News Archive
7/4/2012
Unanimous Support For Tug Reinstatement
Highland Councillors have unanimously supported a call for the reinstatement of the Emergency Towing Vessel, which until recently was based in the Minches, and for the successful conclusion of an agreement with the Oil and Gas Industry to provide ETV capability for the Northern Isles, fearing an environmental catastrophe if vital cover is not provided in the rural and exposed coastal waters. Council Leader Michael Foxley highlighted the importance of the tugs at the last full Highland Council meeting before the May elections, showing slides that highlighted the extent of a potential oil spill should previous groundings have led to a spillage.
7/4/2012
Rates Deferral Scheme for Scotland
Scottish companies are being reminded that they can spread the cost of the inflationary increase in business rates through the Scottish Government's rate deferral scheme for 2012-13. The scheme gives companies the flexibility to defer the uplift in their 2012-13 business rates bills over three years.7/4/2012
New Partnership For Out Of Hours Service
As of Tuesday 10 April 2012, The Highland Council's out of hours calls for emergencies relating to council housing repairs, property and homelessness, as well as roads, street lighting and environmental services will now be managed by Northern Constabulary working in partnership with The Highland Council. Calls will be dealt with by specialist staff from Northern Constabulary at the Force's Operations Centre, Old Perth Road in Inverness.7/4/2012
New Scheme To Protect Tenants' Millions
A compulsory scheme to safeguard millions of pounds in deposits paid by tenants renting properties in Scotland has been approved by Housing Minister Keith Brown. Annually, tenancy deposits amount to over £74 million in the majority of the 273,000 households that make up the private rented sector in Scotland.7/4/2012
Highland Businesses Invited To Attend First NHS Innovation Open Day
Highland businesses will have an opportunity to find out about the possibilities of developing products and ideas with NHS Highland and Inverness College UHI at a free event this month. The Innovation Open Day, which is the first event of its kind, is being held at the Centre for Health Science, near Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, on Wednesday April 18 between 10am and 4pm.7/4/2012
Scottish Enterprise Partners 2-B Energy
Dutch renewables company 2-B Energy has joined forces with Scottish Enterprise to deliver cutting-edge offshore wind technology with the potential to reduce costs by up to 45 per cent. The organisations will work together to support commercialisation of 2-B's unique two-bladed offshore turbine concept through development of offshore test and demonstration facilities in Scotland - potentially by the end of 2014.
6/4/2012
57,000 Tonnes Of Hazardous Materials Finally Dealt With At Dounreay
Dounreay today completed the destruction of one of the most hazardous legacies of Britain's earliest atomic research. A purpose-built chemical plant processed the last of 57,000 litres of liquid metal lifted from the primary cooling circuit of the experimental fast breeder reactor.5/4/2012
Highlands and Islands counting on skilled workforce for new investments
A new register to demonstrate the skills and experience of workers interested in the financial and business services industry across the Highlands and Islands has been launched by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Due to a number of ongoing discussions with companies interested in investing and creating jobs in the area, the agency is now looking to demonstrate the range and diversity of skills and experience which are available across the Highlands and Islands.5/4/2012
Thurso at junction with A836 to Castletown
Due to a previous incident at the above locus whereby the traffic light controlling traffic flowing South and traffic turning right into Tesco was damaged, it has come to the attention of police that drivers are failing to observe the red "repeater" light at the far side of this junction and travelling straight through. There is a high probability of an accident occurring as a result of this.2/4/2012
Police - Three Days Of Action Against Uninsured Drivers
Today Northern Constabulary joins Scotland's other Police forces for three days of action, coordinated by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, to target those who drive without suitable insurance. The campaign runs from Tuesday April 3 and concludes on Friday April 6, 2012.2/4/2012
Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd - Sale 3 April 2012
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (April, 3rd) sold 67 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (37) averaged 204.3p (+0.3p) and sold to 218p per kg and £1,496.50 gross.2/4/2012
A New Era For Crofting
Scotland's Crofting Commission is now open for business - and Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson met the new commissioners for the first time today. The Crofting Commission - which was established on April 1 and supersedes the Crofters Commission - aims to meet the needs of crofting and crofters in the 21st century.2/4/2012
Consultation On Scotland's Referendum
The Scottish Government has published details of the referendum consultation responses as at first thing this morning, which show that only 414 responses out of a total of 11,986 were anonymous - just 3.5 per cent of the total. The figures demonstrate there is no evidence that the process is being skewed by anonymous contributions, Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business Bruce Crawford said.2/4/2012
Carbon Capture and Storage
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing today welcomed the launch of the Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Carbon Capture and Storage Competition. Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:"I welcome the launch of DECC's Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Competition despite two previous false starts, and am keen to work with DECC as part of the competition process to ensure that it results in the development of CCS.2/4/2012
Warning - Phone Scam From Bogus Finance Company
Warning - phone scam Northern Constabulary has received information from members of the public that a bogus finance company is calling and stating that they have a substantial refund to pay and are requesting the last numbers of a visa/debit card along with other personal details. Police advise members of the public that they should not provide any personal information over the phone to unknown individuals.2/4/2012
More Empowerment For Scotland's Tenants
Social housing in Scotland entered a new era today, as Housing and Transport Minister, Keith Brown MSP, launched Scotland's first Social Housing Charter. Affecting over 600,000 households, the Social Housing Charter sets 16 standards and outcomes that all social landlords should be achieving for the tenants and other customers.1/4/2012
Work Begins on Railhead To Support Dounreay Closure
Construction work is underway on a new railhead to support the closure of the redundant nuclear site at Dounreay. The facility at Georgemas Junction on the far north rail line will enable fuel belonging to the UK to be returned to national stocks where it can be used to generate electricity.
1/4/2012
Expert Advice On Doing Business In Ireland
Businesses in the Highlands and Islands are encouraged to take advantage of business opportunities in Ireland at a free event in Inverness this month. Ireland is the UK's fifth largest export market and the UK's largest export market in sectors such as food and drink, fashion and footwear.1/4/2012
Dounreay Decomissioning Speeds Up Again
Senior figures from government and industry are gathering at Dounreay today to hear the site's new clean-up team set out their vision to accelerate the demolition of Britain's second largest civil nuclear site. Three of the world's biggest engineering and project management companies - Babcock International, CHM2HILL and URS - have come together to win the largest site closure contract ever let in the UK.1/4/2012
