It is unlikely that many schools will be axed, given the past failure of councillors to push through even one unpopular closure. But an early gauge of the strength of their determination this time round will come at the end of June when they vote on whittled-down “formal proposals” for cuts.

Schools which are still on the danger list after June will each be subject to another lengthy consult­ation before councillors make their final decisions on what to cut in December. The Scottish government can reject the closure of any school and communities will be able to take their protest to ministers, which could make it several months into 2011 before all parts of Shetland finally know their schools’ fate.

The whole process might even be extended much further into next year if the council decides in June to stagger its formal six-week consultations on each major change to a school, doing them in batches due to the sheer amount of work involved and the requirement that they be conducted only during school terms.

This week the schools service emphasised that at this stage the “viable” and “not viable” options presented in the blueprint for each school are only provisional and may change as a result of the current exercise to “gather information” which will be completed on March 22nd.

The first batch of these informal consultation meetings with parents, teachers and pupils was completed last night at the Anderson High School and in Skerries – the last of Shetland’s nine secondary and high schools to be visited. Primary schools are next.

The importance attached to fighting the closure threats has been borne out by the high attendance of the parents who received written invitations to attend with 277 showing up at the first six meetings including 60 in Baltasound and 94 in Whalsay.

Summaries of the views from each school are being posted in the education section of the council website, although progress has been slow. By yesterday morning only the views from two of the nine meetings, in Mid Yell and Sandwick, were available to read.

The overhaul of the schools estate is being driven by the council’s decision to curb the £37-million-a-year education bud­get by closing and amalgamating “inefficient” schools or those with falling rolls and to reshape schools to fit the government’s new cur­riculum for excellence which splits learning into blocks of secondary 1-3 and 3-6 instead of the current S1-S4 which the junior highs provide.

Initial protests about the more severe options were made in Novem­ber and December but since then it has gone quiet, despite the vehement opposition to closures. Some are keeping their powder dry at this stage while preparing for the gruelling battles ahead if their schools are still in the firing line after the 30th June council meeting.

Unst would lose two of its three school departments with the Uyea­sound primary shutting and its 11 pupils transferring up the road to join about 24 primary children at Baltasound, which would lose its 26-pupil secondary department with pupils having to leave home aged 11 or 12 to attend school in Lerwick and stay in a hostel.

Chairman of the Uyeasound parent council Derek Jamieson said that “unthinkable” worst-case scenario would cause depopulation and “devastation” to an island which has already suffered major body blows in recent years. “Every­body is affected by it, whether you have bairns at the school or not.”

While Uyeasound has fought and won previous battles to remain open, Baltasound is new to the threat. The island’s website at unst.org is already running a Save our Schools campaign.

Mr Jamieson said the option to close Uyeasound did not fulfil any of the council’s own “relevant factors” for shutting schools, in­clud­ing the educational case, travel distances and times and future pupil population projections. “It’s still a school which is a shining example of providing the curriculum for excellence,” he said.

By law, any school or nursery class put forward for closure must first be put through three tests: viable alternatives must be con­sider­ed; the effect on the sustain­ability of the local community must be assessed and, crucially, in considering the likely changes to transport and travel arrangements, particular attention must be given to the effect on pupils, staff and other school users.

He said it would be much better if the council promoted all the positives about small schools as a way of furthering its policy of regenerating rural Shetland. “They speak about falling populations in Shetland. Well, we have the best standard of education in the country – the best schools – and that would be another way of attracting folk into the islands.”

Another view is that the council should be strengthening rural schools instead of spending up to £50m on a showpiece high school in Lerwick.

Under the worst-case scenarios in other areas, Yell could lose its primary school at Cullivoe and Burravoe and its secondary at Mid Yell, leaving just one primary in the new school at Mid Yell which is currently being built. Likewise, Whalsay secondary children might have to travel over two hours a day to Lerwick if their secondary at Symbister is axed.

In the North Mainland up to three primary schools could go with the choice of victims to be made from Voe, Urafirth, North Roe and Ollaberry. Once again Skerries faces losing its secondary, which currently has three pupils.

In the West Mainland two from three of the small primaries could go at Walls, Sandness and Skeld with the pupils all going to the one that survived. Bressay could lose its primary while Scalloway could lose its 115-pupil secondary department with everyone transferring to Lerwick and the same could happen with the 172 secondary pupils at Sandwick secondary.

