Douglas Ross: All change at the top for SNP but same broken promises
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It’s all change at the top of the Scottish Government with a new First Minister and Cabinet.
We now have the third Health Secretary since we were told the consultant-led maternity unit at Dr Gray’s was to be temporarily downgraded for 12 months, that was almost five years ago.
I’ve already been in touch with Michael Matheson, the new Health Secretary, inviting him to come to Moray and listen directly from those who have been affected, and those who continue to be impacted by the removal of this crucial service.
While some progress has been made with a commitment by the Scottish Government and NHS Grampian to restore the service, there is still a lack of detail outlining how this will be achieved and I feel the senior management at NHS Grampian need to be pushed every step of the way to deliver this.
I’ll continue to work with local campaigners, holding the new government and new Health Secretary to account and hopefully Michael Matheson will be the Health Secretary that oversees the return of this vital service.
Another area I hope this new government delivers where the last did not is dualling the A9 and the A96.
Promises were made to people in Moray that these would both be a priority, but progress has been painfully slow and there is still no absolute guarantee from the SNP/Green government that the A96 will be dualled. Hopefully the new Transport Minister – who represents a North East seat – will confirm what we all know, namely how vital it is for our region that these two roads are dualled as promised.
Community engagement is really important and in the last couple of weeks several residents in Keith have contacted me with their views on the proposals from SSEN to build Blackhillock 2 substation in the area. Of particular concern was the late notice – or no notice at all – given for a public consultation meeting.
This is a major development and it is absolutely crucial that local residents and businesses are able to feed in their views – and that they are listened too. There is understandably a lot of local concern about the proposals and this was then compounded by the problems with the last consultation event.
I immediately discussed this with SSEN and I’m pleased they have now announced a further consultation event in Keith on April 20 and I would encourage everyone with an interest to go along and make their views known.
During the Easter break from Parliament I got to spend some extra time at home with Krystle and the boys and we are getting ready to welcome two new arrivals.
On Monday our three chickens will be joined by two Pygmy goats – names still to be agreed! We’ve been busy getting their shelter ready and their enclosure as goat proof as possible.
I’ll keep you updated in future columns how the goats are settling in, and if the enclosure really is goat proof!
