Audit Scotland warns that cuts to community services could deepen inequalities, while councils lack the evidence to measure the full consequences. Scotland’s councils are spending less on culture and leisure services while asking the public to pay more to use them, raising questions about the future of libraries, swimming pools, sports facilities, museums and other important parts of community life.
The Highland Council has received reports from customers who have been sent emails containing links to claim an alleged Council Tax refund. The emails appear to be from a sender describing themselves as the "Council Revenue Authority" team.
The banks have closed branches across the Highlands and customers have adapted. With Highland Council facing serious financial pressures, is it time to rethink permanent offices and take council services directly to the people who need them? There was a time when going to the bank meant visiting a branch.
Highland Council is urging community groups to ‘apply now’ for its Winter Resilience Programme if they want grit bins in their local communities. The Highland Council’s winter service starts on Wednesday 14 October and the Council is ready to treat - according to its policy - the 6,787km of roads for which it has responsibility.
Class sizes, teacher shortages, school buildings and the pressure on teachers reveal a more complicated picture than politicians' headline figures suggest. Protests over the state of schools in France have raised questions that parents in Scotland might recognise.