The threat of closures is obviously the issue causing most concern to the communities affected but the consultation also involves a whole array of other “viable” options for change under which some junior high schools would remain open but lose certain age groups, such as S4 pupils, to bigger schools.

SIC schools quality improvement officer Matthew Moss has been at the meetings in Baltasound, Mid Yell, Scalloway and Skerries. He said reaction had been particularly strong in the North Isles: “It’s fair to say there has been some extreme­ly strong opinions expressed by pupils, staff and parents about the options that are put forward.

“The thing we have been stressing at the meetings and are happy to keep stressing is that these options have been provisionally set and are there for discussion and none of these options at the moment are formal proposals.”

Shetland is not alone in facing closures. In the Western Isles the proposal is to shut nearly half the primary schools due to lack of money and falling rolls. Instead of 36 primaries, there could be just 19 in eight years’ time and four secon­dary schools, saving £2 million a year, according to a BBC report.

The Shetland Times can confirm that the council has accepted that obtaining an interim interdict which forced the LPA to abandon its planned dredging of the north mouth of Lerwick harbour in August 2005 has left it legally culpable.

Having acknowledged that the port authority would be liable to win any case in court the council is now certain to have to hand over a cheque for a substantial seven-figure sum, but it is hoping to limit the damage to some way below the full £5.9 million being claimed by the LPA.

The matter has been working its way through the Court of Session in Edinburgh for some time and though a court date for a hearing had previously been set for this month, that has now been put back and the matter is again in the hands of the parties’ respective lawyers.

Both the SIC and LPA said they were unable to make any comment at this stage, but the inevitable outcome will be another fairly colossal drain on the public purse. While a new date at the Court of Session is to be arranged for sometime in early spring, it is understood that both parties have indicated a preference for settling the matter out of court.

Although it has effectively accepted that there was a “cock-up”, the SIC is believed to be challenging some aspects of the LPA’s insurance claim and is hopeful that it can settle for somewhere between £1 million and £5.9 million.

The SIC had obtained the interdict four and a half years ago because of concern that the dredging work would jeopardise its plans to build a £22 million bridge across the harbour to Bressay. It led to a hugely damaging fall-out between the two organisations, with relations deteriorating to such an extent that at one point they ceased communicating with one another.

The project was resisted strongly by the LPA because it feared the bridge would hamper its own business activities and was later scrapped in favour of a tunnel – which itself has subsequently been put on the back burner.

After the LPA had awarded the dredging contract to Belgian firm Jan de Nul nearly five years ago, the dispute forced it to scrap that deal, pay the company an abandonment fee and then re-award the contract at a higher cost.

The interdict was lifted in January 2007 and the north mouth of the harbour was eventually dredged the following summer, but the LPA was left with a £1.6 million claim from Jan de Nul. Last year LPA chief executive Sandra Laurenson said the fallout with the council had cost it over £700,000 in legal expenses. The council is now understood to be absorbing the LPA’s ongoing legal costs.

Two of the officials involved in the decision to seek the interdict, former chief executive Morgan Goodlad and ex-director of infrastructure Graham Spall, have now left the council.

But having to cough up a substantial sum for what one observer this week described as an “eminently avoidable” situation looks likely to intensify pressure on SIC convener Sandy Cluness, who was a strong advocate of building the “iconic” bridge. Mr Cluness believed a fixed link would have allowed the council to open up chunks of Bressay for new development including housing.

The money set to be lost to the LPA comes on top of spending approaching £2 million on the aborted bridge project, which was first formally earmarked back in 2003. In addition, European grants of up to £4.7 million also fell by the wayside. It means the worst case scenario is that – without any work being carried out – the community could have lost out on as much as £12.6 million.

During the period when Lerwick North councillor Allan Wishart – who had been LPA chief executive during the debacle – was at the helm of transport partnership ZetTrans, councillors’ preference for a fixed link to Bressay shifted.

After officials and elected members attended a fact-finding mission to Faroe in 2007, an increasing number became minded that a subsea tunnel would be the most appropriate, and cost-effective, solution. Building a tunnel – which the LPA had consistently argued in favour of – was adopted as official council policy in June 2008.

The capital cost could be as much as £44 million, but would be significantly cheaper than continuing to run ferries between Lerwick and Bressay in the long run. However, little progress is likely in the short-to-medium term due to the large number of other capital projects on the council’s wish list.

