News Archive

New Leadership Group For Employee Ownership

A new industry leadership group will aim to make Scotland the best country in the world for employee-owned (EO) businesses, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced this week.   The First Minister confirmed the establishment of ‘Scotland for EO' when she travels to Arran for a meeting of the Scottish Cabinet.  

Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd - Sale 27 August 2018

LOCHMADDY, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (August, 27th) sold 2,614 store lambs.   Lambs (2,614) averaged £48.70 and sold to £86 gross for a Texel lamb from Druim Torrach, 17 Hougharry.  

Need A Dentist? - Wick Dental Practice Is Open For Registrations

Everyone in Caithness can recall the problems of getting a dental appointment locally.   For several years it was very difficult but now the recently opened Wick Dental Practice is still looking for new registrations.  

Highland Council Budget Leader Announces Further Squeeze on Spending

Budget Leader highlights early action required to address overspend.   The Corporate Revenue Monitoring Statement for Quarter 1 (Apr - June 18), which will go to the Council's Corporate Resources Committee next week, is projecting a £5.1 m overspend for the year.  

Council to consult on set school Easter holiday

A proposal to set a fixed school holiday for the first 2 weeks in April each year from 2019 onwards will go out to consultation by The Highland Council's Care and Learning Service.   The service will consult with Head Teachers, Parent Councils, the Local Negotiating Committee for Teacher representatives and other relevant educational establishments in Highland.  

The persistent myth about the financial crisis and living standards

It has become commonplace to describe the period since the Great Recession with lots of dramatic words—not only referring to the financial crisis itself, but how the economy and household living standards have stagnated.  Growth in average living standards has been described as 'terrible' or 'disastrous', while there has been much talk of a 'cost of living crisis' and a 'squeezed middle'.  

Public Finances Continue To Improve

Scotland's public finances are continuing to improve, with total revenue reaching £60 billion, as the economy grew twice as fast as the UK at the start of 2018.   Onshore tax revenue increased by £2 billion in 2017-18, with offshore revenue increasing by more than £1 billion according to the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures published today.  

Caithness And North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership - Update

19 August 2018 Energy & Business Services: It was good to meet this week with Mike Muir of M2 Procurement & Commercial Services.  Mike has extensive experience in procurement and commercial services, particularly in the nuclear sector, and I was delighted to hear that M2PCS has recently been awarded a contract to help develop the "Open4Business" portal that SSE has used to advertise many of its supply chain contracts.  

5-year Parking Policy for Highland drives forward

A 5 year Parking Policy and Guidance for The Highland Council area has been approved by Members of the Council's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee.   The policy, which is required by the local authority to underpin its enforcement of decriminalised parking will cover the period from 2018 - 2023.  

Council agrees site for Materials Recovery Facility

The Council's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee has today agreed the Longman Landfill site in Inverness as the preferred location to construct a new centralised waste management facility (Materials Recovery Facility) to recover recyclates and produce Refuse Derived Fuel, as the Council's preferred interim arrangements for meeting the requirements of the ban on landfilling which commences in January 2021.  This facility will process all of the Highland’s 83,000 tonnes of residual (non-recyclable) waste from 2021 onwards.