Consumer watchdogs to gain new investigatory powers. Chancellor introduces tougher measures to protect people from unjustified price hikes Consumer watchdogs to gain new rapid investigatory powers to target firms taking advantage of crises to unfairly raise costs.
Chancellor to announce ‘Great British Summer Savings’ - a UK wide scheme to help families enjoy this summer. Free bus travel for children throughout August, helping families across England get out and explore Scotland already has free bus travel for children and young people (see lower down this page).
The UK Government has announced plans to change the Fit Note system in England, including shifting responsibility away from GPs and potentially introducing new assessment hubs. But here’s the key point for Caithness and the Highlands.
First Minister of Scotland John Swinney has appointed his new Cabinet, unveiling a streamlined team of Cabinet Secretaries to deliver on the things that matter most to the people of Scotland. Comprising eight Cabinet Secretaries, including the Deputy First Minister, the First Minister has said his Cabinet will focus on the priorities of the people, including supporting people through the cost of living crisis, ensuring easier access to the NHS and delivering a fresh start with independence.
Chancellor announces further reforms on judicial review of major infrastructure projects. The Chancellor is expected to announce sweeping reforms that will give Parliament the authority to approve critical energy schemes and better protect infrastructure projects from judicial review.
Scotland is heading into one of the toughest financial squeezes since devolution. The warning lights are flashing brightest in places like Caithness and the Highlands, where services are already stretched to breaking point.
first Great British Railways-branded train unveiled as Britain’s biggest train operator’s services are nationalised. Union Jack livery and branding will begin rolling out gradually across England’s rail network once GTR transfers, more than 11,000 services that GBR will ultimately be responsible for will run each weekday.
AI is no longer a distant concept drifting in from Silicon Valley. It is already reshaping Scotland’s financial‑services sector.
A Dstl project has revolutionised training delivery across the Royal Air Force, strengthening Britain's air combat capability and operational readiness. Through pioneering neuroscience based training methods, the Developing Education Learning and Training Advances (DELTA) project reached over 1,200 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel and industry technicians responsible for operating and maintaining the Typhoon platform - a cornerstone of UK air defence.
SilentGlass is a plug-and-play cyber security device developed by NCSC and commercialised with support from GOTT, now licensed to a UK firm for global use. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is the UK’s National Technical Authority on cyber security.
Responding to the Government’s announcement on fuel duty today, Jonny Marshall, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said,"The best that can be said of today’s announcement is that the Chancellor’s has wisely ignored calls for an expensive blanket cancellation of the temporary 5p cut to fuel duty. “Nonetheless, even this modest extension will cost £210 million this year.
Over recent months, YouTube has been flooded with adverts promising “free satellite internet”, “government‑funded broadband kits”, or even “Starlink free for life”. These ads are slick, professionally voiced, and often dressed up to look like genuine technology news.
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB) award-winning e-learning platform has been hailed as a great example of industry collaboration in action. To mark Learning at Work Week 2026, NRS Dounreay has highlighted how the ECITB’s Learning Experience Platform (LXP) has become a “go-to training solution” for its 1,400 workers.
Over the past two years, Scotland’s private rented sector has been reshaped by a steady, unmistakable trend: landlords are selling up and leaving the market. The pattern is visible across the country, but some areas are feeling the pressure more sharply than others.
The April 2026 inflation figures mark another step in the UK’s slow return toward price stability. According to the latest ONS release, both headline measures—CPIH and CPI—fell for the second consecutive month, driven largely by reductions in household energy bills.
The drone strike on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant happened on Sunday, 17 May 2026. UAE authorities said the drone hit an external electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the plant.
The latest ONS labour‑market release, published today, confirms what many employers and jobseekers across the Highlands have sensed for months. The UK jobs market is cooling, vacancies are shrinking, and the slowdown is no longer confined to a few fragile sectors.
The comparison is complicated because inflation, Covid and energy-crisis borrowing distort the figures. The last Conservative parliament (2019–2024) saw extraordinarily high borrowing because of: the Covid pandemic, furlough, energy support schemes, higher interest costs, and weaker growth.
Prof Steve Keen has been right so many times people should listen..
UK inflation eased in April 2026, but the headline improvement masks a sharp rise in fuel costs, a looming July energy‑cap increase, and renewed global food‑price pressures. For businesses, the message is clear - short‑term relief, medium‑term risk.