Poverty and Inequality in the Highlands and Islands

While the cost of living crisis is impacting everyone across the UK, here in the Highlands and Islands we feel the pinch even more. It’s a simple fact: life already costs more here.

We face higher standing charges for electricity, inflated prices for everyday essentials in the shops, and let’s not even get started on the unfair delivery charges that seem to plague every online order. Even travelling to the Central Belt for unrealistically early meetings or training sessions has become a luxury many can no longer afford.

This isn’t a new phenomenon. We’ve been battling these inequalities for years, but the current crisis has magnified the problem and pushed many residents of our region to the brink.

Here are just a few of the ways the cost of living crisis disproportionately affects Highlanders:

• Energy costs: Our reliance on electricity and oil, coupled with higher standing charges, means our energy bills are significantly higher than in other parts of the country. This is putting immense pressure on households already struggling to make ends meet.
• Fuel prices: With longer distances to travel and limited public transport options, we are particularly vulnerable to fluctuating fuel prices. This impacts everything from the weekly shop to getting to work or accessing public services.
• Food and other essentials: Freight costs and sheer distance often result in higher prices for food and other essential goods in our local shops by the time they reach us. There is a wealth of evidence out there from people who have done work exploring the scale of this issue – including Tagsa Uibhist’s report, Our Right to Food – Tagsa Uibhist
• Housing: Alongside the same pressures that areas across Scotland are facing, the Highlands and Islands’ tourism market adds another layer to lack of housing availability. Many seeking to purchase a home in the region find that listings disappear in minutes, bought sight-unseen, with an offer over the already-high asking price from short-term letters who have confidence they’ll be able to see return on their investment throughout the tourist season.

It’s crucial that both the UK and Scottish Governments recognise the unique challenges faced by those of those of us living in the Highlands and Islands. We need targeted support to address these long-standing inequalities and ensure that our communities can weather this storm.

We need action on:

• Fairer energy pricing: Addressing the disparity in standing charges and exploring alternative energy solutions for rural areas.
• Improved transport infrastructure: Investing in public transport and making travel more affordable and accessible.
• Support for local businesses: Providing assistance to businesses struggling with increased costs, ensuring they can continue to provide essential services and employment opportunities.

The Scottish Government has made great strides where it can, offering up to 100% rates relief for small businesses across the country, and for hospitality premises in island and many rural areas.

Young people across the Highlands and Islands now benefit from free bus travel, soon to include inter-island ferries for those under 22 in our island communities – something I have campaigned for and pressed successive Transport Ministers on since 2021.

However, fairer energy pricing, and energy policy in general, is outwith our control. Much of the power required to make changes is being held solely at Westminster – and successive UK Governments have refused to consider devolving this in part or in whole.

Powers around trade and how we can better value local food or regulate the market also sit in London; as does the ability to make changes on fair delivery charges.

The cost of living crisis is a stark reminder that we need to build a fairer and more equitable society, one that recognises the needs of all its citizens, regardless of where they live.

But it is unclear how much longer we can go on with every step the Scottish Government tries to take simply ending up as mitigation of the UK Government – whoever is in power – pulling its own support back even more.

Instead of the Scottish Child Payment being a pure uplift to budgets, it ended up levelling the field after the same families saw a cut to their Universal Credit.

Instead of being able to target our funding to those who need it most, we are papering the cracks of the new Labour government removing universal fuel payment support from pensioners.

Instead of taking steps forward, we are firefighting decisions that Scotland didn’t ask for, doesn’t support, and cannot stomach.

It’s clear to me that the Highlands and Islands will never be well-served by the United Kingdom; I see independence for Scotland as a means to the end of putting greater powers in the hands of communities to make decisions for themselves. An empowered Highlands and Islands could recognise our distinct priorities and design policy to best deliver on them.

It’s not a given that an independent Scotland would end up that way: whatever government we put in place would take decisions according to its own ideologies. However, to me, independence is a necessary first step.