News Archive
15/3/2015
New shipping service reduces HGVs on Scotland's trunk roads
Over 6,300 HGV journeys to be removed from key routes in first three years. "Corpach timber transport company Boyd Brothers is well on the way to becoming greener thanks to a Scottish Government investment of almost £1 million" said Transport Minister Derek Mackay during a visit to the Highland sawmill today.14/3/2015
College scoops overall winner at LANTRA awards
Students and staff at the North Highland College UHI are delighted after attending the annual LANTRA awards ceremony last week in the Dunblane Hydro Hotel. Gamekeeping modern apprentice Callum Low and NC Gamekeeping with Wildlife Management student Mary Bowman both were both nominated for Game and Wildlife Learner of the Year award.
14/3/2015
Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership - Update
Week Commencing 9th March 2015. This is a short message to update you on activities relating to the Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership.14/3/2015
Hill farm support payments begin
Less Favoured Area Scheme 2014 payments start. Thousands of hill farmers and crofters in Scotland's most fragile and remote areas are set to receive vital support payments by the end of this week.14/3/2015
NHS Scotland pay rise
Health staff to get recommended increase in full. NHS staff in Scotland are to benefit from an independently recommended pay rise in 2015/16, thanks to changes agreed by the Scottish Government.14/3/2015
Female employment at record high
FM reflects on progress and challenges at International Women's Day event. The gap between male and female employment rates in Scotland has fallen to a record low, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced today.14/3/2015
Online planning applications set to save £71 million
Red tape slashed for tens of thousands. Over 100,000 people and businesses have saved an average of £241 by submitting online planning applications to the ePlanning Scotland website, since its launch in 2009.13/3/2015
How Highland Council performs
The Highland Council members will consider ed a report on Thursday 12th March 2105 which sets out how Highland Council performs compared to other Local Authorities in Scotland. The benchmarking framework reports on how much councils spend on particular services, service performance and how satisfied people are with the major services provided by councils.13/3/2015
Far North Line On Track for Improvement Progress
Highland (Scottish Labour) MSP, Rhoda Grant met earlier this week with Mike Kean, who led the successful Abellio bid for the ScotRail franchise, ahead of the formal handover from First at the beginning of April. Mrs Grant who had sought the meeting, which took place in Parliament, focused discussion on what improvements far north rail line users could expect from Abellio, when they become the new ScotRail train operating company.13/3/2015
NHS Highland recalled to the Parliament's Public Audit Committee
NHS Highland is to be recalled to give evidence to the Public Audit Committee in order for MSPs to question them again on their management of NHS Highland's finances in 2013/14. At its meeting today the Public Audit Committee agreed to recall three witnesses from NHS Highland to give further evidence on the AGS report: 2013/14 audit of NHS Highland: Financial management.12/3/2015
Council seeks views on new sites and issues suggested for CaSPlan
The Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan Main Issues Report (CaSPlan MIR) was published in October 2014 as a discussion document that set out initial ideas for what the plan needs to achieve for people and places in the area and the Council's initial preferences for where new development might be located. The consultation for the CaSPlan MIR finished on 6 February 2015.11/3/2015
Pentland Firth Works Operations - Details For Mariners
James Fisher Marine Services Booths Park House Chelford Road Knutsford Cheshire Main Contact Stan Groundwater s.groundwater[AT]james-fisher.co.uk tel 01856831380 mob 07747843712 All positions to be quoted in World Geodetic System 1984 [WGS84], lat. / long., in deg./ minutes.
11/3/2015
Dingwall & Highland Marts - Sale 11th March 2015
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts, (March, 11th) sold 2,194 sheep of all classes. Lambs (903) averaged £55.31 and sold to £94 gross for Swaledale crosses from Leys Castle, Inverness.11/3/2015
Scotland's fiscal position improves in 2013-14 but this is set to stall as oil price falls bite
David Phillips, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies writes for the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Today, the Scottish Government published the latest version of its annual Government Expenditure and Revenues Scotland (GERS) publication covering 2013-14.10/3/2015
Dingwall & Highland Marts - Rare Breeds Sale
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts (March, 7th) sold 20 cattle, 1 donkey, 3 goats, 76 sheep, 527 lots of poultry, eggs and poultry equipment at their poultry, rare & traditional breeds of livestock sale. Cattle (20) sold to £770 gross for a Highland cow with heifer calf at foot from Mains of Inkhorn, Auchnagatt.
10/3/2015
Opportunity for taxi and private hire car operators to have their say
Taxi and private hire car operators (PHC) and drivers in Highland are being invited to meet with The Highland Council's Taxi/PHC Sub Group to provide Members with their views on a number of issues relating to the trade. There will also be an opportunity for the trade to raise any issue which they wish with the sub group.10/3/2015
Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd - Sale 10th March 2015
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (March, 10th) sold 53 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (34) averaged 205.3p (-6.7p) and sold to 212p per kg and £1,452.55 gross.10/3/2015
MSP WRITES RETURNING OFFICER OVER REGISTRATION FEARS
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Labour) MSP, Rhoda Grant has written to the Highland Council Chief Returning Office over concerns about the new system of voter registration ahead of the General Election due to take place on 7th May. Last year saw the UK Government make the biggest changes to voter registration in a generation with the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration which was aimed at giving people more control over the process and increase the accuracy of the register.10/3/2015
Offshore wind costs falling faster than expected
The news that two offshore wind projects have been successful in the first auction for renewable power held under the Department for Energy and Climate Change's ‘Contract for Difference' (CfD) regime, coupled with the findings of a new industry report, show that costs in offshore wind are coming down faster than originally expected. The CfD regime, established by the 2013 Energy Act, gives renewable power developers Government contracts that provide certainty on funding levels to enable a project to be developed; this is known as a "strike price", which is paid based on the total number of megawatt hours (MWh) of power produced for fifteen years of operation.
9/3/2015
