News Archive
14/6/2024
Sunak And Starmer Grilled In Election Interviews - Four Key Issues Assessed By Experts
We're at around the midway point of the 2024 election campaign and the two main party leaders have undergone a grilling by Sky News. This was not a head-to-head debate but two separate interviews with Sky's political editor Beth Rigby, followed by questions from the public.14/6/2024
Ratchets, Retrenchment And Reform - The Social Security System Since 2010
Spending on social security as a share of GDP has risen slightly since the financial crisis. The system in Great Britain has undergone profound change over the same time.
14/6/2024
Exonerations For Wrongly Convicted Sub-postmasters In Scotland
Sub-postmasters in Scotland who were wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal will be automatically exonerated from today (14 June 2024). The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act received Royal Assent today (13 June 2024) and comes into force tomorrow.
13/6/2024
Mrna Future - Dr John Campbell Reviews The Latest Moderna Vaccine
Moderna, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved mRESVIA (mRNA-1345).
13/6/2024
Increasing Pay For Children's Social Care Staff - Minimum £12 Per hour
Staff in children's social care services will see their pay increase to at least £12 an hour thanks to new Scottish Government funding. Backed by over £19 million this year, it will ensure more than 6,000 people working in a direct care role in the voluntary, private and independent sector services receive the pay increase, which could be worth more than £2,000 a year for some staff.13/6/2024
Applications Open For Education Maintenance Allowance 2024/25 - 4th-6th Year Pupils - allowance of £30 per week
All eligible young people are being encouraged to apply for a weekly, term time allowance of £30 per week from August 2024. The Highland Council administers Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in respect of eligible young people from across its 29 secondary schools.13/6/2024
Prisoner Early Release Plan Approved
The Scottish Parliament has approved the early release of some short-term prisoners to address the impacts of a recent rapid rise in the prison population. Under current modelling, based on the criteria set out in the regulations approved by Parliament, around 514 eligible prisoners will be released in four tranches from the 26 June.13/6/2024
Council Tax Collection Statistics 2023-24
Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the latest Council Tax Collection Statistics which provides Council Tax collection figures for Scottish local authorities, up to and including the financial year 2023-24. In 2023-24 for Scotland as a whole, the total amount of Council Tax billed (after Council Tax Reduction) was £3.015 billion.13/6/2024
Conservative Manifesto Proposals Would Mean Tax Cuts Of £170 For A Typical Employee - But Plans Rest On £33 Billion Of Spending Cuts In Order To Get Debt Falling
Tax changes pledged in the Conservative Party manifesto today (Tuesday) would mean a typical employee seeing their personal tax bill fall by £170 in 2028-29. But these pledges rely on making £12 billion of welfare cuts that recent history suggests will not be achievable over the next Parliament.13/6/2024
The Global Orange Juice Crisis Is Caused By Disease And Bad Weather - Here's How To Keep It On The Breakfast Table
Just as the world is coming out of the tea crisis, another breakfast staple, orange juice, is in the spotlight. Supply constraints have led to prices shooting up by more than 20% in a year.
13/6/2024
Faltering Growth Serves Reminder Of Stark Economic Challenge Facing Whoever Wins The Election
The latest GDP data serves a reminder to whoever wins the next election that their central goal must be to end Britain's economic stagnation, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). The economy did not grow in April, halting the momentum of 0.6 per cent growth in Q1 2024.13/6/2024
Four Tips To Avoid Being Bamboozled By Political Statistics And Data
With a plethora of elections around the world in 2024, voters considering their options can expect to be presented with all kinds of numbers and statistics aimed at giving credibility to various claims from various parties. But data, graphs, percentages and surveys can be misleading or manipulated.
13/6/2024
Tax The Bads Tobacco, Alcohol, Sugar, Carbon, Plastics - Richard Murphy
We all know what the ‘bads' in our economy are - tobacco, alcohol, sugar, carbon, plastics, and more. Some of them we tax heavily because we know they are ‘bad’.
13/6/2024
Welfare Spending Is Set To Rise Over The Next Parliament, But So Too Are Risks Around Child Poverty And Homelessness
Welfare spending is set to increase by over £20 billion a year by the end of the next parliament, driven almost entirely by rising spending on pensioners and those with a health condition. But reductions in support for renters will increase the risk of homelessness, while limits and caps on support is set to push the majority of large families into poverty, according to major new research published today (Thursday 13 June 2024) by the Resolution Foundation.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.12/6/2024
Suspected Drug Deaths In Scotland - January To March 2024 - Drug Deaths Rising Again
There were 320 suspected drug deaths between January and March 2024. This was 8% (23) higher than the previous quarter and 7% (22) higher than during the same period of 2023.12/6/2024
General Election 4 July 2024 - Voters Urged To Check Their Poll Cards
Poll cards for people across the two Highland UK Parliamentary Constituencies have started to be issued. As a result of the recent boundary changes, parts of The Highland Council local government area now fall into the new constituencies.
12/6/2024
What's Happened To Mortgage And Savings Rates Since 2010?
Average two-year fixed mortgage rates fluctuated by less than 1% (between 1.99% and 2.97%) across seven years between April 2015 and April 2022, with five-year fixed deals remaining similarly steady during that time period. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate was less than 2% (1.99%) in July 2020, but had more than tripled to 6.85% just over three years later in the aftermath of base rate rises and the 2022 mini-Budget announcement.
12/6/2024
Polls Show Labour Lead Over Conservatives Increasing Yet Further As Reform Grabs Disenchanted Right Wing
For the first time since the beginning of the election campaign there has been a clear shift in the poll averages shown on the BBC poll tracker writes BBC senior political analyst Peter Barnes. On 3 June Nigel Farage took over as leader of Reform UK and announced he would be standing as a candidate in the election.
12/6/2024
