News Archive

Environmental Health Work Commended During ‘Challenging Year'

The work of The Highland Council's Environmental Health Team has been commended by Members of the Council's Communities and Place Committee.   A report to Councillors this week has highlighted that the Environmental Health Team responded during COVID-19 in 2020/21 by investigating almost 1000 clusters and outbreaks.  

£219,000 Renewal Funds Agreed For Local Play Parks

Members of The Highland Council's Communities and Place Committee have agreed that a strategy for play parks across the region will be developed from local plans and local investment priorities within the overall aims of play parks.   The main aims are being safe, inclusive in design and in use and for play areas to be environmentally and financially sustainable.  

Nursing Saff Have Voted In Our Indicative Ballot On Industrial Action

Almost 30% of RCN members working in the NHS in Scotland responded to the ballot that closed on Monday (8 November 2021).   Of those, 90% said they would be willing to take industrial action short of strike.  

New Rules Put Savers' Interests First

Plans to protect small pension pots from being eroded by charges will be introduced next year.   Hundreds of thousands of people will benefit from the new rules outlined by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (Tuesday 9 November 2021), which will introduce a threshold at which pensions providers will no longer be able to charge a flat fee to savers.  

Labour MSP hits back at lack of ferry funding

Transport Minister Graeme Dey MSP did nothing to allay concerns from Hebridean communities about the current threat to their 2022 Summer ferry service following initial questioning by Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant and SNPs Alasdair Allan on Thursday.   It was revealed this week that CalMac are being forced to consult on a reduction to their 2022 ferry timetable in both Harris and Lochmaddy due to a significant lack of resource from Scottish Government.  

Major New Vision Proposed For Inverness

A bold and ambitious strategy to transform Inverness into the place to live, work, enjoy and do business in Scotland will be presented to the City of Inverness Area Committee next week.   The report highlights the major investment the city centre and its surrounding 20-minute neighbourhoods is currently benefitting from.  

Acas publishes advice to help employers avoid fire and rehire practices

Workplace expert, Acas, published evidence on the use of fire and rehire practices at work in June.   In response, the Government asked Acas to produce guidance to help employers explore all other options first before considering fire and rehire to change employee contracts.  

UK Confirms Pledge For Zero-emission HGVs By 2040 And Unveils New Chargepoint Design

All new road vehicles in the UK will be zero emission within the next 2 decades.   all new road vehicles in the UK set to be zero emission within the next 2 decades.  

Budget measures bring number of families entitled to Universal Credit to 7 million

The Institute for fiscal Studies article outlines the changes to universal credit form the recent budget.   Universal Credit (UC) has been steadily rolled out since 2013, with 4 million families1 now claiming it, but several million still on the older ‘legacy' benefits that it is replacing.  

A Return To Boom And Bust In Births

How birth cycles will affect public spending pressures over the coming decade.   The demographic impact of the Baby Boomer generation on public spending is frequently discussed as they move out of work and into retirement, but the most recent birth cycle - in which births hit a low point in 2002, a high point in 2012, and have been declining since - is having profound impacts on the education system.