News Archive
13/2/2012
Council's Cleaning Team Receive National Excellence Award
The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Cleaning Service have received a Performance Network Award for the Most Improved Performer in the Association of Public Services 2011 Excellence Awards. The ECS cleaning service, which employs 850 people, provides a daily building cleaning service to 367 of the Council's establishments including nurseries, schools, offices, libraries, community centres and museums.
12/2/2012
Household Recycling Saves Councils £20m
New figures show that Scotland's household recycling efforts save local authorities more than £20 million each year. The revelation on how much councils save through recycling comes as Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead launches the latest recycling campaign from the Scottish Government, encouraging the public to recycle more and more often.12/2/2012
College student support
Many more college students will be able to claim bursaries to support them during their studies, it has been announced today. An extra £11.4 million funding for further education student support has been announced in the Scottish Parliament by Finance Secretary John Swinney at the final stage of the Budget Bill 2012-13.12/2/2012
New Transport Projects
Details of how new budget allocations will be spent were unveiled by Finance Secretary John Swinney in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon. The specific transport strand of the announcement represents a package of almost £72 million aimed at improving journey times, relieving congestion and making Scotland's roads even safer.11/2/2012
Increased funding for NHS Boards
Health boards across Scotland are to benefit from a share of £8,802 billion in revenue funding in 2012-13, it was announced today. The additional funding represents a real terms increase of 2.9 per cent for all territorial boards.11/2/2012
Future For Teacher Employment
Plans to support teachers to improve learning outcomes for children and young people have been announced. In response to the McCormac review of teaching employment, the Scottish Government intends to: create a new masters level qualification to replace the Chartered Teacher scheme introduce a refreshed system of professional review for teachers give further, careful consideration to the role of external experts in schools Speaking in Parliament, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Michael Russell said: "Teachers have a fundamental role in nurturing and supporting the development of our children and young people.11/2/2012
Deadline To Nominate Education Stars
People in the Highlands are being urged to enter their local schools, nurseries or individuals into the Scottish Education Awards 2012 so that their exceptional achievements can be recognised. The deadline for submissions is Friday 2 March 2012.11/2/2012
£8.5m To Support Youth Employment
Further details of how thousands of young people will be helped into employment have been outlined in the Scottish Parliament today. Minister for Youth Employment Angela Constance announced that £8.5 million will be invested in projects to support young people into work.10/2/2012
Council Appoints Two Key Directors To Lead Integration Project
The Highland Council has confirmed the appointment of the two directors who will lead the integration of services for children across the authority from April. Bill Alexander, Director of Social Work, has been appointed as the Director of Health and Social Care and Hugh Fraser, Director of Education Culture and Sport, has been appointed to a position with the same title with extended responsibilities.10/2/2012
Regeneration Partnership - Latest Update
Week commencing 6th February: Energy: The Scottish Government's Energy Advisory Board met this week, and announced the recommendations of the short-life working group on planning and consenting for offshore renewable energy. The working group, co-chaired by the Energy, Enterprise & Tourism Minister and featuring industry, regulatory bodies and The Crown Estate, has made recommendations designed to streamline the scoping, planning and consenting of offshore renewables projects.Escape Business Technologies 10 Years and £950,000 Contracts
Escape Business Technologies celebrates 10 year client milestone with contracts worth £950,000. Thurso and Aberdeen-based Escape Business Technologies, the energy-focused IT provider, has been awarded contracts worth £950,000 by Ithaca Energy and Peterson SBS.9/2/2012
Council Tax Freeze Agreed For Fifth Year
At a special meeting today (Thursday 9th February 2012), The Highland Council agreed to freeze the Council Tax for a fifth successive year and has confirmed a revenue budget of £602 million for 2012-13. The tax for 2012-13 is: Band A: £775.33; Band B: £904.56; C: £1,033.78; Band D: £1,163; Band E: £1,421.44; Band F: £1,679.89; Band G: £1,938.33; Band H: £2,326.7/2/2012
HI-Scot Credit Union crosses "The Pond"
HI-Scot Credit Union, the Credit Union for the Highlands and Islands, has just enjoyed its busiest start to a year in its five year history. Membership now stands at over 2000 and interest in the Credit Union just continues to grow.7/2/2012
Getting Tough On Antisocial Tenants
Radical changes are being proposed to the way 600,000 houses in the social rented sector are allocated and managed. These changes would particularly affect the 128,000 households on social housing lists.7/2/2012
Alcohol Behaviour Change
A new campaign aimed at encouraging Scots to think about the health effects of regularly drinking above the recommended alcohol guidelines was launched today. The Scottish Government's Alcohol Behaviour Change is this year encouraging women to 'Drop a Glass Size' in 2012.7/2/2012
Scottish Government Budget Proposals
Ahead of this week's stage three debate on the Scottish budget Finance Secretary John Swinney confirmed that he met with all opposition parties and would continue to listen to the views put forward by others to secure the best budget for Scotland. With the debate due on Wednesday and at the end of a week in which the Finance Secretary set out the constraints on Scotland's economy as a result of UK economic policy and the alternatives that would be available with the powers of independence Finance Secretary John Swinney said:"We have put forward a budget that promotes economic recovery, protects household budgets and supports jobs and training opportunities for our young people.7/2/2012
Public Sector Procurement Reform
The Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil, has outlined his intention to further reform public procurement to improve Scottish businesses' access to contract opportunities. Mr Neil said:"I have spent a lot of time in recent months engaging with businesses and others who have concerns about public procurement.6/2/2012
Regeneration Partnership Latest Update
Week commencing 30th January 2012: Energy: Good news for the local economy this week with confirmation of a further contract award for Subsea 7's Wester facility near Wick. Congratulations to Willie Watt and his team on securing the $100 million contract to fabricate 2 pipelines for BP's Clair Ridge project.6/2/2012
Join The Conversation On Planning For Integration
People in the Highlands are invited to find out more about, and have an opportunity to have their say on the development of Planning for Integration of health, education and social care services in the area provided by NHS Highland and The Highland Council. At eight public meetings in February and March, Jan Baird, Planning for Integration, Transitions Director will explain how, from 1 April 2012, staff are being brought together into integrated teams to work with children and families and with people who use community care services.5/2/2012
