I today welcomed the UK Government’s £157m investment that will see remote areas of the Highlands and Islands offered gigabit-capable broadband. These areas have some of the UK’s slowest broadband speeds and this is tangible evidence the UK Labour Government is not only listening to the people in the Highlands and Islands but acting and delivering. Highlanders and those who live in the Hebrides have been asking the SNP Government for years to improve the digital infrastructure but the SNP’s R100 project is very behind schedule so to see our UK Labour Telecoms Minister grasp the thistle and sort this out is very encouraging.
The contract is the largest so far under Project Gigabit and for households and businesses in Skye, Islay, Tiree, Applecross, Durness and Stornoway to get the opportunity to benefit from highspeed broadband will make a huge difference and I thank Chris Bryant, Labour’s Telecoms Minister and his team for making it happen. For too long these communities have had to provide their own connectivity and that is simply unfair.
I am to meet with the Minister for Public Health, Jenny Minto, to discuss the ongoing concerns of constituents affected by chronic pain. I continue to press the Scottish Government on its attitude, and actions, towards Scotland’s 800,000 chronic pain sufferers, many of whom live within the NHS Highland board area.
This follows me having contacted the Scottish Government about the designation of a “no impact” pain category in a report which was funded by the Scottish Government.
In a letter replying to me in December last year, the Minister admitted that this categorisation was introduced into the report at the behest of Scottish Ministers. The letter states “This term was proposed by the Scottish Government as a contraction of ‘did not experience any limitation on life or work activities over the past three months” and that “participants did not use the term “no impact” themselves.” .. “Whilst you rightly indicate that comments from these participants indicate that they had experienced impact at some point from chronic pain, they had, at the time of recruitment, told the recruiters that they currently did not experience any impact.”
The people who were categorised as having “no impact” from their pain were all from Inverness which escalates the concerns that the Scottish Government is intentionally downgrading pain services in the Highlands.
Freedom of Information requests have revealed that participants were paid £200 to take part in the survey, which was advertised on Facebook. The Minister also advised me in her letter that “The screening questionnaire did not directly ask participants about whether their condition had been diagnosed by a health professional.”
Freedom of Information requests have uncovered shocking testament which backs up the long held views of many pain sufferers that the Scottish Government is trying to downplay the impact long term pain has on 800,000 people throughout Scotland. Research carried out on behalf of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain has uncovered deception and minimisation of the effects that chronic pain has on people’s lives, both physically and mentally. I welcome reports in The Herald this week that has now brought this issue to the forefront of Scottish politics.”
Responding to The Herald’s articles and specific questions on chronic pain, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We remain committed to improving the quality of life and wellbeing for people with chronic pain. Meaningful and transparent engagement with people living with chronic pain is a priority part of the improvement work set out in our Pain Management Service Delivery Implementation Plan. While we engage regularly with cross-party groups, they are informal groupings of MSPs and other people and groups with an interest in a specific subject which are not part of the formal parliamentary structure for scrutinising Government.”
For the Scottish Government to ignore genuine pain patients and pay others to get the results they want is beyond reproach, but to insult the efficacy of the Parliament’s Cross-Party Groups adds insult to injury. People attend these groups in a bid to bring the issue to the attention of the people who can make the decisions to improve their quality of life.
I was again honoured and privileged to attend the International Workers Memorial Day Ceremony in Inverness. This event, held on the 28th April every year, brings together workers and their representatives from all over the world to remember the dead and fight for the living. The theme this year was Occupational Health and Safety: a fundamental right at work. As we all know too many people are still being injured, harmed or in the most severe cases losing their lives because their health and safety was not prioritised. I am proud to be a member of the Labour movement that has done more than any other party to work towards removing risk from the workplace. This international day is organised by the Trade Union movement and locally the Inverness Trades Council. It remembers all workers who lost their lives to workplace injury or illness and recommits us all to fighting to keep workers safe.
I am deeply concerned for the vulnerable residents of Sutherland who receive a service from the Care at Home Service based out of the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie. The Care Inspectorate has served NHS Highland with an improvement notice citing several areas of concern and have applied a deadline of May 25th for NHS Highland to come back to them with proof of the actions they have taken to address these. I am appalled that the level of service has been allowed to reduce to the situation we now find ourselves in. I have been working with the leaders of the Highland Community Hub Framework in the north of Highland supporting them to raise their concerns to NHS Highland, but this has been to no avail.
The Hubs have been desperately asking to be taken seriously as partners in providing care and to be fully included in planning for the future. This has not happened. Services in Sutherland have been systematically reduced since 2010 with care homes and care at home services being closed and not replaced.
I also believe NHS Highland must now deliver on the aims of the North Coast redesign that was launched 10 years ago but the North has yet to see any discernible improvement. The Health and Wellbeing Hubs have been made promise after promise that they would receive properly funded contracts to provide the care they are best placed to deliver, yet here we are with them still waiting and with several having to draw on their own cash reserves to continue day to day. This is unacceptable and after 10 years of waiting to be told another 6-month review is to be undertaken is offensive.