The Northern Joint Police Board is expected to bring more than 30 people to Shetland on 11th May for the one meeting each year or so that it holds outwith Inverness. Police chiefs and staff from Inverness along with councillors from Highland, Orkney and the Western Isles would fly up, stay in a hotel and be treated to an evening meal.

But the union Unison, which represents some Northern Constabulary workers, had formally requested that all board meetings be kept in Inverness during the current economic difficulties which are likely to see the police budget cut next year by four per cent with more cuts in later years.

The board’s last trip out from Inverness was to Orkney in May which Unison said incurred an expenses bill of £8,426 compared with the £2,229 cost of meeting in Inverness in August. The disparity would inevitably be higher coming to Shetland due to more expensive flights.

The board is made up of 26 councillors from the four local authorities of Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles and Highland. It usually meets four times a year to consider reports on police activities, budgets, complaints and other matters of concern.

At its last meeting in November the board decided to stick with its policy of travelling to each of the islands. But Unison is angry that 25 civilian jobs are being cut in the Northern Constabulary and the matter is expected to be raised again at the next board meeting on 29th January when the constabulary’s annual budget is set.

Shetland South member Allison Duncan said yesterday he backed the union. He, along with councillor Alastair Cooper, represents Shetland on the police board and its sister board the Highlands and Islands Fire Board.

“My view is if we can save money then I have no objections to going to Inverness and cutting out the Shetland end if it has to be.”

One of his fears is that funding cutbacks over the next two or three years will see the threat of losing two police officers from the Shetland force become a reality.

He said he had uncovered that possibility at a board meeting in November and it had to be resisted.

“We have one of the most serious drugs problems in the whole of Scotland and we need every policeman on the beat that we possibly can to get that scourge out of our society. I would be all for cancelling any trips to the islands to save staff and keep them in harness.”

Mr Cooper was less persuaded. He did sympathise with the need to work more cost-effectively, which he said might be done by more use of technology such as video-conferencing and perhaps cutting the number of councillors who travel on island trips. Highland, for instance, has 15 members on the board.

“I think there is a need for the board to make sure that whatever money we spend we spend it wisely and I think the likes of da Flea and me tripping away to meetings when we could maybe video-conference, we have to think about that far more seriously.”

But he said board members felt they did need to come out to the islands in order to fully appreciate the policing needs on the ground and the problems of remoteness. He said the same applied for the fire board, which also travels around and was in Shetland in September. “It is only when you go there that you appreciate and understand what folk are speaking about.”

When meetings take place in Inverness then both the fire and police boards meet on the same day, one after the other, halving the number of trips required by board members from the isles.

Mr Cooper said Unison had lost some support among members by what he said was its “selfish” attitude in presenting its case purely on how cutbacks would affect the Highland Council area. “I think Unison should have been looking to its members throughout the whole police and fire board areas.”

Councillors agreed in November to put the document, which suggests reducing the number of councillor-trustees from 22 to eight but still retaining a slim majority control of the trust, out to public consultation and the deadline for any comments was last Friday.

Sustainable Shetland had been hoping for an extension so the views of all their members could be gathered at their January meeting. But instead trust general manager Ann Black has told Sustainable Shetland chairman Billy Fox that she and chairman Bill Manson would be willing to meet with him to discuss the organisation’s views on the reform.

Mr Fox said he was “disappointed” that the extension had not been granted. He welcomed the opportunity for the organi­sation, which is particularly concerned because the trust holds a 45 per cent share in the controversial windfarm proposal, to give its views directly before the charitable trust review group next discusses the matter again in January.

He said: “We’re definitely not happy with the current single proposal. [At our last meeting] we got an overwhelming show of hands that there was a level of concern.”

The findings of the consultation, prompted by pressure being exerted by charity regulator OSCR to ensure there is a clear dividing line between the SIC and the charitable trust, are expected to go before trustees for consideration in February.

Earlier this month SIC convener Sandy Cluness said he was prepared to go as far as the House of Lords to try and maintain the council’s hold on the charitable trust, which he believes has served the community well for the past three decades. He is concerned that if different factions were in control of the community’s £400 million-plus oil funds, it could be a recipe for damaging disagreements.

But the majority of members of the public who have responded, including Lerwick Community Council and letter writers to this newspaper, have expressed strong disapproval of the idea of councillor-trustees continuing to hold a controlling stake in a trust body which would be reduced from 24 to 15, with seven independent trustees appointed by the trust on a skills basis.

