News Archive
28/1/2011
Time To Enrol Children For School
Parents and guardians of children are being informed by The Highland Council that its time for enrolment into pre-school and primary school in the Highlands. The next school session starts on 16 August 2011.28/1/2011
Lybster Police Station To Close As Part Of Savings Measures
Lybster Police Station To Close As Part Of Savings Measures By Northern Constabulary Police Stations were the focus of a meeting ot he Joint Northern Police Board today when it was agreed to close 15 police stations in the latest round of cuts and savings measures being announced by public bodies right across the UK. Lybster police station will now be covered by Wick police station.27/1/2011
Regeneration Partnership Update - Week Commencing 17 January 2011
Week commencing 17th January From Eann Sinclair - Programme Manage The Partnership's Delivery Group met this week, and discussed progress on our two priority areas of energy and business services. Roy Kirk, HIE's Area Manager reported progress in existing businesses and with targeted inward investment research and campaigns in specific areas of both energy and business services.27/1/2011
Tall Ships Opportunity For Young People In Highland
Tall Ships opportunity http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D17A9CA4-C88D-4A22-89DE- (Pdf) Tall Ships application form http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CAD08E77-536D-43A5-862C- (Pdf) In partnership with Ocean Young Trust, Young Scot and COSLA, The Highland Council is offering 2 young people the opportunity to participate in the Tall Ships Races 2011. The opportunity includes travel to and from the vessel and all costs incurred while taking part in the project.27/1/2011
Budget Bill Debate - £1.3 Billion Cut
Ahead of the Budget Bill debate in the Scottish Parliament today, Finance Secretary John Swinney said:"I look forward to Stage 1 of the Budget Bill and debating a budget that will protect jobs and frontline services, promote economic recovery and support the move to a low carbon economy. Scotland's budget next year has been slashed by £1.3 billion as a result of Westminster cuts, planned by the previous UK Government and extended by the current UK coalition.27/1/2011
UK GDP Figures - Warning From John Swinney
Speaking in response to the publication of UK GDP figures, which show the UK economy contracted by 0.5 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2010, Finance Secretary John Swinney on Tuesday said:"Today's shock UK figures entirely vindicate the Scottish Government's decision to defer the UK coalition Government's Emergency Budget cuts for 2010/11 to next year, so that we can continue investing and building recovery now. Clearly, Westminster's cuts go too far and too fast, and are choking off the UK's recovery.27/1/2011
Go ahead for A90 Upgrade - Aberdeen - Ellon
Transport Minister Keith Brown today gave the go ahead for the upgrade after considering the findings and recommendations of the public local inquiry. The improvements will provide continuous dual carriageway between Aberdeen and Ellon and remove the bottleneck caused by the existing single carriageway.27/1/2011
Farm Income Estimates 2010
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Scottish Farm Income Estimates 2010, containing the first release of aggregate Total Income From Farming (TIFF) estimates for 2010 and average Farm Business Income (FBI) estimates for 2009-10, along with revisions for previous years. Main findings: Total Income From Farming (TIFF) increased by £122 million to £618 million between 2009 and 2010.27/1/2011
Glasgow 2014 Digital Game Competition
Budding computer games designers are being given a unique opportunity to design a digital game for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Any student studying in Scotland is eligible for the competition which will see both the winner and runner up take home a cash prize of £2014.27/1/2011
Law Change To Protect Tenant's Deposits
Regulations governing the approval of a national Tenancy Deposit Scheme were laid in the Scottish Parliament. The regulations are expected to become law in March.27/1/2011
THOUSANDS IN FIRING LINE AS CUTS BITE
UK Housing Benefit changes will penalise the poor Around 60,000 households will face severe hardship when UK housing benefit changes take hold in Scotland, Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said today. In April, 55,000 households will be given nine months to either lose housing benefit or move out of their home.25/1/2011
Highland Emergency Restrictions On Use Of Road Salt Removed
A 2,000 Tonne load of salt delivered to Inverness yesterday (24 January 2011) has boosted total stock on salt for Highland Council roads to 14,800 Tonnes. With a further 8,300 Tonnes due later in the week, stocks are now sustainably above the 12,800 Tonne threshold at which Councillors decided last week that restrictions should be lifted.25/1/2011
Highland Libraries Award For Quality Service Provision
The Highland Council's Library Service has received acknowledgement for their commitment to providing high quality services at the inaugural Scottish Library Excellence Awards. With public libraries in Scotland attracting over 30 million visitors per year and academic libraries attracting 12.8 million, the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) acknowledged the achievements of Highland libraries.25/1/2011
Council Welcomes Progress At Nigg
The Highland Council has welcomed the progress announced today (Tuesday 25 January 2011) in reactivating the former Nigg oil fabrication yard in East Ross. Global Energy has confirmed it has been given preferred bidder status and is in the process of purchasing part of the site owned by US company, KBR, and securing a long term lease of the section owned by the Wakelyn Trust, with a view to taking over the site in April.25/1/2011
Young People Wanted
Young people from across the Highlands still have time to stand as candidates in the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) elections which take place across Scotland in March. SYP is the national organisation which provides young people aged 14-25 a platform to represent young people across Highland and Scotland and is an opportunity to influence politicians and formal decision makers.24/1/2011
Council Focuses On Trees And Woodlands
Planning consultations seek views on sustainable design and impact of development on trees and woodland. An eight-week public consultation gets under way today Monday (24 January 2011) on two new planning documents produced by The Highland Council's Planning Environment and Development Service, which provide guidance on the design of buildings as well the impact of developments on trees and woodland.24/1/2011
New Extended Way Of Paying Council Bills
Highland householders are being advised by The Highland Council of new and extended ways of paying their Council Tax, rent and other Council bills. The new payment system takes effect from 1 April - the start of the new financial year.21/1/2011
Emergency Measures Remain In Place To Conserve Winter Salt Supplies
Members of The Highland Council's Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee have agreed that emergency measures to conserve road salt should remain in place until the stock returns to a sustainable level of 12,800 tonnes, which provides eight days of supply at heavy usage. The latest stock level stands at 12,300 tonnes and it is hoped that the restrictions can be lifted by the end of next week, if further scheduled salt supplies arrive.20/1/2011
Councillors Agree Action Plan For Offshore Renewable Energy
Members of the Planning, Environment and Development Committee have agreed a 10 point action plan for offshore renewable energy development which will assist The Highland Council to deliver set objectives for the economy, communities and the environment. The Action Plan, which received cross party support, covers issues surrounding infrastructure, the supply chain, community benefit and workforce and skills.20/1/2011
