The Highland Green Health Partnership is delighted to announce the 2023 Highland Green Health Small Grant Fund is now open for applications. The Aim of this year's grant is to contribute towards sustained green health action across Highland.
Inflation is projected to remain too high for too long. Therefore, the Governing Council today decided to increase the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points, in line with its determination to ensure the timely return of inflation to the 2% medium-term target.
Incentives for businesses to invest in Scotland's two new green freeports are proposed in a new consultation. Changes to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) rules would offer full or partial relief from the tax on non-residential buildings and land in certain areas within the green freeports.
We've had our usual fun this week in the Fraser going through the detail of the Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) material that was published on Wednesday alongside the budget. In this blog, we cover some of the main discussion points that have emerged since the budget was published.
Torsten Bell is the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation and worked in the Treasury during the 2008 financial crash. Plain speaking and light hearted look at the budget.
A fund that helps to tackle inequality and discrimination has supported more than 115,000 people in its first year. The Scottish Government's Equality and Human Rights Fund is providing £21 million in grants over three years to 48 organisations working with diverse communities to further equality and protect human rights.
Continuing to build relationships with Arctic neighbours will help Scotland pursue shared ambitions and address common challenges, External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson has said. Mr Robertson was addressing the Arctic Frontiers Abroad conference in Aberdeen, where he confirmed further funding for the Arctic Connections Fund that aims to enhance knowledge sharing and cooperation between Scottish and Arctic organisations and communities.
Leaders of the Royal Air Force and the Koku-Jietai (Japan Air Self Defence Force) have signed Terms of Reference outlining future space cooperation. The UK's Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, and Japan's Chief of Staff of the Koku-Kietai, General Shunji Izutsu, signed a Terms of Reference document after talks at DSEI Japan, which is being held this week in Tokyo.
Members at the meeting of Highland Council's Climate Change Committee on 16 March 2023 agreed to extend a benchmarking exercise which has been assessing the local authority’s energy performance across its estate. Benchmarking energy performance is a process that compares the energy use of a building with other similar structures.
Medical device consultancy, iDE8, has leased two laboratories and an office in the facility from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). The company was formed in 2017 and currently employs seven people.
Paul Johnson, Director of the IFS, said:"Once again Jeremy Hunt can be grateful that the Office for Budget Responsibility is more optimistic than the Bank of England. It handed him some room for manoeuvre.
A summary of the budget and what it means for Scotland from the Fraser of Allender Institute After the frenzied Autumn 2022 of UK Budget Statement chaos, we all expected a much calmer outing for the UK Chancellor today. However, it wouldn't be a UK Budget without few big announcements.
Jeremy Hunt's 2023 spring budget covers employment, energy, enterprise and much more besides. The plan has already been dubbed his "back to work budget", although he has called it a "budget for growth".
There were almost 16,000 more deaths than births registered in Scotland in 2022, according to a new report. Provisional National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures show there were 62,942 deaths and 46,959 births last year.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a response to the budget changes. This applies to England only and the Scottish Government must decide what to do with the money flowing from the Barnet Consequential amounts.
GMB Scotland has responded to the Chancellor's budget announcement that spirits duties will rise in line with inflation from August. Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland Secretary, said, "It’s yet another unhelpful political measure for Scotland’s whisky and spirits sector, following hard on the back of Holyrood proposals for an alcohol advertising ban.
GMB members accept latest NHS Scotland pay offer by three-fifths majority. Following the close of GMB's consultative ballot of NHS Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service staff on the Scottish Government’s latest offer for Agenda for Change (AfC) staff pay and conditions.
Scottish salmon made up more than half of all fish and seafood exports from Scotland last year, new HMRC data has revealed today. The statistics on national and regional trade also show that fresh and chilled Scottish salmon made up 33 per cent of the UK-wide fish and seafood total.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will play an essential role in helping deliver commitments made by the Chancellor in Wednesday's Budget. Around £1 billion of government funding pledged for the next generation of supercomputing and AI research to establish the UK as a science and technology superpower.
The Chancellor announced an impressively broad suite of policies to encourage more people into work, but Britain's economy remains stuck in a deep funk - with people supported into work but getting poorer, and paying more tax but seeing public services cut, the Resolution Foundation said on Thursday 16 March 2023 in its overnight analysis. The Foundation’s Budget analysis report – We’re going on a growth Hunt – examines the economic backdrop to Budget 2023, and assesses whether the Chancellor has successfully delivered on his central objective of boosting growth through higher employment and business investment.
