Town Hall.
However the enterprise agency says that Shetland and the rest of the region has escaped the worst of the economic recession and there are great opportunities for the future, especially in the energy industry.
“What is clear is that Shetland has weathered the recession better than many people expected. There have been some casualties but most of the business sectors are pretty resilient,” he said.
“But I would say to all the public agencies ‘look very hard at your budgets so you don’t cut things that really matter’.
“Over the next four to five years we are quite likely to see cuts of 15 to 20 per cent and we have not seen that in most people’s lifetime. Very difficult choices will have to be made by the Scottish government and local authorities.”
Meanwhile HIE Shetland manager Stuart Robertson said one of the main challenges facing the islands in the future would be finding the people to work in the burgeoning energy industry.
If an interconnector is laid to the Scottish mainland it will open up a huge amount of potential for skilled employment, he said.
“For various reasons we seem to be in a relatively fortunate position with a lot going on over the next three or four years,” he said.
“If new industries are coming through and we are going to make the most of that you need people and investment, people with the right skills for local businesses to recruit and the question is where are these people going to come from?”
Even without an interconnector, which currently depends on the controversial Viking Energy wind farm going ahead, there will be opportunities in the renewable field, Mr Robertson said.
Orkney is already looking to Shetland for its boat handling skills to help with the marine renewables test centre. “The potential in renewables is so big that no single community will benefit,” he said.
HIE is working with the council and Promote Shetland to try and encourage more people to come to Shetland and ensure the housing is in the islands to accommodate them.
HIE has shifted its emphasis on supporting business since the SNP administration took control of Holyrood, with more work being done on supporting companies that are looking to grow and bring wealth into the region.
Mr Roe said that the organisation had also been given the clearance to raise money from other sources than the Scottish government, which it was in the process of doing.
The HIE chairman was taken on a tour of the islands, including Northmavine where he visited the Hillswick shop which was taken into community ownership last year.
“What impresses me the most here is the dedication and commitment of the volunteers, people living in this community building it up brick by brick and this shop is a really good example of that.”
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