Local Authority News
1/3/2018
Six candidates to contest Lochaber by-election
Six candidates are standing for election to fill a vacancy for the Caol and Mallaig Ward of The Highland Council. The by-election is being held following the sad death of Councillor Billy MacLachlan who was one of three Councillors representing Ward 11.1/3/2018
Highland Council to generate income through solar energy
The Highland Council is to progress with plans to generate over £4 million profit and significantly reduce its carbon emissions by installing solar panels on its estate. The Council's Corporate Resources Committee yesterday (28 February 2018) approved a self-financing project using £2.3 million of capital to install 2.5 megawatts of solar panels on sites across the Council estate.28/2/2018
Modern Apprenticeship Programme ‘creates, empowers and serves' in Highland
A Modern Apprenticeship Programme currently providing employment and training for almost 50 young people in The Highland Council has been welcomed by Members of the Council's Corporate Resources Committee for creating opportunities, empowering young people and serving Highland communities. Cllr Alister Mackinnon, Chair of the Corporate Resources Committee said: "Excellent progress has been made since the introduction of the Modern Apprenticeship Programme in August last year.28/2/2018
Council's Benefits Service commended for outstanding performance
People in the Highlands claiming Housing Benefit are receiving the best service provided by any local authority in Scotland. This accolade for Highland Council will be presented to the Council's Corporate Resources Committee on 28 February 2018 in a report highlighting the leading performance achieved for housing benefit recipients across the Highlands.28/2/2018
Highland Council Poised To Slash Capital Spending
Highland council have issued notice of a special council meeting on Wednesday, 7 March 2018. The short agenda is now available on the Council's website and can seen at - https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3943/highland_council The meeting will be Webcast and you can watch live at - http://www.highland.public-i.tv/core There is a strong possibility that some capital projects maybe delayed or scaled back due to the need to service the borrowing from the Revenue Budget which is now under sever strain due to lack of funding..28/2/2018
Highland recognised for Earth Hour support
Ahead of WWF's annual Earth Hour on Saturday 24 March 2018, The Highland Council is again celebrating after being awarded WWF Scotland's Earth Hour Local Authority Runner-up Award for its contribution to the success of Earth Hour in 2017. Some of the Highland's best known landmarks, including Inverness Castle, Spey Bridge, Ruthven Barracks and Eilean Donan Castle, joined the likes of the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House in switching off for an hour last March.28/2/2018
Winter weather will result in £2.2m overspend for Highland Council's Winter maintenance budget
The Highland Council is forecasting a potential financial year end overspend of £2.259m in its winter maintenance budget with the most significant pressures as a result of winter weather. A combination of the weather conditions experienced and the timing of the most severe episodes is causing the pressure on the winter maintenance budget.26/2/2018
Record enquiries about filming in Highland
Last week saw The Highland Council's film unit receive its 200th enquiry of the year - a new record that illustrates the level of appeal the area now has as a location for everything from high end movies to online commercials. Enquiries are already 19% ahead of the previous financial year even before what is traditionally the busiest period of production development in March.22/2/2018
20 Mile An Hour Speed Limit for Streets In Wick
The safety of children walking and cycling to and from school and traffic calming measures in Wick were under the spotlight at yesterdays meeting of the Caithness Committee (Wednesday 21 February 2018). Local Councillors have given the go-ahead for proposals to introduce a 20mph speed limit and traffic calming measures across Wick designed to get motorists to slow down when driving around the town.
22/2/2018
Gaelic In-Service gets Full Marks
Close to 100 professionals met yesterday for what is one of the largest Career Long Professional Learning (CLPL) events of its kind in the country that specifically targets Gaelic Education staff. The event took place in Merkinch Community Centre, Inverness for Highland Council's annual Gaelic Education In-Service.20/2/2018
Reporting fly tipping to be made easier
The Highland Council is set to make it easier for the public to report incidents of fly tipping and be advised when action is taken. As part of an evaluation of its street cleaning service an in-depth LEAN review of how the council deals with fly tipping has been carried out to look at ways of improving responsiveness and customer satisfaction.20/2/2018
City Region Deal funding for new homes across the Highlands
The Highland Council has agreed to use City-Region Deal funding to part fund new mid-market housing projects throughout the Highlands. The affordable housing projects will be developed by Albyn Housing Society and Highland Housing Alliance in Ullapool, Fort William, Alness, Inverness, Aviemore, Grantown, Drumnadrochit and Newtonmore and will deliver 61 new homes targeted at young people working in the area.15/2/2018
Highland Council has agreed a budget for 2018-19.
Highland Councillors agreed a council tax increase of 3% which will mean an increase of £35.93 per annum on a Band D property. Overall, the budget gap of £15,146 million has been met by a package of savings which includes increasing Council Tax income by £3.448 million, increasing income by £3,059 million, setting a target of £2,250 million to be saved through Redesign and reducing expenditure by £5.1 million.14/2/2018
Highland Council Seek More Savings From Redesign of Services
Redesign is about the Council being more open-minded to new ways of delivering services, more commercially-minded to raise income to support services and jobs across the region and being more community-minded, listening locally and supporting more community-run services. The Highland Council is seeking to release over £2.2 million in savings this year through redesign projects.13/2/2018
Election For Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council
An election will take place for Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council on Wednesday 21 February 2018. The maximum permitted membership for the Community Council is 7 and as 8 nominations have been received, the 1349 electors in the community council area are being invited to cast their vote via a postal ballot.
13/2/2018
Budget proposals for protecting road maintenance in Highland
In recognition that roads are a high priority for communities in Highland the Administration at The Highland Council will be putting forward a budget on Thursday (15 February) that protects the budget for local roads. Chair of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Allan Henderson said: "We have nearly 7,000 kilometres of roads in the Highlands and this network is vital to our rural communities and lifeline services.13/2/2018
Nominations sought for Lochaber by-election
Nomination packs for prospective candidates for the Caol and Mallaig Ward by-election are now available from The Highland Council's website. The by-election is being held following the sad death of Councillor Billy MacLachlan who was one of three Councillors representing Ward 11.13/2/2018
Highland Council winter road condition and school closure report for Tuesday 13 February 2018
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.13/2/2018
Views sought on Shopfront Design Guide
The Highland Council is asking stakeholders and members of the public for feedback on new draft guidance aimed at ensuring high quality designs for traditional, replacement and new shopfronts. Not only does the draft Shopfront Design Guide: Planning Guidance provide advice to help promote good quality applications but it encourages developers and applicants to consider design at the earliest stage in their proposals.13/2/2018
