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Today : Local Authority

 
Eilidh Primrose is the New Highland Youth Convener

The Highlands has a new young people’s champion after confirmation that Eilidh Primrose has taken up the role of Highland Youth Convener for 2026-27.   Twenty-two-year-old Eilidh, who lives in Inverness, is the 18th person appointed to the position and has taken over from Leah McBain.  

Yesterday

“Short-changing staff isn't a shortcut to success” - Nearly 660 employers announced as failing to pay the minimum wage

Around £4 million has been repaid to 27,000 workers.   Latest list of employers who have underpaid workers revealed as Government hands enforcement powers to new dedicated body.  

Yesterday

Don't Move. Build - Why the Mortgage Crisis Could Change How We Extend Our Homes

For years, the answer to a familiar housing problem has seemed fairly straightforward.  If your house is too small, move to a bigger one.  

Yesterday

Glasgow's Financial Warning: What Does It Mean for Highland and Scotland's Other Councils?

There is a warning buried inside today's Audit Scotland report on Glasgow City Council that should concern every council in Scotland, including Highland.   It is not simply that Glasgow has a £110 million financial problem.  

Yesterday

The Hydro Rates Crisis: Why Scotland Could Be Taxing the Infrastructure It Needs for Net Zero

There is a strange contradiction developing in Scotland's energy policy.   On one hand, Scotland wants more renewable electricity, more energy storage and a much more flexible electricity system.  

Yesterday

Scotland's Public Finances Show The Bill Is Coming But Who Will Pay It?

There is a point at which a financial warning stops being something for accountants and politicians and becomes a warning for every taxpayer.   I think Scotland has reached that point.  

Yesterday

The Iran War Trap: If Trump Can't Win the War, Can He Afford to End It? Oil Price Head Towads $100

For people in Caithness and across Highland, the war between the United States and Iran may seem a very long way away.   But listen to the conversations taking place in shops, garages, homes and workplaces and it is clear that the distance is becoming rather less important.  

Yesterday

Britain's New Army: Can Drones, AI and High-Tech Weapons Make Up for Decades of Cuts?

Britain is trying to do something rather unusual with its Armed Forces.   After spending much of the past two decades reducing the number of soldiers, sailors and airmen and women, it is now trying to build a military capable of dealing with a much more dangerous world.  

Yesterday

Britain's Shrinking Army: 20 Years of Cuts Cannot Be Reversed by a Few Thousand Recruits

Britain's Armed Forces are finally growing again.   That is the good news but the less comfortable news is that the increase is tiny compared with what has been lost over the past two decades.  

2/9/2026

Two NHS Scotlands? What the Health Board Shake-Up Could Mean for Caithness

There is a potentially huge change coming to the way Scotland's NHS is organised, and it could have particular consequences for places such as Caithness.   The Scottish Government is developing a new East and West structure for NHS Scotland.  

2/9/2026 : Local Authority

 
Candidates for Highland Council Ward 3 Wick and East Caithness By-Election confirmed

Following today’s deadline for nominations, The Highland Council can confirm the details of the 5 candidates that are standing in the Ward 3 Wick and East Caithness by-election.  There are 5 candidaes.  

2/9/2026

Pay More, Wait Longer and Why Scotland's Ferry Problem Still Isn't Fixed

For Scotland's island communities, ferries are not a luxury as they are roads that happen to float.   That is why the latest news about CalMac's fleet is so frustrating.  

2/9/2026

Students urged to ‘stop and think before you click’ as student finance payments begin

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is reminding students to be alert to scams as maintenance loan payments begin for the 2026/27 academic year.   As students across the country prepare to start or return to university, SLC is urging them ‘stop and think before you click’ when responding to any unusual messages or communication about their student finance.  

2/9/2026

Transport & storage firms slam the brakes on price rises for September

New data shows just 9.7% of transport and storage businesses expect to raise prices in September – the lowest of any major UK sector, and down sharply from 15.8% in August.  Manufacturers and retailers, by contrast, are far more likely to be pushing prices up, says the delivery expert Parcelhero.  

2/9/2026

The Winter Fuel Warning As Oil Is Rising Again and Britain Still Has No Long-Term Plan

For a while, there was a little hope that the worst of the heating-oil crisis might be behind us.   Perhaps oil prices would settle.  

2/9/2026

The Highlands May Be Cooler, But Our Food Bills Aren’t: Britain Faces a New Food Price Shock

The Highlands May Be Cooler, But Our Food Bills Aren’t: Britain Faces a New Food Price Shock For years, climate change has often seemed like somebody else's problem.   We watched television pictures of heatwaves in southern Europe, wildfires in California and droughts in Africa and thought that Britain, sitting in the North Atlantic with its cool, wet climate, was somehow protected.  

2/9/2026

11,000 Jobs, 20,000 Jobs or Something In Between? The Real Cost of Swinney's Public-Sector Revolution

There is one number that is beginning to dominate the argument about John Swinney's plans for reforming Scotland's public services.   20,000.  

2/9/2026

Highland's £2.1 Billion Gamble and When Higher Interest Rates Meet a 20-Year Investment Plan

Highland Council has an ambitious plan in fact it's very ambitious.   Over the next 20 years it wants to invest around £2.1 billion in schools, roads, transport, community facilities, offices, depots and other infrastructure across the Highlands.  

2/9/2026

Two Leaders, Two Visions - Burnham Wants to Rewire Britain and Swinney Wants to Rewire Scotland

Tuesday was an unusually important day in British politics.   In London, Prime Minister Andy Burnham made his first major statement to the House of Commons since taking office, setting out the direction in which he intends to take the United Kingdom.  

2/9/2026

The Mortgage Squeeze Is Back and Why Homeowners Could Be Paying More Even Without a Rate Rise

For a while it looked as though the great mortgage squeeze might finally be coming to an end.   Interest rates had fallen from their peak.