The Care Inspectorate report confirms the current system is unsustainable and unsafe. The people involved in delivering the care locally deserve respect for their commitment to work with NHS Highland, I believe there is a solution to this crisis, and make no mistake it is a crisis that must be fixed by the end of next month and that will only be achieved if the Health and Wellbeing Hubs are fully involved in designing the future shape of the service and it is properly funded via a fair contract.
Link to the Care Inspectorate Report here -IN1 – Improvement Notice – Sutherland Care at Home Service_Redacted.pdf
I remain concerned about the deadline for the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch off that is fast approaching. Please see the attached leaflet and if you believe you are likely to be affected use the links to contact your supplier.
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, said “I am delighted to hear that the extension to the Health Centre has been completed.
“The community, working together with the GP practice, did a great job in raising the issue and pressing for the build to be continued. Working alongside my fellow MSPs, Fergus Ewing and Edward Mountain, I was pleased to bolster the community’s efforts to get the Scottish Government to commit to providing the remaining funding that was needed.
“While it was regrettable that the local health staff had to add this issue to their already challenging work commitments on the front line, it nonetheless shows that the power of communities working together to tackle the red tape can’t be underestimated.
“I look forward to visiting in coming weeks to see the expansion and am pleased that the community and the staff now have a building that is fit for purpose.”
I have had many constituents get in touch about delivering fast and fair climate action. It is a priority issue for Scottish Labour, and we are working with the UK Labour Government to deliver for Scotland on projects such as GB Energy and the Warm Homes Plan, to speed up our action in tackling the climate crisis.
In spite of the hard work being done, I still think that the Scottish Government is not doing enough with their devolved responsibilities to tackle the urgent climate emergency, and I was concerned by how little priority was given to the issue in the budget.
In 2025 Scottish Labour will continue to do what it can from opposition – the Scottish Government are due to publish their carbon budgets in Spring and their Climate Change Plan in summer. We will be scrutinising this process closely. Amendments that Scottish Labour submitted to the bill ensure that the Climate Change Plan will be on-time and featuring measurable commitments to action. We will fight to ensure that the plan contains actions to deliver the change that the planet needs.
You mention key topics such as a warmer homes and looking after nature, and we will be working with colleagues to ensure that the bills on heat in buildings and nature restoration are as good as they can be. We cannot afford half-hearted legislation on such important issues.
However, the reality is that we need a new direction for Scotland to really embrace a greener future. The SNP have been in power for 18 years and have repeatedly failed to back their ambitious rhetoric up with sufficient action to tackle the joint climate and nature emergencies.
The election in 2026 is the opportunity for Scotland to choose a different approach. As we approach the election Scottish Labour will set out our plan for how Scotland can embrace the sprint to clean power, deliver green jobs for our remarkable workforce, build sustainably warm homes for everyone, offer sustainable transport options that people can use and support investment in further climate action both to mitigate and adapt against the impact of the climate and nature emergencies.
Until then, as you have asked, I will do all that I can to make sure 2025 is the year that gets Scotland’s climate action back on track.
Labour Governments have a pioneering record on development, creating departments for overseas development in the 1960s and 1990s, and we remain committed to rebuilding our development capability when economic and fiscal conditions allow, as per our manifesto.
Scottish Labour also pioneered the Scottish Government’s own programme of international development and humanitarian aid.
No one wanted to see the scenes that unfolded recently at the White House, but it has become clear that this could be a generation defining moment for peace and security in Europe.
Many European nations are having an urgent reassessment of their priorities now that it has become clear Europe must do the heavy lifting in the defence of Ukraine and the continent more widely.
This means taking tough decisions like prioritising defence spending, which the UK Labour Government is doing, increasing defence investment to 2.5% by April 2027. This is the biggest boost to defence spending since the Cold War, and is clearly now vital for keeping Scotland, the UK, and our allies safe.
Security is the first responsibility of every Government, and all our actions should be guided by the need for peace. Scotland and all of the UK stand alongside Ukraine in its hour of need.
National Security is the foundation of the UK Labour Government’s Plan for Change and development directly contributes to that – including through tackling upstream migration, supporting resilience in most vulnerable countries and communities. It will remain an important part of the UK’s soft power and commitment to the international rules-based system.
The UK Labour Government will continue to work with international partners to make a difference through development across the globe. This will focus on humanitarian support to war torn regions including Gaza, the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan. Labour will also continue work to tackle the effects of climate change and support multilateral efforts to improve global health, including through vaccinations.
What this means for specific projects will be determined by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through a strategic portfolio process, which will prioritise legal obligations and minimising disruption.
Scottish Labour remains committed to maintaining a distinct Scottish Government programme of international development and humanitarian aid.
