Local Authority News
The Council is to review developer contributions for schools in the Inverness area. Taking account of the forecasted phasing of housing sites, school roll forecasts indicate that Primary Schools in Inverness are under pressure and require significant additional capacity to support growth.
Highland Council has written to the Wick Stakeholder Group, Wick High School Parent Council and Newton Park Primary School Parent Council to provide a statement of assurance regarding the new Wick Campus facility. The letter states: We refer to discussion at recent Wick stakeholder group meetings, at which a request was made for the Council to provide a statement of assurance regarding the new Campus facility, and to address media reporting and local concerns over recent months.
Members are to be asked to approve proposals to expand the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal funded free open public Wi-Fi system to 14 towns across Highland. Town centres recommended for the free Wi-Fi programme are Alness, Aviemore, Dingwall, Dornoch, Drumnadrochit, Fort Augustus, Fort William, Invergordon, Nairn, Portree, Tain, Thurso, Ullapool and Wick.
Candidates wishing to stand at the by-election being held in The Highland Council's Ward 7 - Tain and Easter Ross - have until 4 pm on Monday 28 August to complete and submit their nomination forms. The by-election is being held on Thursday 28 September following the resignation of Cllr Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat) who has stepped down and taken up his seat in Westminster following the UK Parliamentary Elections held in June.
Leader of The Highland Council, Margaret Davidson will be meeting with Chief Constable Phil Gormley tomorrow. Councillor Davidson will be raising the issue of the future of the Police Control Room and Police Scotland's plans for the National Database Enquiry Unit (NDEU).
The new community facility at Wick High still has great offer on the High Life Card. Usually £20 per month but for this offer pay £200 and get a whole 12 months of access.
As part of Scam Awareness Month, Caithness Citizens Advice Bureau and Highland Council Trading Standards want to alert young job seekers about the potential pitfalls when applying for jobs or signing up to recruitment agencies online. Glenys Brown, Trading Standards Officer, based in Inverness explains, "Unfortunately, nationally, there has been a sharp rise in the number of online job hunting scams and the age group most likely to be targeted with fake job offers are young adults aged between 18 to 24 years".
The Highland Council is looking for your views on our draft Local Housing Strategy. The strategy sets out our aims for housing over the next 5 years and what we will do to.
Council confirms Corran Ferry is back up and running. The Highland Council is pleased to report that at 12.30pm today (Thursday 20 July 2017) the Corran Ferry fully resumed its foot passenger and car service.
Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson is calling for transparency on the UK Government's announcement this week that Council Leader calls for transparency on HMRC move to Edinburgh Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson is calling for transparency on the UK Government's announcement this week that 2,900 HMRC civil servants will be relocated to a new hub in Edinburgh city centre by 2020. Councillor Davidson said: "I am very concerned that Inverness is cited in news coverage of the UK Government's intention to move HMRC staff in regional offices to Edinburgh.
Teams from The Highland Council have been walking back to happiness and feeling the benefits of more active lifestyles following completion of the summer Step Count Challenge, run by Paths for All. The 8 week challenge, which attracted 968 teams of 5 from across Scotland started in May and finished on 25 June 2017.
Inverness, the largest city in the Scottish Highlands, has seen over 17,000 people access its free city centre WiFi in just 6 months following a collaboration between The Highland Council, Purple and Rapier Systems. The Highland Council sought a WiFi solution that would allow them to identify who visits the city and gain a way of effectively communicating with people.
Trading Standards officers at The Highland Council have discovered a new scam threat to local consumers. A local man was cheated out of a substantial sum by a conman posing as a reputable property landlord who used the man's mobile number to find out personal information from his Facebook account.
The Highland Council, one of several local authorities in Scotland which license UV tanning salons, will be conducting an audit on all licensed premises in Highland to verify compliance with EU safety standards regarding the output of ultra violet (UV) radiation. Environmental Health Officers have become increasingly aware of concerns nationally whereby the UV bulb strength in many cases have been found to exceed the standard for such equipment.
Motorists using Highland Council car parking machines will no longer have to search for change with the introduction of ‘RingGo' phone parking payments across the region. RingGo is a quick, easy to use mobile phone service, which lets motorists pay for their parking with a credit or debit card, rather than using cash at a machine.
Prosecuting people who share or threaten to share intimate images without consent will be easier under a new law which comes into force this month. From 3 July 2017, those convicted the offence could face up to five years in prison under the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016.
Members of The Highland Council have agreed to form a short life Cross-Party Working group for Inverness Schools. The decision to create the working group was made at Highland Council's meeting on 29 June.
Members of The Highland Council have agreed that an approach should be made to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Shona Robison, to come to meet with the Leader of Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson and the four Skye councillors on behalf of the Skye and Raasay Committee to request that the 24/7 NHS Emergency Cover be reinstated for Portree and North Skye. The meeting with the four Skye councillors will also include Members from Ward 5 (Wester Ross,Strathpeffer and Lochalsh).
Members of The Highland Council have unanimously agreed to the establishment of a joint Committee with Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Angus Council, Argyll and Bute Council, Comharlie nan Eilean Siar and Moray Council to be known as ‘The Northern Roads Collaboration Joint Committee'. Cllr Allan Henderson, Chair of the Council's Places Committee commended the formation of the new Joint Committee, he said: "I commend this initiative which will help Highland Council and our partner Northern Authorities address the ‘big ticket' roads’ issues that affect us all.
During a debate about the future of Highland Council finances, Leader of the Council, Margaret Davidson, has challenged the Scottish Government to be more open about the funding they provide for local councils across Scotland. "In recent years' we’ve seen too much smoke and mirrors when it comes to the Scottish Government handing out their annual grant to local councils.