There have been calls from several quarters for all, or at least a majority, of trustees to be elected directly to the trust rather than by virtue of being a councillor.

Ms Robison was unable to visit Shetland in person this week due to flight delays and the review was carried out by teleconferencing, an experience she found interesting for its potential uses in health care.

Director of medical services Ken Graham told the minister that nasal endoscopy and the CT scanner produce images that are diagnosed in Aberdeen in real time, and there is also a tele-neurology service.

Dermatology, which has a high rate of referrals from GPs, is another area that lends itself to “telehealth”, and this will be introduced shortly.

Ms Robison said other health boards could learn from Shetland and NHS 24 will be using telehealth from March. “Shetland’s got a lot to contribute”, she said.

In a follow-up from last year’s review, the spotlight was turned on crisis intervention for mental health, with NHS Scotland chief executive Kevin Woods asking if services met the needs of the population.

Although NHS Shetland chief executive Sandra Laurenson admitted “we’re not there yet”, care is available in the event of a crisis, including from the voluntary sector. NHS Shetland director of public health Sarah Taylor said services could be accessed from NHS 24, the local out-of-hours service, hospital or health centres, and back-up is avail­able from Aberdeen.

Regarding anti-depressant pre­scrib­ing, Dr Graham said the rate in Shetland was historically low and is on target to stop any increase. There is also a “strong” counselling service available through primary care.

The diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s was also raised, with Dr Graham saying it was a challenge to identify patients, especially in remote areas. The meeting heard that people attending the hospital’s A&E department, or being admitted to an acute medical or surgical ward, will have their mental health assessed in a “holistic” approach.

Ms Laurenson said she was “confident” that the health board’s target would be reached in this area as the mental health team had been restructured and a full-time lead nurse had been freed up to focus on dementia.

Obesity, including childhood obesity, is an area that Shetland is tackling with great success, Ms Robison heard.

After a period with no dietician in Shetland there is now one in post, and people, including whole families, are “knocking on the door” to access services in the “Counterweight” programme, according to Dr Taylor.

Another area of success is in decreasing delayed discharges among elderly patients – and Shetland is projected to have a higher than the Scottish average rate of people over 60 soon. Director of clinical services Simon Bokor-Ingram said that work is on-going to enable people to remain in their own homes for longer.

Ms Robison was impressed that 120 new care places (either in a care centre or care packages at home) are to be created.

Shetland has also done well on waiting times, with the target of 18 weeks referral to treatment being achieved. The 62-day target for cancer patients to first treatment has been met in 100 per cent of cases. Dr Graham said these patients’ “pathway” had been “micro-managed.”

However, in orthodontics there remains a “challenge” in waiting times, and recruitment of dentists is still difficult.
Shetland is achieving good results in tackling hospital acquired infections, with each indivudual case of MRSA, MSSA and C-difficile being scrutinised in detail and being followed up.

Ms Robison was told that most cases originate in the community or at another hospital, but Dr Taylor said: “We are not complacent.”

A management team is in place to ensure levels of anti-microbial prescribing are kept low, there are also two part-time infection control staff and a virologist and microbiologist from Grampian are available by video link in the event of an outbreak.

Finance director Nick Kenton said savings had been made in the board’s budget this year by prescribing efficiently. He forecast a break-even in this financial year, although it would take years to reduce the board’s underlying deficit.

The board also told the minister that staff sickness absence is being “very actively managed” in an effort to get it down to the national target of four per cent.

Chairman of the NHS Shetland board Ian Kinniburgh said that although Shetland would like to “shift the balance of care” so that more services are available locally, it was important to make sure services were sustainable.

In general Ms Robison declared the board to be “well-performing”. Although NHS Shetland still needs to do more in certain areas including “alcohol intervention”, she was very impressed with its meeting national targets, including those for waiting times.

Mr Kinniburgh said he had come away with a “very positive message” and he hoped the board would continue to perform at a high level.

Councillor Gary Robinson told attendees at yesterday morning’s charitable trust meeting that the amenity trust was continuing to deny requests for information, despite a recent public assurance from Mr Gregson that it was open and accountable. Mr Robinson said the charitable trust should reiterate to the bodies it funds that they are expected to at least abide by the spirit of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

He also revealed unrest among amenity trust staff due to what they say is the “feudal” way their organisation is run and said the involvement of unions in the problem should give charitable trust trustees some indication of underlying problems in the amenity trust.