Highlands and Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, lent her support to Marie Curie’s largest fundraising appeal month, the iconic Great Daffodil Appeal.
Every five minutes, someone dies without the care they need. The Great Daffodil Appeal, now in its 39th year, encourages everyone to wear their daffodil pins and donate to the end of life charity through the month of March to help Marie Curie bring expert end of life care to more people.
Meeting with staff and volunteers from Marie Curie, Rhoda Grant heard about the care and support that is provided to people living with terminal illness, their families and carers across Scotland.
The event promoted Marie Curie’s campaign to ensure that everyone no matter who they are, where they are or their diagnosis has access to the care and support they need at the end of life.
The leading end of life charity supported 7200 terminally ill people across Scotland in their own homes and at its two Scottish hospices during 2023/24.
Rhoda Grant MSP said: “I am pleased to support the Great Daffodil Appeal again this year, highlighting the incredible work of Marie Curie in caring for people living with a terminal illness, while supporting their families and carers through what is possibly the hardest time of their lives.
“As an end of life charity, Marie Curie cares for people with varying conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and advanced cancer.”
Anne Lane, whose sister Mags was cared for by Marie Cure, spoke at the event. She said: “It wasn’t just Mags who benefited from the incredible work of Marie Curie.
“As her family, we too found immeasurable comfort and guidance during what was an unimaginably difficult time.
“The staff took the time to explain every step, every option, and did so in a way that made us feel seen and heard. They knew our names, our faces, and our worries, and in some miraculous way, made those worries just a little bit lighter.
“Through counselling and emotional support, they helped us navigate not just Mags’s final days, but also our own intricate web of emotions. They reminded us that we were not alone.”
Amy Dalrymple, Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Marie Curie, Scotland, said: “Thank you to Rhoda Grant for her ongoing support.
“Seeing and hearing first-hand stories of how living with a terminal illness and caring for someone is a reminder that many of us have and will encounter Marie Curie at some point in our lives.
“We know that by 2040, a further 10,000 people will be dying with palliative care needs. We need to ensure Marie Curie can be there for everyone across Scotland who needs us, which is why buying a daffodil pin and supporting our Great Daffodil Appeal in March, can help make this possible.
“There’s only one chance to give someone the best possible end of life.
“And one chance for you to help give care that makes all that possible. Care that protects someone’s dignity – instead of leaving them alone or in pain. This Great Daffodil Appeal is that chance.
“Every five minutes, someone dies without the support they need. But by donating and wearing your daffodil this March, you can change that – and help our Marie Curie Nurses bring expert end of life care when there’s no cure, whatever the illness.
“The Great Daffodil Appeal only happens once a year. This is your chance to make it count.”
EDINBURGH, UK – 19th March 2025: A parliamentary reception takes place to celebrate the Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal 2025. The event also highlighted the charity’s work and impact nationally, and in MSP regions/constituencies across Scotland through Marie Curie staff and volunteers. (Photograph: MAVERICK PHOTO AGENCY
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has hailed the launch of a consortium, spearheaded by the Elsie Normington Foundation, as a truly valuable move to further improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities in the Highlands and support their families and carers.
The Elsie Normington Foundation worked tirelessly for a decade to secure the funding needed to build the Haven Centre on the outskirts of Inverness. The centre, which is Scotland’s first multi-purpose centre for children and young people with severe learning disabilities, opened in August 2023.
The Haven Centre is a specialist play centre for children and young adults with complex needs in Highland, with an additional building providing three respite suites and a community café which is open to everyone and supports the running costs of the Haven Centre services.
The consortium brings together five leading Highland charities in disability care and supports collaborative working to provide better, more effective support services for disabled young people, their families and their carers.
Rhoda and her former colleague, David Stewart, are great supporters of the Haven Centre and worked together to help secure the funding for the building of the centre.
Mrs Grant said “The efforts of Elsie Normington herself and all the staff at the Haven have already provided immeasurable support to disabled young people and their families and I am delighted to support the launch of the Haven Consortium which will work collaboratively to provide further support services for centre users and those who support them.
“Respite facilities are also available in addition to a well stocked Café which is open to everyone and helps bolster the running costs of the centre.
“It really is something to be celebrated and I would urge the communities in the Highlands to support the café when they can which will help to fund the responsive support services our disabled young people in the Highlands need.”
The Haven Consortium partners are The Elsie Normington Foundation, Special Needs Action Project (SNAP), Thriving Families, Connecting Carers, and Encompass Caithness.
The picture above shows Rhoda with Kirstin Mackay, Service Manager, Elsie Normington Foundation, during a visit to the Haven Centre last year.
I am deeply concerned for the vulnerable residents of Sutherland who receive a service from the Care at Home Service based out of the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie. The Care Inspectorate has served NHS Highland with an improvement notice citing several areas of concern and have applied a deadline of May 25th for NHS Highland to come back to them with proof of the actions they have taken to address these. 
