An independent survey by market research company Progressive Partnerships is being carried out on behalf of The Highland Councils Housing Service. The postal survey has been sent to all 13,799 Council tenants inviting them to share their views on the quality of services provided to them by the Councils Housing Service.
Do you want to be a voice for your community? If so The Highland Council is inviting nominations for people to join 28 community councils which have remained unformed following the election held on 18 November last year. Community Councils are voluntary organisations that act as a voice for their local area.
The Highland Councils Budget team, Councillors Bill Fernie, Alister Mackinnon, Ben Thompson and Matthew Reiss, have been working with Council Leader Margaret Davidson over the Christmas and New year period to discuss the way forward for the 2016/17 budget in the context of an extremely challenging grant settlement from the Scottish Government. On Wednesday 6 January 2016 the Budget Team met with the Councils Chief Executive and Director of Finance to explore wide areas where potential savings could be made.
Are you thinking about making a planning application? Have you started a planning application but have not yet submitted it? If the answer is yes, you will need to know about the refreshed ePlanning Portal - ePlanning.scot - which will go live on Wednesday 13 January 2016. ePlanning.scot will replace the existing ePlanning Scotland Portal but there will be a period of dual running of the current and new portal.
Next year High Life Highland will take over the running of the Bught Nursery in Inverness which is currently operated by The Highland Council. Savings in the Community Services budget were agreed by The Highland Council last December and this transfer will play a role in meeting the budget target for the service.
Every year Highland Council asks Housing tenants for their views on how their rent should be spent. It is important that our rents are affordable, but they also have to provide enough income to ensure that we can provide housing management and repairs and maintenance to houses, as well as covering other housing costs.
Highland Council has sent out a communication to all staff with the the option of taking voluntary redundancy or working fewer hours in order to help it weather the cuts recently announced by the Scottish government. Some positions such as teachersof HGV drivers may not be able to take up the offer due to shortages or ring fencing by Scottish Government.
Highland Council has approved an additional £24.520 million for roads, bridges and piers to be included in the Capital Plan, together with an additional provision of £1.6 million for minor flood works. The 10-year plan, which will fund some £900 million of projects, will now form the basis of a future rolling programme of capital investment.
The Highland Council is inviting tenders for a new contract for food provisions covering the period from 23 May 2016 to 17 May 2019. ‘Food provisions are mainly used in school and nursery meals across the Highland area.
the Highland-wide Local Development Plan Main Issues Report is just one of the consultations people can take part in. online consultation portal online consultation portal A series of consultations on planning and housing matters in Highland has been extended.
The Highland Council has launched a new suite of online forms, aimed at customers applying for housing benefit and council tax reduction, requesting a council house and reporting routine council house repairs. These forms are part of the Councils Digital First programme, supporting and encouraging customers to use online services and giving customers the opportunity to access council services anytime, anywhere, on any device.
More than 17,000 self-balancing scooters - or hoverboards- have been examined at national entry points since 15 October due to safety concerns*. Of these, over 15,000 (or 88%) have been assessed as unsafe and have been detained at the border.
Positive discussions have taken place between Caithness Councillors and representatives from Wick and Thurso community councils earlier today (3 December 2015) over plans to ensure the budget savings for Community Services can be met. Whilst managing to provide the £63,000 saving necessary in Caithness, the Wick Nursery, which was earmarked for closure, has been retained, albeit delivering a reduced level of service.
A new conservation area for Culloden Muir near Inverness has been unanimously approved by Members of The Highland Councils City of Inverness Area Committee. This marks the final stages of the first formal review in 47 years to the existing conservation area of Culloden Battlefield which was first designated in 1968.
Highland Council urges Scottish Government to consider the impact of a minimum 25 hour primary school week. Chair of Education, Children and Adult Services Committee, Cllr Drew Millar is urging the Scottish Government to rethink their proposal to impose a minimum 25 hour primary school week.
The Highland Council's Trading Standards team are urging shoppers to know their new consumer rights as the countdown to Christmas gets underway. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force from October 2015 and states that goods must: be of a satisfactory quality be fit for a particular purpose match the description, sample or model.
Almost two thirds of residents in the Highland Council area believe that climate change is an immediate and urgent problem according to a survey of the Councils Citizens Panel. 66.4% of 989 respondents expressed this attitude towards climate change.
The first ever Sustainable Drainage (SuDS) Conference in the Highlands has been a great success. The Conference was held at the Highland Council Chambers on Friday (27 November) with over 60 people attending from The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Moray Council and Aberdeenshire Council, as well as individuals involved in the local community and development.
FOLLOWING the COSLA Leaders meeting last Friday, the Leader of Highland Council has warned staff that Local Government could be facing a cash reduction in its Grant of 4-5% for 2016-17. Current assumptions for the budget were based on a cut of 1.6% and a 4 or 5% cut would be a significantly worse position.
Highland Council Trading Standards are warning consumers to be on their guard against phishing emails purporting to be from Apple iTunes following an increase in enquiries. The unsolicited email from fraudsters informs the recipient that they if they did not make the purchase in question, that they should click on the link provided to obtain a refund.