OPPOSITION parties united at Holyrood yesterday behind calls for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to keep its own board, defeating a Scottish Government move.

HIE supports economic growth in the Northern and Western Isles, Highlands, Moray and Argyll, but ministers want a new management body to oversee all of Scotland’s enterprise and skills agencies.

The Tories said the loss of a separate board “effectively means the end of HIE as we know it”, but Economy Secretary Keith Brown insisted HIE would still be locally managed.

A Tory motion calling on the Government to “reverse this decision and ensure that the HIE board continues to take all strategic, operational and budgetary decisions” was backed by 64 votes to 63.

Tory MSP Donald Cameron said the debate was not just about the “dry technical structure of just another Government agency”, but concerned “the fundamental nature of HIE and what it does”.

He told the chamber: “We mustn’t be sentimental, HIE hasn’t got everything right... but undoubtedly it has been a force for good.”

Cameron said a fifth of Scotland’s enterprises are in the Highlands and Islands, despite the region having only nine per cent of the population.

“If this ill-conceived proposal goes ahead, everything will change,” he said. “It is the board that makes HIE special. Having a separate and independent board allows HIE to use the experience and expertise of business leaders to further its aims.”

Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands, Rhoda Grant, said after the vote: “The SNP’s plan to scrap the Highlands and Islands Enterprise board has been rejected by Parliament. Nationalist ministers must now respect the will of Parliament and scrap this plan.

“Highlands and Islands Enterprise has been hugely successfully in stabilising and growing the economy of the Highlands and Islands, and reversing the depopulation of the area.

“The SNP’s only aim with this proposal is to continue with its relentless march towards centralisation and control. The SNP has already centralised the police and fire and rescue service, leading to a poorer service.

“This government is obsessed with moving power and services south, and repeatedly shows its contempt for the people of the Highlands and Islands.

“I call upon all Highlanders and Islanders to say enough is enough and speak out against this wrong-headed plan.”

The move would see a new Scotland-wide statutory board for Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.

Brown said: “The review that we undertook has focused on how best we can ensure that our agencies are working together. Respondents said there was a complex and cluttered landscape which is often confusing and that we needed clearer alignment of our services to deliver our national ambitions.

“That’s why we will align these key agencies under a strategic Scotland-wide board, and also protect local decision-making, local management and local delivery.”