News Archive
19/3/2014
Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd - Sale 19 March 2014
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (March, 19th) sold 620 store cattle, 2 adult head of breeding cattle and 48 OTM cattle. Bullocks (355) averaged 245.4p and sold to 304.0p per kg for a 375kg Limousin cross from Lower Whitebog, Fortrose, and £1,440 gross for a pen of 660kg Charolais crosses from Redfield, North Kessock.19/3/2014
Review aims to generate further interest in Community Challenge Fund
The Highland Council has reviewed its Community Challenge Fund one year after its introduction and agreed measures to encourage and support more community groups to bid into the £1 million fund. Three community groups have applied successfully for funding.19/3/2014
Rhoda Grant MSP Endorses New Proposals For Scottish Parliament
Highlands & Islands (Labour) MSP Rhoda Grant has welcomed the Labour Party’s Devolution Commissions proposals (Attached) which propose to strengthen the present constitutional arrangements to serve Scotland better and make the Scottish Parliament a stronger and more powerful Government within the UK. She said “I welcome the proposals being suggested by the Commission and in particular those which highlight that one cap does not fit all with regard to governing all parts of Scotland.19/3/2014
Budget 2014: Key announcements
Taxation Point at which people start paying income tax will be raised to £10,500. Bingo duty will be halved to 10%.19/3/2014
Budget 2014 - Extracts
Extracts from the Budget 2014 paper. This Budget sets out further action to secure the recovery and build a resilient economy.19/3/2014
Budget 2014 News For Pensions And Savers
Pensions The Chancellor set out that by removing the effective requirement to buy an annuity, people will have greater flexibility in accessing their pensions. This means that people can choose how they access their defined contribution pension savings; for example they could take all their pension savings as a lump sum, draw them down over time, or buy an annuity.18/3/2014
Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd - Sale 18 March 2014
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (March, 18th) sold 56 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (38) averaged 213.3p (-1.1p) and sold to 246p per kg and £1,609.25 gross.17/3/2014
Highland school meals price increase
Pupils, parents and carers are being informed that the price of school meals will increase in Highland primary and secondary schools from Tuesday 22 April 2014 when pupils return from the Easter holidays and the new spring-summer menu starts. The price of a primary school two course traditional lunch will increase to £1.95 and for secondary schools to £2.15.17/3/2014
Phase 2 - Kessock Bridge improvements update - weeks 5 and 6
The second phase of the main Kessock Bridge upgrade started on 10 February 2014. The works represent an investment of £13.2m from Transport Scotland.17/3/2014
Labour Attacks SNP Over Living Wage Policy
Rhoda Grant MSP, Scottish Labour Highlands and Islands Region, has slammed the SNP for its hypocrisy over the Living Wage. An amendment to the Procurement Reform Bill was proposed today at the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee which was designed to promote the payment of the Living Wage to workers on public sector contracts.17/3/2014
The 50p tax rate and inequality
Posted on March 7, 2014 by David Eiser at The Economics of Constitutional Change Alex Salmond has twice this week refused to commit to re-introducing the 50p rate of income tax on incomes over £150,000 – first following his New Statesman lecture in London, and then at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday. In making the case for independence, the Scottish Government has frequently argued that having access to tax and benefit levers would enable it tackle inequality more effectively than successive Westminster governments have tended to do.14/3/2014
Heavy Lift Pad Construction Underway At Wick Harbour
Wick Harbour Authority is making progress with its plans to create a heavy-lift facility on the commercial quay at Wick harbour, with contractors Gunns Lybster Ltd having now begun the work. The project, and its associated dredging works, was supported by CNSRP partners HIE and NDA respectively and is the first of several proposed phases of work to position the harbour as a key player in the energy sector, with the current focus being on potential to benefit from the development of Offshore Wind in the Moray Firth.14/3/2014
Council unanimously backs reducing the voting age
The Highland Council has unanimously supported reducing the minimum age for voting in all elections to 16. The Council is also backing Highland Youth Voice’s “Votes[AT]16” campaign which calls for 16 and 17 year olds to get the vote.14/3/2014
Highland Carbon CLEVER vision and action plan approved
An action plan and vision of what a low carbon Highlands would be like by 2025 was welcomed by members of The Highland Council - Thursday 13 March 2014. The vision supports an earlier statement of Inverness as a Carbon CLEVER City by 2025 which was recently approved by the Council’s City of Inverness Area Committee on 4 March 2014.14/3/2014
Council agrees plans to review customer services
The Highland Council has agreed plans to implement a review of Customer Services. The Council has agreed to spend £68,500 from the Strategic Change and Development Fund to enhance the Council’s web site so that the public can conduct more transactions online and the Service Centre, which handles phone queries from customers.14/3/2014
Caithness Features In Visit Scotland Campaign
Highlands’ ‘Brilliant Moments’ in UK VisitScotland tourism campaign' Brilliant moments in the Highlands are being promoted in VisitScotland’s latest UK tourism campaign. A stunning landscape scene of Glencoe features on the front cover of the region’s direct mail, and inside, Cawdor Castle and Glenfinnan Viaduct are included as well as Homecoming Scotland 2014 events in the Highlands, such as Brew at the Bog at Bogbain Farm, near Inverness, and the Fat Tyre Weekend in Fort William.14/3/2014
Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership - Update
Week Commencing 10th March 2014 Energy & Business Services: Wick Harbour Authority is making progress with its plans to create a heavy-lift facility on the commercial quay at Wick harbour, with contractors Gunns Lybster Ltd having now begun the work. The project, and its associated dredging works, was supported by CNSRP partners HIE and NDA respectively and is the first of several proposed phases of work to position the harbour as a key player in the energy sector, with the current focus being on potential to benefit from the development of Offshore Wind in the Moray Firth.14/3/2014
Council to increase spending on adult care services
Highland Councillors has agreed to dedicate significant additional funding for services to older people and the vulnerable. The Council has agreed an extra £13.5 million over the next three financial years for NHS Highland to deliver adult care services on its behalf.14/3/2014
Council team take top prize putting people into jobs
team from The Highland Council’s Planning and Development service has come out tops after winning the Strong and Sustainable Communities category in the 2014 COSLA Excellence Awards. The Create and Employ project, a partnership with the council, Highland Opportunity and Business Gateway, was put forward after winning the Working Together for the Economy category in The Highland Council’s Quality Awards.14/3/2014