News / High costs highlighted as wealth gap grows
SHETLAND’S wealth gap is widening as a growing number of islanders face penury while others get rich from a second oil boom, a local charity has warned.
The Salvation Army said demand for food parcels in the isles has almost doubled this year compared to 2012.
The comments come on the eve of a conference highlighting the high cost of living in Shetland.
On Thursday morning Highlands and Islands Enterprise will present research showing that it costs one third more to live in Lerwick than in a city in the UK.
It costs 15 to 30 per cent more again to live in rural Shetland, especially if you have to do all your shopping locally or live on an island.
The Salvation Army’s Angela Nunn said that they were trying to catch an ever increasing number of people who were falling through the welfare state’s safety net.
Last year the charity handed out 120 parcels containing food and basic toiletries to folk in desperate need.
By the end of this year the value of such hand outs is expected to exceed £10,000, which are provided with help from churches, community groups, the Rotary Club and Tesco.
Nunn said that more than 150 clients had been in receipt of emergency help over the past two years.
“These are people who need to decide whether to eat or to heat, they can’t even afford the Scrapstore or the charity shops,” she said.
Poor people, she said, were suffering from above average food and fuel prices and the situation was exacerbated by changes to the welfare system and delays in benefit payments that left some people without cash for weeks.
On Thursday morning HIE’s head of planning Alistair Nicolson will present the findings of research showing how much more expensive it is to live in Shetland than elsewhere.
The research suggests the minimum weekly budget for a couple with two children living in Lerwick is almost £600, excluding rent and childcare, compared to £463 for a UK city.
This cost goes up to a whopping £769 in remote parts of Shetland where travel costs are even higher.
Factors driving up costs include higher shop prices, higher petrol and heating fuel bills, additional transport costs and delivery charges.
These extras go up even further for people living in remote areas who face extra ferry costs if they are on an island, more expensive local stores and the higher cost of heating older homes.
Thursday’s conference at Islesburgh Community Centre will examine the findings more closely and look into ways in which the cost of living gap can be addressed.
Nicolson said HIE was keen to see what they could do make living in remote communities more sustainable and attractive.
Shetland Islands Council leader Gary Robinson said the council would be using the findings when they discussed how Shetland was allocated funding.
“This is an extremely useful and robust piece of research, providing real evidence to support a number of issues we’re facing in Shetland, such as high fuel bills, travel costs and delivery charges,” he said.
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