According to a letter from trade unions the GMB and Unison to the organisation’s management, which has been leaked to The Shetland Times, there is “very low” morale among many of the organisation’s workers who feel “demoralised on many fronts”.

It was sent to trust general manager Jimmy Moncrieff, Mr Gregson and vice-chairman George Sutherland on 28th October. It details concerns about the way disciplinary matters are handled and criticises management over a perceived lack of communication, inconsistencies and the placing of new work pressures on staff without consultation.

Mr Gregson said yesterday that he had “absolutely no comment to make” on private correspondence with staff, other than that “the issues raised in the letter have been addressed to mine, and I believe other people’s, satisfaction”.

Meanwhile, Mr Moncrieff has written to this newspaper confirming that the organisation is not able fully to respond to a request for information on trips undertaken by senior staff over the last five years. He has, however, provided some information on the nature of trips carried out by trust staff and launched a robust defence of the need for them to do so.

During yesterday’s meeting, Mr Robinson called for Mr Gregson to be asked to attend a charitable trust meeting to explain the situation with regard to information requests. Chairman Bill Manson said he would have “a chat” with him first rather than subject him to “a public inquisition”.

There was some support among trustees for an idea from Alastair Cooper that the charitable trust adds a new condition to its grant offers requiring the bodies it funds to abide by the FoI principles. But he did not want the rule agreed on the hoof before its implications, legal and practical, have been considered in a report.

Several councillor-trustees were keen to defend the amenity trust against what some perceived as an attack. In particular convener Sandy Cluness commended it for the marvellous projects it had brought to the community. But Mr Robinson said he agreed with the convener and was merely questioning how the trust was being run. He felt there was a need for a mechanism whereby if questions were asked they would be answered.

The Scottish government announced this week that it is to consult on extending the FoI Act to include bodies such as local authority trusts, which Mr Robinson said provided “a glimmer of hope” that the amenity trust might be forced to be more open. It received over two thirds of its £4.7 million funding from this community’s public funds in 2008/9.

Scottish information commissioner Kevin Dunion said this week: “The right to information is not an unreasonable burden. It needs to be accepted that where substantial sums of public money are being expended then the public should have the right to know. Freedom of information should follow the public pound.”

In their letter, members of the two trade unions at Garthspool appealed for talks with management to find a more constructive way forward and Unison representative Val Turner said the trust had now responded to their request.

The letter states: “It is common knowledge that to gain the best from staff, those staff must feel valued and part of the organisation. Neither of these things are felt at present to the detriment of the organisation.”

Over a year ago, union members requested a list of existing policies and new policies being considered relating to personnel issues, but they stated that “no progress has been volunteered by management”. “Staff are confused and uncertain to what policies exist and, in times of conflict, are uncertain what rules apply and what rules do not apply.”

The recent letter is believed to have been prompted in part by disquiet over the manner in which a member of staff – who subsequently decided to resign from the organisation – was treated over an alleged disciplinary matter.

The letter continues: “Without commenting upon the detail of any disciplinary hearings, staff are greatly concerned that the Trust is launching disciplinary actions as a ‘first course of action’ rather than a ‘last resort’. We would like to see a more inclusive and positive approach being taken by management with regard to disciplinary issues – which used to be the case within the trust.”

The unions stressed their desire to work with management to find a productive way forward.

Ms Turner said this week: “We’ve had a letter back from management, therefore it’s being dealt with and it’s a dead issue. It’s between the trustees and the staff and, as I say, it is being dealt with.”

In his reply to The Shetland Times, Mr Moncrieff said: “Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act imposes an onerous burden and that is why smaller organisations like our trust are not subject to its requirements. The trustees have considered [your] request that we voluntarily subject ourselves to Freedom of Information Act and I regret to advise you that we are unable to do this because of resource implications.”

We had requested basic details of every trip abroad undertaken by officers in the past five years. Mr Moncrieff said staff need to undertake such travel in order to attend conferences and meetings, study trips and transnational project meetings.

He said the trust had done a great deal to raise and promote Shetland’s profile and had been very successful in targeting EU funding worth nearly £10 million over the past five years. “Success in achieving this type of funding does involve foreign travel; it is an essential component of transnational working.”

