The Highland Council is making improvements to waste and recycling collections across Highland - starting in Ross and Cromarty (and Dornoch). Residents in Ross and Cromarty (and Dornoch) will receive a letter in the post over the next six weeks which will explain what is changing and when.
The Highland Council will be broadcasting our upcoming special budget meeting on Thursday 29 February 2024. Alongside our regular webcast platform, you will be able to watch proceedings live on our YouTube channel in high definition Coverage on YouTube will start at 10am, with the meeting starting at 10.30am.
Highland councillors will meet on 29th February 2024 to agree the proposals set out in the papers published today. There has been a long period of public consultation on the proposals and although there are unpalatable suggestions they will balance the books.
Over £100m investment programme proposed as part of 3-year budget Highland council are about to use significant amounts of reserves to cover shortfalls in the budget for 24/25 and possibly 25/26. Despite pushing out big figures it disguises the cuts about to fall on Highland services.
The Highland Council is currently unable to confirm whether funding will be available to support the Wick-Aberdeen Public Service Obligation (PSO) after 31st March 2024. The funding for the PSO is currently provided on the basis of £1.3m annually, with £1m committed by the Scottish Government and £0.3m committed by The Highland Council.
A collaborative network of Head Teachers and Education Officers are working closely together with the goal of improving attainment and achievement in Highland primary schools. Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: "It is essential that we have strong, consultation and communication strategies in place and there is effective and ongoing collaboration between our schools and our central education service.
The Chair of The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee has announced that a 3-week trial of a thermal process for pothole repairs will be taking place. An external contractor, Thermal Road Repairs, has been appointed to undertake the trial before the end of the 2023/24 financial year.
The Council at the Caithness Area Committee agree the roads budget for 2024/25 with exactly the same amount as for 2023/24. Clearly with rapidly increasing costs this will come nowhere near to maintaining the roads to even the poor condition they are now in.
Caithness Committee Members today (Monday 29 January 2024) considered and assessed applications submitted to the area's Community Regeneration Fund. Community Regeneration Funding is an umbrella term for a number of funds that are available for communities/organisations to access in Highland.
A briefing has been provided to all members of the Council on an accounting flexibility introduced by Scottish Government and available to Councils to utilise in 2022/23 or 2023/24. A number of reports to Council in recent months have covered this topic, and a number of other Councils have utilised the flexibility in 2022/23 or are considering doing so in 2023/24.
Weather is still hitting school transport services around the county. Wick Unfortunately we have made the decision to close the school tomorrow, Friday 19th January, due to the ongoing snowfall and hazardous road conditions.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The Highland Council has posted today that the following schools are closed on 17 January 2024. Make sure to check the schools closed listing on the Highland council web site each day.
The Highland Council's Employability Service and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) are delighted to announce an exciting collaboration to offer a pre-employability programme which seeks to support out-of-work young people on a pathway to the trades. Supported through the Scottish Government's No One left Behind Employability Funding, the Access To Trades initiative will provide a pathway for young people up to the age of 29 years to progress on to the CITB's Scottish Academy for Construction Opportunities (SACO) Programme.
The Highland Council can confirm that in a final attempt to reform the 30 Community Councils that failed to form in 2023, a Notice of Election will go live on Monday 15 January. Community Councils are voluntary organisations that express the views and concerns of local people within their area across a wide range of issues from new buildings and roads to local services and facilities.
The Council is reminding the public and community groups that there is still time to submit feedback on the Highland-wide 20mph roll-out project. 125 Highland settlements are part of the project which equates to around 610km of roads across the Highlands, 590km of which are on Local Authority Roads.
With the eagerly awaited next series of Traitors due to be aired on BBC 1 on the 3 January, The Highland Council is taking the opportunity to highlight the economic boost filming across the Highlands has and the role its film office staff play in attracting productions. The Highland Film Commission, run by Highland Council, assists productions filming in the region by offering free and confidential guidance and support from the pre-production stage right through until filming is complete.
Minister urges those eligible to apply for support. Scottish households have saved more than £3.5 billion in council tax since the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme was introduced a decade ago.