Highland Politics in 2022: A year of crises in review from Covid to Ukraine to the NHS
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The start of 2022 saw Covid continue to wreak havoc while Highland Council predicted a £38 million budget gap and NHS Highland sought to shut down one of its most successful services.
Elsewhere the fury of Prince Andrew's behaviour reached the Highlands and in a year of crises the most devastating of all began with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Here are some of the stories that hit home in the first three months of the year.
So from January to March here are some of the political stories dominating our pages online and in print.
Westminster constituency carve-up:
As the year started Covid was still a major problem:
Now at the end of 2022 Highland Council fears a £40 million black hole, at the start of the year it was a £38 million:
The Scottish Government was blamed for underfunding the local authority leading to fears of a council tax rise and it did:
Hiking rent on social housing was tabled and agreed for repairs – those repairs have now been frozen:
Highland Council sought and is still seeking for a new £123,612 a year deputy chief executive but it is also now seeking a new £159,000 chief executive as well:
Prince Andrew's behaviour came back to shame both him and Inverness:
The invasion of Ukraine shocked the world and people across the Highlands showed their solidarity:
The first step was taken to tame out of control holiday lets:
NHS Highland tries to defund a 'world class' life-saving trauma team that cuts waiting lists and A&E pressure:
A green freeport could spark the biggest investment in the Highlands for decades, the ball started rolling:
Hundreds of young people in the north have to wait over a year for mental health support:
Should strip clubs be banned from the Highlands? The Council launches a consultation:
A balanced council budget emerges with most thinking it was better than expected
Election season for local government begins in earnest as some big names step down:
Education issues continue to dog the council after the pandemic
Council tax goes up by three per cent as the first tremors of the cost of living crisis are felt:
After we broke the story about defunding a vital trauma service, pressure mounted on NHS Highland which performed a U-Turn:
Check back for Part II – covering the council elections and the first part of one of the most turbulent political summers in living memory.
