Free mediation services for people involved in civil disputes are being expanded to cover all of Scotland. The services offer those who are eligible an opportunity to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution to their civil dispute, reducing the stress, cost and time of going through a court process.
The rocket launch by Spacex on Saturday was test and had problems but many more are coming along. The next one might be today.
The government has today announced £4.5 billion in funding for British manufacturing to increase investment in eight sectors across the UK. The funding will be available from 2025 for five years, providing industry with longer term certainty about their investments.
From the House of Commons Library an article setting out the position published 13 November 2023. What are current energy prices? Under the October-December 2023 direct debit price cap the average annual bill for typical gas and electricity consumption is £1,923.
The trial will use innovative screening methods like an MRI scan and see hundreds of thousands of men across the country participating. On International Men's Day, government joins Prostate Cancer UK to unveil £42 million screening trial to find ways of detecting country’s most common male cancer earlier Hundreds of thousands of men across the country will participate, with one in ten participants set to be black men who have a much higher prostate cancer risk.
The Chancellor will set out the case for reform across public services to unlock productivity. Productivity Programme reveals some public servants waste a whole working day each week on admin.
The Caithness Broch project group have made an exciting announcement on their Facebook page about another momentous step in their plans to build a new broch. After a lengthy search for the perfect site, we are pleased to announce that we have identified an area north of Latheron known as Flygla as our preferred site for our 'Big Broch Build'.
Highland Council's engagement with communities and staff will help to inform the budget proposals and consequent decisions which will be made in February 2024. This includes allocating resources to deliver the Council's strategic priorities and enable the best outcomes across the Highlands.
Members of The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee on 16 November 2023 agreed to use up to £100,000 from its UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to support costs associated with the hosting of the 2024 Fort William Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup Event. Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans, said: "In August this year, Fort William very successfully hosted the UCI Cycling World Championships downhill mountain bike event at Nevis Range, drawing a huge number of competitors and spectators and showcasing what the region has to offer through its world-wide media coverage.
Jeremy Hunt has been warned against using next week's autumn statement to announce pre-election tax cuts for the wealthy while overseeing a multibillion-pound stealth raid on the incomes of 36 million workers. With the Conservatives trailing in opinion polls, the chancellor is considering deep cuts to inheritance tax for his set-piece speech to the Commons on Wednesday after receiving upbeat figures for the public finances from official forecasters.
A Fraser of Allender Institute podcast looks at the upcoming Autumn Statement by Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday 22nd November next week. Kate Milne is joined by Deputy Director, João Sousa to discuss the upcoming Autumn Statement on 22 November.
Paul Johnson shares his thoughts on Question Time ahead of the forthcoming Autumn Statement. Paul Johnson CBE is a British economist and civil servant, currently serving as director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a member of the Committee on Climate Change, and a visiting professor in Economics at the Department of Economics, University College London.
Jamie Stone MP managed to neatly pack in a lot of topics from local to international in his few minutes at the UK parliament this week. This week, I used the King's Speech to get on the record.
A report presented on Thursday 16 November 2023 at the Environment and Infrastructure Committee of Highland Council provided members with an update on the overall 20mph programme in Highland ahead of a planned public consultation which will be launched in December. The report included the consideration for reverting some roads or sections of them back to 30mph speed limits.
Twenty eight community transport initiatives across the Highlands have been awarded a share of £358,850 by The Highland Council to support them with the important role they play in delivering lifeline services to their local communities. Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans highlights the valuable work undertaken by providers.
Members of The Highland Council's Health, Social Care and Wellbeing have endorsed a scoping exercise currently being carried out on services available for children with disability in Highland. Included within the exercise is the consideration of Self-Directed Support and residential and respite provision which provides short break accommodation for children and young people with complex health and disability needs.
The Horizon Inquiry into the Post Office and ruining of sub-postmasters lives based on false readings from the Horizon system supplied by Fujitsu. The Inquiry is costing millions of pounds of taxpayers money.
The Scottish Government quickly addressed short-term financial challenges in 2022/23, but reform of the public sector is needed to deal with longer-term financial pressures. The Scottish Government needs to work with its partners to clearly set out how the design and delivery of public services will need to change.
Three in four single mothers face living in poverty when they retire, according to a new report released on 15 November 2023 by Scottish Widows. The 19th annual Women and Retirement Report reveals that the ‘motherhood penalty' - the financial and career disadvantages faced by working mothers - has an enduring impact into later life.
Children across Scotland will be gifted a quarter of a million books and counting activities as part of the Read Write Count with the First Minister programme. Around 248,000 books will be given to pupils in primary two and three this year as part of a programme underlining the First Minster's personal commitment to supporting child literacy and numeracy learning across the country.
