The UK Government has been asked to clarify how it plans to review the impact of the bedroom tax on Scottish households, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said today. Initial data collected by the Scottish Government and COSLA show that in the first two months since the introduction of the bedroom tax, more than 22,000 applications for emergency funding have been made in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments – a four-fold increase compared to the same period last year.
A new £20 million Business Innovation & Growth programme to help drive forward economic recovery has been announced by First Minister Alex Salmond. The programme, deploying £20 million from Scotland’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) allocation, will leverage a further £30 million from public- and third-sector partners to deliver projects supporting economic growth across the country.
The Caithness & North Sutherland Fund recently held its 6th grant assessment round awarding £118K to seven community and voluntary groups for projects that will benefit people living in the Caithness & North Sutherland area. This latest round of awards brings the Fund’s total funding commitment to over £648K, of which forty seven voluntary and community groups have benefited.
The Highland Council is advising the public that the second and final phase of ground condition investigations are under way in relation to the Inverness West Link road. Holequest Ltd, who carried out the bulk of the ground Investigation works for the first phase of the investigations, have returned for the second phase and this involves boreholes being installed in the River Ness at the proposed bridge pier locations.
The Highland Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) has awarded funding of £30,098 to Wick Harbour Authority for the purchase of additional infrastructure to increase the capacity at Wick Marina from 72 to 84 berths. Interpretation panels will also be installed in the area around the harbour to promote the maritime heritage of Wick and provide information regarding the diversification process to create a modern port.
Dounreay has modified the equipment used to detect particles on beaches near the site following the discovery last year of a particle with an unusual radiation signal. The adjustment makes the system more sensitive to the detection of other such particles, without affecting its ability to detect the usual type of particle that has been found near Dounreay.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (June, 12th) sold 270 store cattle & 7 adult head of breeding cattle. Bullocks (128) averaged 211.1p and sold to 254.6p per kg for a 220kg Limousin cross from Achentoul, Kinbrace, and £1,360 gross for a 590kg Limousin cross from Balblair, Croy.
Energy/ Business Services: The Highland Council’s North Planning Applications Committee will next week consider a report on the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd’s application to Marine Scotland to build at a site in the Moray Firth. Members of the committee will be asked to endorse the recommendation that the Council raises no objection to the development, subject to a number of conditions, including one ensuring that the developer continues dialogue with supply chain and ports, specifically mentioning Wick harbour as a potential operation and maintenance base.
Following yesterdays (11th June) sitting of the Justice Committee, SNP MSPs damaged access to justice, local jobs and businesses by voting to close local courts in, Dingwall Dornoch and Rothesay and others across Scotland. Business from Dingwall and Dornoch will be transferred to Inverness and Tain Sheriff Courts by 2015.
Local shops and businesses across Highland are being encouraged to take advantage of a new retailing opportunity – bagged wood pellets for domestic biomass heating systems. The Highland Council is hosting an event in Inverness on Thursday 20 June to encourage an increase in the supply of domestic biomass fuel across the area.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts, (June, 11th) sold 511 sheep of all classes. Lambs (60) sold to £72 gross for Cheviots from Eilean Darrach, Dundonnell.
International business services provider, Arise, is holding a series of recruitment advice sessions in Caithness and Sutherland to find local people interested in working from home. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has been working closely with the US company who now have a significant presence in the UK with offices in London and Edinburgh.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (June, 8th) had 23 tractors, loadalls and plant machinery, 787 implements, 37 ATVs, motorcycles and lawnmowers, 8 motors vehicles, and 589 small tools forward. Leading prices: Loadalls/tractors: Zetor 8441 tractor, £13,000; Massey Ferguson 390T tractor, £11,000; Fiatagri 80/90, £3,000.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed four construction firms to its new prime contractor framework to deliver the majority of its building projects across the region. In the agreement which will last up to four years, Galliford Try Construction Ltd (trading as Morrison Construction in Scotland), Kier Construction Ltd, Mansell Construction Services Limited, and Robertson Construction Group Limited will work on projects estimated to be worth around £6 million per year.
The world’s deepest nuclear clean-up job has been given the green light by the planning authorities. A processing agreement has been made between the Highland Council and Dounreay, with planning permission in principle granted to Dounreay for the construction of plants to remotely retrieve, package and store the intermediate level waste from the shaft and silo.
The Highland Council’s Leader Councillor Drew Hendry says the Highlands is bucking the trend of declining house building in Scotland, with a very encouraging delivery of new homes throughout the region. Councillor Hendry was speaking in the wake of reports that the building of new homes in Scotland has hit a 65-year low caused by the recession in the construction industry over the past few years.
Week commencing 6th June 2013 Energy/ Business Services: Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd, the partnership behind the planned offshore windfarm in the Moray Firth near the coast of Caithness and East Sutherland, has added some further data to its application to Marine Scotland for consent to build its development. If consented this could see up to 277 turbines sites in the Moray Firth, the closest of which would be around 8 miles from Wick.
As part of the planned installation work on the pedestrian and cycle bridge at the Inverness Campus, the north and southbound slip roads on the A9 at the Raigmore Interchange will be closed with traffic diversions put in place from 1900 on Saturday 15th June to 0700 on Sunday June 16. Northbound traffic traveling into Inverness or to the A96 will be diverted off the A9 at Inshes Junction, Sir Walter Scott Drive.
The Highland Council is sponsoring the Community Land Scotland Conference to be held at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Sleat, Skye, on Friday and Saturday (7 and 8 June). The keynote conference address will be delivered by the First Minister Alex Salmond, MSP.
The introduction of the “bedroom tax” has resulted in an increase in arrears and the level of debt of tenants affected. Members of The Highland Council’s Finance Housing and Resources Committee were told that the number of tenants affected by the “bedroom tax” and in arrears had risen from 724 before it was introduced on 1 April to 1,144 on 18 May and the total of arrears had risen from £173,491 to £197,795 in the same period.
