News / Urquhart questions rent rises claim
HIGHLANDS and Islands list MSP Jean Urquhart has said the removal of the housing support grant will not automatically lead to a massive hike in council house rents in Shetland.
The SNP politician reacted to claims by Shetland MSP Tavish Scott earlier this week that rent increases of £8.13 a week were likely next year after he failed to win support for a transitional arrangement to be included in the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Bill.
The annual grant from the devolved government, currently worth £760,000, is being paid to help Shetland Islands Council to service its £41 million housing debt, a burden on council finances since the Sullom Voe Terminal was built in the 1970s.
The SIC is the only local authority in Scotland still in receipt of a housing support grant.
Ms Urquhart said that local government minister Derek Mackay, who had been in Shetland earlier this summer, had vowed to work with the SIC to support “transitional arrangements”.
She added that it was up to the Westminster government to allow the council in Shetland to write off the debt as promised by previous Conservative governments.
She said: “Contrary to what others have said, the removal of the housing support grant, the only one remaining in Scotland, should not automatically result in a rent increase for tenants.
“The local government minister himself has promised to work in partnership with SIC to help find a solution that mitigates the impact on tenants in Shetland.
“This situation has been unsustainable for a number of years, but an even bigger issue is the £40 million housing debt left by a previous Conservative government that promised to clear it.
“Now that Shetland’s own MP is a key member of a Conservative-led government, and another Highlands MP, Danny Alexander, is the chief secretary to the treasury, I am sure that the Liberal Democrats will use their influence in Westminster to cancel that debt and relieve the huge burden on the council’s budget.”
Mr Scott responded by saying that he was disappointed to hear that Ms Urquhart believes that a weekly rent rise of £8.13 is a price worth paying with the SNP.
“Jean has to decide whether she supports Shetland’s housing tenants and the council in making a fair and reasonable case or whether she is just a messenger for the SNP government.
“Not for the first time she has shown that the SNP comes first and not Shetland.”
Convener Malcolm Bell said the council would not let the issue go and would keep up the pressure on the governments in Edinburgh and at Westminster.
“I appreciate the support Tavish Scott and Jean Urquhart are providing in highlighting this important issue for Shetland.
We have spent many months speaking with representatives of the governments in both Edinburgh and London as we seek a solution to the issue and this will continue.
“I am determined to find a solution which will be in the best interests of Shetland and in particular our tenants. The support of all our MSPs will be vital.”
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