The Chancellor's decision to reduce departmental capital budgets by 1% could have consequences well beyond Westminster. Scotland faces a reduction in capital funding, while Highland Council is embarking on a £2.1 billion investment programme that includes a proposed £100 million education campus in Thurso.
Councils, the NHS and other public bodies face a difficult choice when rising diesel and energy costs threaten the contractors they depend on. School transport in rural Scotland illustrates the problem.
The council has legal responsibilities to support Gaelic, but with budgets stretched and services facing difficult choices. Residents are entitled to ask how priorities are decided across the Highlands.
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.
Tens of thousands of people have been protesting across Spain over the country's housing crisis, with rapidly rising rents and the growing influence of tourism among their biggest concerns. The protests came after the Spanish parliament rejected government measures intended to strengthen tenant protection and restrict some forms of short-term rental accommodation.
Anyone eligible to vote in the contested Latheron, Lybster and Clyth Community Council election is reminded that their postal ballot papers need to be completed and returned in the pre-paid envelope provided by 12 noon on Thursday, 8 October 2026. Candidates standing were invited to submit a statement to support their candidacy and these statements are provided in the envelopes mailed out along with the ballot papers to all eligible voters.
Highland Council-owned D&E Coaches has confirmed the acquisition of Stagecoach’s Thurso and Wick bus operation securing local jobs. This will protect vital services and strengthening public transport provision across the Highlands.
The Highland Council has reached another significant milestone in the delivery of a replacement Corran Ferry, with the procurement for a new electric vessel. Funded through a £58 million investment from the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal, including £28 million from the Scottish Government for the new electric vessel, £20 million from the UK Government and £10 million from The Highland Council towards landside infrastructure, the project will deliver a modern replacement ferry service for one of Scotland's busiest single-vessel crossings.
Dave BUCHANAN Independent 714 Julie CALDER Scottish Liberal Democrats Elected Stage 1 1,522 Charlotte GIBSON Scottish Conservative and Unionist 79 John GLEN Scottish National Party (SNP) 424 Iain RICHMOND Reform UK 283# No further preference 0 Remainder not transferred 0 Total 3,022.
Inverness will welcome government representatives, investors, business leaders and economic development partners later this week as it hosts the Scottish Cities Alliance Autumn Investor Event. A two-day programme designed to showcase investment opportunities across Inverness, the Highlands and Scotland's city regions.
Scotland is considering one of the biggest changes to local government for a generation. The Scottish Government has proposed replacing the existing 32 councils with between six and ten regional authorities, alongside somewhere between 120 and 160 community authorities.
Walk through almost any British town centre and you can see the evidence of change. There are empty shops where there were once businesses.
Polling will take place on Thursday 1 October 2026 to elect one of five candidates standing in The Highland Council's Wick and East Caithness Ward 3 by-election. Voters are being reminded to make sure they are ready to cast their vote.
September has become a month when Scotland's aspiring entrepreneurs are being encouraged to take a closer look at an idea that may have been sitting in the back of their minds for some time. Scottish Start-Up Month, led by Business Gateway, has returned for 2026 with a simple message: if you have an idea for a business, this could be the month to take the first step.
Parents of teenagers in England are being told that they will need to understand a new range of vocational qualifications as their children approach the age of 14. The Career Development Institute has welcomed the introduction of new Vocational GCSEs, which are due to start being introduced in England from 2029.
For many years Highland Council has faced difficult decisions over small rural schools. Some have closed, others have been mothballed, and communities have often argued that a village school is about much more than the number of children sitting in its classrooms.