Local Authority News
12/6/2024
Final Business Case For Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport Endorsed
Members of the Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee have endorsed the Final Business Case (FBC) for the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, signifying another major step forward in the development of Highland as a global centre for Green Energy and inward investment. Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans welcomed the report.8/6/2024
Candidates Confirmed By Highland Council For UK Parliamentary General Election 2024
14 candidates are seeking election on Thursday 4 July 2024 for the two Highland UK Parliamentary constituencies:. 7 candidates are standing in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency 7 candidates in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.6/6/2024
Highland Voters Urged To Prepare For Upcoming UK General Election
Residents in the two Highland Constituencies - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire are being urged to prepare ahead of the UK parliamentary general election taking place on Thursday 4 July. Anyone who wants to have their say in the UK general election must be registered to vote by Tuesday 18 June.
31/5/2024
Parents And Carers As Partners In Their Children's Education
The Parental Engagement Strategy aims to build on good practice and create further opportunities for partnership working between schools and parents/carers; supporting parents and carers as partners in their children's education and welcoming their involvement in school life. Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: "There are great benefits to parents/carers being involved in their children’s learning from helping them with homework and forming stronger connections with the school through events and volunteering opportunities.31/5/2024
Young Carers Statement - Help From Highland Council
A simple and digitally accessible plan is available to any child or young person in Highland who cares for another person. Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: "Young Carers do an incredible job to help look after those closest to them, and it can be a challenge to find time or the words for conversations around their own wellbeing and future.30/5/2024
Visitor Levy Bill Passed By Scottish Parliament And Highland Council Welcomes It
MSPs have backed legislation giving councils a new power to introduce a visitor levy that would raise funding for local visitor facilities and services. The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill will enable local authorities to apply a levy on overnight stays with all money raised to be reinvested in services and facilities largely used by tourists and business visitors.30/5/2024
Draft Community Wealth Building Strategy - Your Chance To Have Your Say
The Highland Council has today (Wednesday 29 May 2024) launched a survey to capture comments on its' draft strategy on Community Wealth Building. Community Wealth Building provides an alternative approach to economic development and a practical response that aims to keep wealth within a local area.
28/5/2024
School Numbers Dropping According To Council Forecasts
On Thursday 30 May 2024 the Education committee of Highland Council will be updated on the 15-year School Roll Forecasts (SRFs) that were published in April 2024 and the recent work undertaken to support the roll forecasting and school capacity modelling processes. There will be a presentation at the Committee meeting that will provide more information, including graphics to illustrate current statistics and future trends.
26/5/2024
Early Learning And Childcare Job Opportunities Across Highland
Have you considered a rewarding job working with young children within your community? The Highland Council is recruiting for permanent and fixed term posts commencing in August 2024. Our Early Learning Centre (ELC) settings are varied in size due to the rural and urban settings.24/5/2024
Leader highlights investment opportunities in Highland to delegates at major international event
The Leader of The Highland Council Cllr Raymond Bremner highlighted important investment opportunities in the region at this week's UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF). The Leader and Allan Maguire, Highland Council’s Head of Development & Regeneration attended this week’s event in Leeds as part of a delegation from the Scottish Cities Alliance.17/5/2024
Focus On Tourism As Representatives Gather
Yesterday, Thursday 16 May, representatives from the tourism sector in the Highlands gathered in Inverness to take part in a Sustainable Tourism Strategy Workshop hosted by The Highland Council. The meeting, which was well attended with representatives from across Highland and different interests, follows the launch of the Council's public consultation on its Draft Sustainable Tourism Strategy.16/5/2024
Helping Clear School Meal Debt In Scotland
First Minister John Swinney has confirmed the opening of a £1.5 million fund to support councils in removing the impact of school meal debt from families across the country. Mr Swinney said this commitment will help ensure no child is penalised for struggling to pay for school meals as a result of the cost of living crisis.15/5/2024
Highland Council Has The Biggest Budget Gap In Scotland Of All 32 Councils
Todays Audit Scotland report Local government budgets 2024/25 reveals how dire council budgets are. This makes many more cuts in services likely in coming years.
3/5/2024
Councillors Agree To Utilise UK Shared Prosperity Fund To Support Castle Recruitment & Training
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
3/5/2024
Success Of Highland Council's In-house Bus Service Pilot Is Highlighted
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
3/5/2024
Committee Gives Green Light To Active Travel And Road Safety Work
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.3/5/2024
Highland Councillors Agree Community Regeneration Support For Communities To Continue
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.3/5/2024
Economy And Infrastructure Committee Approve Council's Draft Ecology Strategy And Action Plan
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.2/5/2024
Highland Reports Achieving Priorities On Local Housing Strategy
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028. The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply.1/5/2024