Local Authority News
30/4/2020
Launch of Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund
From today, newly self-employed individuals who have not been able to access support through other schemes will be able to apply for a one-off grant of £2,000. Following the launch of the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund by Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, Fiona Hyslop MSP, Highland Council has been asked to administer the fund for Newly Self-Employed businesses within the Highland Council area.29/4/2020
Highland Council Finances Take A Huge Coronavirus Hit
The Highland Council is preparing for a budget gap of over £80M within the current financial year due to the impact of the Coronavirus crisis. All Members received an update today on the budget situation as part of their regular briefing sessions.
29/4/2020
Garden Waste Collection Service- resuming normal service
The Highland Council is pleased to announce that the Garden Waste Collection Service will be resumed from Monday 11th May 2020. Householders who have purchased a 2019/20 permit for the fortnightly collection of their garden waste are urged to check their calendars on The Highland Council's website for their collection day.29/4/2020
Highland Council welcomes Scottish Government clarification on PPE guidance
The Highland Council has welcomed the guidance issued today (29th April) by Scottish Government on ‘Donations of PPE and other supplies'. Cllr Ben Thomson, Chair of Highland Council's Housing and Property Committee said: "We welcome this new guidance from the Scottish Government which signposts people to a single national point of contact for those wishing to make or donate PPE to Covid-19NHSsupplychain@gov.scot.24/4/2020
Highland Council Has Now Helped Over 2,300 Businesses Obtain A Small Business And Self-catering Grant But 70% of Applications Forms Not Complete
The COVID-19 small business and self-catering grant scheme, set up to help companies stay in business during the coronavirus crisis, has now paid out £26.89million to 2341 Highland businesses. The latest figures show that grants were given to 1341 businesses, to the value of £14.8m, within the past week alone.20/4/2020
Highland Council Warns Of Business Grants Scam - Don't Get Caught Out On This
The COVID-19 crisis has seen an unprecedented rise in scams across the whole of the UK and Highland Council Trading Standards is issuing a warning to local businesses about a new scam that has come to light, regarding business grants. This scam involves an unsolicited email informing the business that its business grant application has been processed and a payment to be made to you soon.20/4/2020
Highland Council ramp up team responsible for processing business grants
The Highland Council is ramping up the team responsible for processing small business grants to respond even more quickly and to as many applicants as possible. On Friday almost 4,000 applications had been received by Highland Council and 1000 of those have already been processed, to the value of over £12.8million.20/4/2020
Business Grant Payments Pass 1000 Mark in Highland
Following the establishment of a dedicated Council team and system to manage the COVID-19 Business Grant scheme, the number of and value of grants to Highland businesses is increasing daily. On Friday 17 April alone, business grants were awarded to 233 businesses to the value of £2.84m which took the overall total to over 1000 businesses and total grants secured to over £12.8m.16/4/2020
Highland Council Trading Standards warns about council tax scam
Highland Council Trading Standards is again warning unsuspecting residents of the emergence of another council tax scam. Today a call was received by the Council from a council tax payer alerting to a council tax scam whereby scammers are now emailing people and informing them that they are due a council tax rebate.9/4/2020
Council closes car parks and reminds holiday home owners of COVID-19 legislation to discourage travel
This Easter - #stayhomesavelives. Fifteen ‘attraction' car parks across the Highland region will be closed this Easter weekend and until further notice during the COVID-19 lockdown period to discourage people from travelling and to help encourage them to follow national guidance and #stayhomesavelives.
9/4/2020
Calls continue to come in to Council's Covid-19 helpline
A high number of calls to The Highland Council's dedicated COVID-19 helpline continue to be dealt with on a daily basis. The 0300 303 1362 has been set to give assistance on urgent COVID issues and to collect details of individuals and community groups looking to provide volunteering support.
7/4/2020
Highland Council Issues Covid-19 Advice To Tenants
The Highland Council is sending a bulletin to all council tenants providing them with advice about issues related to Coronavirus. The bulletin contains information of a wide range of topics including energy advice, details on changes to homelessness services, how to get housing support, support for anyone in rent arrears, awareness tips from Trading Standards on staying safe from scams, a reminder on how to continue receiving free school meals, specific information for any tenants shielding, what practical support is available in communities and sharing national helplines for people to stay connected.7/4/2020
Bin lorry fire prompts Council plea
The Highland Council urges members of the public not to put hot ashes into household bins. Please ensure that ash is properly cooled before emptying into bins.7/4/2020
Highland Council issues COVID-19 outdoor access guidance reminder
The Highland Council's Access Officers have become aware of several illegal ad hoc signs appearing on paths and access routes saying that they are closed. These signs are misleading, so the team is taking this opportunity to remind everyone about the current COVID-19 outdoor access guidance.4/4/2020
Highland Council To Provide School Meals Throughout Easter Break
Highland Council will continue to provide school meals through e-vouchers to families throughout the school Easter break. This is to recognise the particular difficulties many families will be experiencing due to the Coronavirus emergency.4/4/2020
Change to waste and recycling services aims to protect staff
From Monday, a number of changes have been made in line with national guidance, to how we collect waste in order to protect staff, during the Coronavirus emergency. To protect our staff, and prevent the spread of Coronavirus on our waste collection routes we have improved social distancing measures in line with guidance and in discussion with union reps.3/4/2020
Easter Childcare For Key Workers - Hubs to remain open over the spring break
Learning and childcare hubs for the children of key workers will remain open across Scotland over the Easter holidays. The move will help support key workers in the NHS and other key sectors on the frontline of the response to coronavirus (COVID-19).1/4/2020
Shielding For The Extremely Vulnerable In Highland
What is 'shielding'? If you fall within one of the groups recommended to shield, you will have received a letter or text from the NHS. Shielding is a measure to protect extremely vulnerable people by minimising contact between those who are extremely vulnerable and others.1/4/2020
Help available for Council Tax payers in Highland
Council tax payers in Highland who have lost their jobs or are experiencing a drop in their income are being encouraged to apply as quickly as possible for a reduction in their council tax. This help, known as the ‘Council Tax Reduction Scheme', is available for lower income households, including home owners.1/4/2020
