Members have approved a proposal to substantially increase the payment to foster carers at the meeting of Highland Council today, Monday 9 December 2019. The new payment proposal recognises the valuable role of foster carers in providing a home and care for the most vulnerable children within their Highland community.
Highland councillors today approved the findings of a public consultation supporting the introduction of a Highland Transient Visitor Levy and committed to further work to develop an optimal scheme for Highland. The results of more than 6600 responses gathered through online and face-to-face surveys, alongside a pre-consultation with the tourism industry and written submissions received from representatives from the tourism industry and local communities were considered by Members.
Highland council members today (9 December 2019) wholeheartedly gave their support to a report to Council on tackling gender-based violence. Highland Council has been working closely with trade union colleagues and Close the Gap to create a zero-tolerance culture towards gender-based violence.
Voters in the three Highland constituencies for the UK Parliamentary general election of: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Ross, Skye and Lochaber; and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey are being reminded by Returning Officer Donna Manson that their vote matters. On Thursday 12 December voting begins with all Highland polling stations opening their doors at 7am and remaining open for voters until 10pm.
A question from Councillor Ben Thomson to Highland Council meeting next week. To the Chair of the Corporate Resources Committee "What reassurance can the Council provide that it is applying discretion where appropriate to the imposition of the 200% Council Tax rate applicable to empty homes? i.e.
Members will be asked to approve a proposal to substantially increase the payment to foster carers at the meeting of Highland Council on Monday 9 December 2019. The new payment proposal recognises the valuable role of foster carers in providing a home and care for the most vulnerable children within their Highland community.
New guidance for parents and carers who wish to apply for deferred or early entry to Highland schools for their children has been approved (subject to some additional conditions agreed) by Members of The Highland Council's Care, Learning and Housing Committee. The guidance is helping to deliver the Council's Programme priority to ‘expand early years provision and provide the best start for young people across Highland’.
Improving literacy and numeracy is giving more young people a better chance of fulfilling their potential in life. Highland Council is committed to tackling poverty and inequality and enabling all our children and young people to reach their full potential, with a focus on reducing the attainment gap for those from more disadvantaged communities across the Highlands.
The public is being asked for its views on proposals by The Highland Council to review the maximum level of charges for the hire of taxis or private hire cars fitted with taxi meters operating under licence of The Highland Council. The Council has a statutory duty in terms of Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 to review its scales for the fares and other taxi related charges every 18 months.
Highland councillors welcome report which says Gaelic and cultural development in the region is progressing well. Highland councillors today warmly welcomed Chief Executive Donna Manson's report to the Corporate Resources committee that highlights the progress being made in relation to Gaelic and cultural development in the region.
Helen Budge, Director of Children's Services at Shetland Islands Council, has taken up the mantle as Lead Officer for the Northern Alliance. She will be supported in leading the improvement collaborative by a quality improvement manager, working with Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Highland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland councils to improve the life chances of children and young people.
The Highland Council Modern Apprenticeship Programme recently achieved a top grading following a three-day Quality Assurance Assessment from Skills Development Scotland. The Council's Modern Apprenticeship provision has been designed so it can utilise current resources to deliver high quality training to new and existing employees.
Poll cards for people across the Highlands who are registered to vote in the UK Parliamentary Election will start to be issued from Wednesday onwards (20 November). Already 185,469 people living in the Highlands are registered to vote in the UK Parliamentary election.
The by-election for a councillor to represent Inverness Central - Ward 14 on The Highland Council has been won by Emma Roddick - Scottish National Party (SNP) who was one of six candidates who contested the vacancy. Voting was by the single transferable vote and Emma Roddick emerged as the winner at the third stage of the count.
18 candidates are seeking election on Thursday 12 December 2019 for the three Highland UK Parliamentary general election constituencies. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency has attracted 5 candidates; Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency 7 candidates; and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency 6 candidates.
Daviot Primary School is delighted to share that their children are pioneering virtual reality (VR) learning in Highland to help raise engagement and increase attainment for all pupils. The school recently acquired "ClassVR"; a simple to use virtual reality user interface made for education.
Highland Council's Trading Standards team is reporting mixed findings from its Autumn age restricted product test purchase programme. During the exercise, premises in Easter Ross, Inverness and Aviemore were test purchased for fireworks, cigarettes and vape liquids.
Over £2.3 million pounds of investment is set to benefit town centres across the Highlands with 30 transformational projects about to get underway to stimulate economic investment and to help towns diversify and flourish. The Town Centre capital grant fund from the Scottish Government is targeted to encourage town and city centres to diversify and flourish, giving new purpose and creating footfall.
Highland Council's Placement Services Change Programme (PSCP) is helping make a real difference for the region’s most vulnerable young people. The Placements Team in Children’s Services has developed a creative, courageous and dedicated programme to work with multi-disciplinary professionals to identify children out with Highland whose needs can be met back in the local area.
Following the close of the Community Council Nominations on Tuesday, 29 October 2019, 20 community councils received more nominations than their maximum membership. After the withdrawal period where candidates had the opportunity to withdraw their nomination, The Highland Council has confirmed that 16 Community Councils will be contested.