‘Things simply cannot go on as they are’
In the latest edition of Sheeks Aboot Shetland, hosts Pete Bevington and Jane Moncrieff speak to local parliamentarians Alistair Carmichael MP and Hannah Mary Goodlad MSP – with public sector reform one of the topics on the agenda
Change is in the air. You can see it watching, listening, reading the news…and you can feel it in our day to day lives, writes Pete Bevington.
Things simply cannot go on as they are. What to do about it though is a different matter and there are few signs of unity across the entire western world these days, let alone in this nation of ours.
So it was heartening to listen to our veteran Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael and our novice MSP – now public finance minister – Hannah Mary Goodlad finding some common ground after their bruising battle during May’s Scottish elections as they get used to this brand new cross-party relationship – Hann-istair, anyone?
Alistair did not disagree with Hannah Mary when she described Scotland’s public sector as “not fit for purpose” and he did not oppose in principle the Scottish government’s proposal to merge NHS Shetland and the other island health boards with their respective local authorities, while reducing the number of regional health boards in Scotland from 14 to two.
However he did warn that if not handled well, this big change could go badly wrong, citing the example of Police Scotland.
Last week first minister John Swinney laid out a bold five year programme of government with public sector reform being the boldest element of that programme. And they’re not messing about as they embark on a 12 week consultation on their proposals.
While Hannah Mary enthuses about devolving decision making to more local levels, Alistair asks whether this change will build Lerwick a new hospital and what will happen if Shetland says “no”.
People who work in the public sector – or who are at the receiving end of it – complain about too much bureaucracy getting in the way or creating unnecessary complications. They also accuse top management of simply not listening to front line workers or the voice of the community they are supposed to serve, those annoying “members of the public”.
A case in point is the call for a moratorium on wind farm developments throughout rural Scotland and amongst the rich fishing grounds surrounding these isles. And in this podcast you can see clear daylight between the positions held by our two national representatives.
Alistair sees the value in a “pause”, believing it will encourage energy companies to take community concerns more into consideration, while Hannah Mary sees little value in such a move (which, as a government minister, she cannot support), instead inviting our MP to join the SNP’s call for energy to be devolved to Scotland so a fairer system can be established – an invitation he shows no enthusiasm for.
Meanwhile, as Jane reminded us, Jennifer Christie’s efforts at galvanising the community in Yell to challenge SSEN’s plans to build an enormous noisy electricity sub station within hearing distance of the people of Burravoe has resulted in a meeting with the developer.
It will be of great interest to many folk across the country to see if the giant corporation is able to hear what the little people have to say…and more importantly, to act on it, instead of putting first the interests of their shareholders – trillionaire institutional investors, such as Blackrock and Vanguard, who own 70 per cent of the company and whose only interest is value for money and profit.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