Outlining in some detail the reasons why employees need to travel abroad from time to time, he said senior staff had attended a conference in Sardinia in October which he described as “a great opportunity to discuss heritage issues with like-minded professionals from around the world and view at first hand the stunning Sardinian Nuraghi”, which he said bore more than a passing resemblance to Shetland’s brochs and associated settlements.

He rejected councillor Robinson’s assertion that he had visited an award ceremony in Turkey earlier this year despite knowing the trust had not been successful, saying that the results were not known until the end of the ceremony.

Referring to four trust representatives travelling to Portugal as part of the organisation’s success in winning Geopark status earlier this year, he said: “It has been extremely hard work with a large number of staff involved in making our application a success. We would have liked to send more people to Portugal to hear the result, but restricted it to four. Continued attendance at EGN [European Geopark Network] meetings is obligatory, not optional, but in future representation will be more limited.”

Tory candidate Frank Nairn. Click on image to enlarge.

The Scottish Conservatives have re-selected farmer Frank Nairn as their candidate for Orkney and Shetland at the General Election, which has to be held before June next year. He said he aimed to double the Tory share of the vote in the constituency.

Mr Nairn, who secured 2,357 votes (10.3 per cent) in the 2005 election, was the unanimous choice of members of the Orkney and Shetland Conservative associations who met in the St Magnus Centre in Kirkwall last week.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: “It is great to be back. I am passionate about Orkney and Shetland. I shall be campaigning for the election of a Conservative government at Westminster.

“This is an election at which every vote will count. There will be no wasted Tory votes. It will be vital to demonstrate the support there is for David Cameron and his team in every constituency in Scotland. My aim is to double the Conservative vote and the Conservative share of the vote in Orkney and Shetland. The Labour government has run out of energy and ideas and it is time for them to go.”

Mr Nairn, who lives near Beauly in Inverness-shire, is well known in political circles in the north of Scotland as a Tory activist. This will be his fourth General Election as a candidate. As well as being a farmer and tourist operator, he has business interests in the Middle East and has recently taken over the chair of a charity looking after the welfare of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories.

Chairman of the Shetland Conservative Association Maurice Mullay said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the selection process. Our members are really excited that Frank has decided to come back for a second attempt. This gives us the opportunity to build on all the hard work put in 2005 and 2007. If anyone can give the LibDems a run for their money, it is Frank Nairn.”

The trust has still not responded to a request for information from The Shetland Times made over a month ago, after which it initially said it would be responding “in due course”. The request was seeking details of all trips made over the past five years, along with a short sum­mary of why the trip was necessary. Subsequent emails and phone calls have not been responded to.

Although it is not legally bound by the Freedom of Information Act, funding body Shetland Charitable Trust expects the trusts it funds to comply with the spirit of the act – not least because, in the case of the amenity trust, it receives more than two-thirds of its income from this community’s funds.

Last month West Side councillor Gary Robinson raised his concern about the number of foreign trips which senior management had been taking after learning from other sources that at least five such trips – to Iceland (twice), Turkey, Portugal and Italy – had taken place in the past six months.

Following that, chairman Brian Gregson claimed the trust was “open and transparent” and discussed issues such as trips outside of Shetland “in detail on a monthly basis” in front of the media – con­trary to the experience of journalists working for this newspaper.

Mr Robinson has also spoken to members of the public who have made “perfectly reasonable” requests for information from the amenity trust and been rebutted. Out of its £4.7 million income last year, nearly £2 million came from the SIC, £1.3 million from the charitable trust and most of the rest from Scottish Natural Heritage, Historic Scotland, the Forestry Commission, the heritage lottery fund and the Scottish government, along with across-the-counter income.

Councillor Robinson said this week: “I’m not at all surprised that you haven’t got an answer to your questions. That appears to be what everybody who has asked questions has found. Previously I’ve heard people having a letter saying thanks for your enquiry but freedom of information doesn’t apply to us.

“I just don’t think that’s good enough because it’s public money that’s being spent. A lot of it is council and charitable trust money (Continued on page two) (Continued from front page) and it doesn’t look good that we can’t follow that public pound.”

Unlike Shetland Recreational Trust and Shetland Arts, papers for SAT meetings are not circulated publicly in advance of meetings taking place. It is also comparatively rare that matters of major significance are discussed during the public portion of the meetings.

Although it has had high-profile successes in running the award-winning museum and recently gaining the Promote Shetland tourism contract, there are also wider concerns about the trust.

