Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP David Green has pressed the Scottish Government to give rural communities greater protection from national policies which he argues can fail to reflect the realities of life outside Scotland’s cities.

Green raised the issue twice at Holyrood on Tuesday 29 September during discussions about community empowerment and local government reform, asking whether rural communities should receive protections similar to those already established for Scotland’s islands.

The Liberal Democrat MSP pointed to concerns raised by one of his constituents about what he described as the consequences of a one size fits all approach to public policy.

Green said:

“A constituent recently listed to me some of the consequences of having a one-size fits-all approach to policy, including the closure of the Inverness control room, more patients having to travel outwith Highland for care, and rural fire station appliances being off the run.

“What works in the central belt will not always work for rural and island communities.

“The Parliament endorsed that principle when it created the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, but it must now answer the question for rural Scotland, too.”

Green highlighted the previous work of former SNP MSP Gail Ross in making the case for rural proofing and asked Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad whether she agreed with the principle.

Goodlad told Parliament that thriving rural communities and community empowerment were priorities for the Scottish Government, pointing to its review of community empowerment legislation, new land reform measures and support for island communities.

She also said she wanted greater use made of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, but did not give Green the commitment to equivalent rural proofing legislation he was seeking.

Green returned to the issue later during the debate on local government reform, asking whether rural communities deserved a similar approach to the island communities impact assessments introduced under the Islands Act.

Goodlad responded that she identified with the principle and said a new relationship needed to be developed between local, regional and national levels, while again highlighting the powers available under existing islands legislation.

Following the exchanges, Green said:

“Twice in one afternoon, I sought clarity from the Scottish Government on its position on rural proofing.

“Yet twice in one afternoon, the Minister’s response fell short.

“It would appear memories are short.

“It was one of my predecessors, Gail Ross, then an SNP MSP, who first proposed a rural proofing Bill.

“Humza Yousaf also promised this in 2023, before becoming First Minister.

“If the Scottish Government is serious about fostering economic and democratic inclusion across rural Scotland, then it must recognise the importance of rural proofing, I will certainly keep banging the drum.”

The Scottish Government has previously committed to applying a rural lens to policy development, but Green’s intervention puts a more fundamental question at the heart of the current debate over public sector and local government reform.

For communities spread across vast areas such as Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, the argument is not simply about where decisions are taken, but whether national policies are tested against the very different realities of delivering services across rural Scotland before those decisions are made.