News Archive
7/6/2022
New Benefit To Help With Winter Fuel Bills
Low Income Winter Heating Assistance will support 400,000 households. A guaranteed annual winter heating benefit of £50 will be paid for the first time in February 2023 to around 400,000 low income households.7/6/2022
Scottish Greenhouse Gas Statistics 2020
SOURCE EMISSIONS A measure of the actual emissions or removals of greenhouse gases in Scotland, including international aviation and shipping. Source emissions were 40.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020; falling by 51.0 per cent between 1990 and 2020 and falling by 12.0 per cent between 2019 and 2020.7/6/2022
Best Start Grant School Age Payment Applications Now Open
Families have been urged to check whether they are eligible and apply for the Best Start Grant School Age Payment as applications open for children old enough to start primary school. This one-off payment of £267.65 is to help at a key stage in a child's life and can be used for anything from a new pair of shoes to books or arts and crafts materials.6/6/2022
Covid - Rules may have been loosened but it is not over with deaths continuing
See numbers in the poster..
6/6/2022
Protecting And Enhancing Nature
More funding for local nature restoration projects. Projects that support biodiversity and improve the health and wellbeing of local communities are set to benefit from further funding.6/6/2022
Minister To Visit Poland
Two day trip underlines Scotland's support for displaced people of Ukraine Scotland's continued support and solidarity for all those affected by Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, particularly those who have been displaced, will be underlined when Minister with Special Responsibilities for Refugees from Ukraine Neil Gray visits Poland this week. Mr Gray will provide reassurance that Scotland is a place of refuge and sanctuary for displaced people from Ukraine and that they are assured of a Warm Scottish Welcome and support whilst Scotland is their home.6/6/2022
Funding To Support Salmon Recovery
Projects aim to bring salmon population back from crisis point. New funding of £500,000 will support the development of wild salmon conservation measures.5/6/2022
Wages: Why Are They Not Keeping Up With Inflation?
There has been a huge amount of concern about rising inflation in recent months, and it's made worse by the fact that wage inflation has not been keeping up. A few workers in high-paid jobs have enjoyed higher bonuses and inflation-busting pay rises - it has just been reported that CEO pay has recovered to pre-pandemic levels for instance.
3/6/2022
Retail Inflation "to Get Worse Before It Gets Better"
Period Covered: 02 - 06 May 2022. Shop Price annual inflation accelerated to 2.8% in May, up from 2.7% in April.3/6/2022
Improving Broadband Access
Progress to extend faster broadband to island communities. Offshore work to connect thousands of island homes and businesses to faster and more reliable broadband services has begun.3/6/2022
Violence And Abuse In Shops Tripled Over Pandemic
British Retail Consortium survey shows violence and abuse against retail workers tripled over the pandemic to over 1,300 incidents per day. 60% of respondents class police response to incidents as ‘poor' or ‘very poor’.3/6/2022
Hydro Ness Now Fully Operational
The Hydro Ness, a hydroelectric generator on the banks of the River Ness, is now fully operational. Hydro Ness is a 92kW Archimedes screw hydroelectric scheme and interactive visitor experience which will generate over 500,000 kWh of renewable energy each year.
3/6/2022
Scotland Sees Highest Footfall Decline At Shops In May
Covering the four weeks 01 May - 28 May 2022. According to BRC-Sensormatic IQ data: Total UK footfall decreased by 12.5% in May (Yo3Y), a 0.6 percentage point improvement from April.3/6/2022
Financing The Just Transition To Net Zero
Tackling climate crisis prioritised in future spending plans. Net Zero Secretary Michael Matheson has pledged to maximise the use of public funding to accelerate the delivery of plans to tackle climate change.3/6/2022
A Nation Of Helping Hands - Warm Welcome For Ukrainians Settling In Scotland
A total of 3,747 displaced Ukrainians with a sponsor location in Scotland have arrived in the UK since the war in Ukraine began 100 days ago. There have now been almost 10,901 visas issued with a Scottish sponsor via the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, made up of more than 7,642 visas supplied through the Scottish Government's Super Sponsor Scheme, and a further 3,259 visas issued for matches with an individual sponsor in Scotland, The Scottish Government, local authorities and third sector partners have worked hard and at pace to provide a ‘Warm Scots Welcome' to those displaced by the war in their country, providing a range of support including meals, accommodation, clothing, healthcare, trauma support and translation.3/6/2022
Ukraine War: Rising Food Prices Are Not The Only Global Economic Fallout
As the war in Ukraine heads into its fourth month, its economic consequences are becoming more apparent and begin to move up on the global political agendas. And in the same way in which Russia's aggression has had political ramifications far beyond Ukraine, so do the economic repercussions.3/6/2022
Bank Holidays: How A Day Off Work Affects The Economy
The Queen's platinum jubilee will be celebrated across the UK with parades, picnics and street parties. But perhaps the most popular event planned to mark her 70 years on the throne will be an extra day off work.2/6/2022
End Of Relaxation To Temporary Structures And Uses During Covid-19 Pandemic
The Highland Council has been supporting business, particularly those in the tourism and hospitality sectors, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing a relaxation of planning and building warrant controls. This has included not insisting on planning applications or building warrant and completion certificates for temporary structures, operations and/or uses that would otherwise require permission.2/6/2022
Why It's Important To Make Sure Your Heavy Goods Vehicle Is Correctly Laden For Its Annual Test (mot)
Testing a vehicle's braking performance is a really important part of the annual test. So, we're reminding all operators to bring your vehicles to test with a load.
2/6/2022