A number of trustees of Shetland Charitable Trust have privately voiced concern about the “feudal” way in which the organisation is being run – though few are willing to say so publicly. One SCT trustee said he was “deeply concerned” about what he believes are long-standing difficulties between the staff and management, which has left some members of staff “frequently in despair”.

With appointments running at 4,000 a month the centre is to intro­duce a telephone “triage” system for patients who require urgent medical attention.

Patients who cannot wait for routine appointments should phone the health centre before 11am and will receive an initial telephone con­sultation with a triage doctor. The doctor will assess the seriousness of the situation and work out an approp­riate course of action for the patient. This could be telephone advice or could result in the patient being given an appointment either that day or at a future date.

A duty doctor will continue to deal with emergencies and house visits.

The triage system will start on Monday for a trial period. It is being introduced after feedback from patients and will replace the first-come, first-served system for same day appointments. This involved patients queuing from 8.30am and although it was not unpopular, accord­ing to practice manager John Fraser some patients had queried the system and he felt “duty bound” to investigate alternatives.

The triage system has been tried and tested in practices of a similar size to Lerwick, which has nine full-time equivalent doctors and serves 9,000 patients.

Mr Fraser said that it has been noticeable over the last five to 10 years than the demand for appoint­ments had increased although there was nothing to suggest the health of the population was worsening.

He realised the appointment sys­tem was not based on clinical need, and, in order to make the system “even better than it already is”, the triage system will be trialled. He said of the system: “Every patient will speak to a doctor – it is important they have the comfort of a conver­sation with a doctor on that day.

“The doctor will make a profes­sional clinical judgement – which could even be a referral to A & E.”

Mr Fraser said he would welcome feedback on the appointment system. “If anyone has concerns or ideas come and speak to me for the benefit of Lerwick Health Centre and the Lerwick population.”

The health centre has an on-going problem with patients not turning up for appointments, which are cur­rent­ly between 120 and 180 per month.

Mr Fraser said this puts unneces­sary strain on resources and asked any­one who knows they cannot attend to let the health centre know through the 24 hour cancellation line.

For appointments phone (01595) 743216. For cancellations phone (01595) 743232.

Constitution minister Mike Russell. Click on image to enlarge.

Shetland would be given a seat at the top table for negotiating the share of oil and gas tax revenues between Scotland and the rest of Britain if the SNP government secures independence, the SIC was promised this week.

After taking part in the government’s “national conversation” as part of a Highlands and Islands question and answer session at the NAFC Marine Centre in Scalloway on Monday night, council chief executive David Clark said he had been given the assurance by constitution minister Mike Russell.

The audience was directly linked by video to the Scottish government offices in Glasgow for the conference. Mr Clark asked Mr Russell if he could guarantee the SIC would be able to play a part in negotiations over oil and was told that the council would indeed be given that opportunity.

“It is a fairly significant attitude,” said Mr Clark, who stood unsuccessfully as an SNP candidate in the early 1990s but says he relinquished his membership before taking up the chief executive post. “There was in principle a commitment made there, and it’s one that I will follow up to ensure that it is recorded.

“Even just the next stage forward of devolution, with increased fiscal autonomy – I can’t see that it wouldn’t include discussion on oil revenues. I wanted to put a line in the sand to make sure there was no doubt we would be seeking to be an active part at the top level from the start.”

Mr Russell said the national conversation was giving people throughout Scotland the opportunity to discuss how any change in constitutional settlement would affect them. “An oil fund that invests a share of oil revenues would secure billions of pounds of benefits for the whole of Scotland, providing wealth for future generations. The whole of Scotland could benefit from a sharing of Shetland’s experience in establishing and running a highly successful fund.”

After oil was discovered in the North Sea, Shetland’s politicians of the late 1960s and early 1970s were able to secure an oil funds which are today valued at over £400 million in council and charitable trust reserves.

SNP ministers argue that around £230 billion of oil and gas revenue from Scottish territorial waters have “flowed into the UK exchequer” and been spent, pointing to funds set up in Norway and Alaska to suggest that Britain has wasted its earnings so far. Mr Russell said Shetland was another example which showed that successive UK governments had failed to secure long-term benefits from oil.

He added: “The success of the Shetland model simply adds to the case that devolving control of North Sea taxation and production to the Scottish Parliament is the right thing to do – to maximise the competitive advantage of our oil and gas industry and to ensure that oil and gas resources provide a sustainable and lasting benefit for this country.”