Donald MacKinnon MSP and I are calling for the £300 heating oil grant to be doubled to £600 and the scheme expanded to cover more island households. I have demanded that the Scottish Government look again at the scheme after it emerged that two-thirds of applicants from the islands have been refused support. According to Scottish Government figures only 138 applicants from the Western Isles who are in receipt of pension credit or income support have received £300 to help wi

Myself and Donald MacKinnon are launching a big summer housing survey to measure demand for housing from islanders at home and away. We have set up a joint campaign to find new ways for young people, returnees and businesses to signal their demands for housing in the Western Isles. It is no secret that access to housing is a major issue in the islands, and the current way of measuring housing demand heavily based on numbers on waiting lists is not accurately conveying deman