There is a rather uncomfortable question waiting for Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey as they prepare for the October Budget. Where exactly is the money going to come from? The new Government has arrived in Downing Street promising change, better public services, more investment, greater regional equality and action on the cost of living.
Employers in certain sectors will have been concerned to read reports from the UK government that the costs of promised reforms to “zero hours contracts” under the Employment Rights Act 2025 may be anything up to £2.9 billion. The changes, due to be implemented in early 2027, are designed to redress what are seen as “one-sided” working arrangements under which workers bear all the financial risk of fluctuations in demand for their labour.
Scotland has spent years being told that renewable energy will transform its economy. Now another industry has arrived that wants an enormous amount of it.
Businesses reminded to prepare for Vaping Duty and Stamps Scheme. Businesses are reminded to prepare for Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme which start on 1 October 2026.
It is tempting to think of another rise in the oil price as simply another unwelcome addition to the cost of filling the car or heating the house. For many people, particularly in rural Scotland, that is already serious enough.
John Swinney has made economic growth one of the central themes of his new programme for government. That is hardly surprising.
Denmark and the UK both wear the badge of universal healthcare with pride. Nobody is turned away, nobody is handed a bill on the way out.
There is a financial story developing which could eventually affect the interest rate on your mortgage, the cost of a business loan, the Government's ability to spend money and even what happens at the next Budget. It is not particularly easy to understand.
Digital ID Is Dead. Or Is It? The Government May Have Cancelled the Scheme, But the Problem Hasn't Gone Away The Government may have cancelled its plans for a single digital identity, but the problem it was trying to solve has not disappeared.
There is a growing problem sitting quietly underneath Britain's cost-of-living debate. People need more money.
There is a major change being discussed in Westminster that could eventually affect the way millions of households in Scotland watch television, yet I suspect very few people in Caithness have heard much about it. It is not another change to the television licence.
There is a rather uncomfortable economic question emerging from the war with Iran. How much pain can the United States inflict on Iran before some of that pain starts coming back home? There is no doubt that the economic pressure on Iran is severe.
Scotland has embarked on an unusual experiment in housing policy. Instead of simply building more houses, councils have increasingly been given the power to make it considerably more expensive to keep a house as a second home or leave it empty.
For most people in Highland, 1 September is simply the start of another month. But today also marks the beginning of two changes introduced by Highland Council which will affect different groups of residents.
ScotRail has reached an important milestone in plans to introduce a new suburban train fleet, with the procurement now progressing to the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) stage. The move to ITN represents the next formal step in the structured procurement process.
The following article from David Mackay, Manager of the Hi-Scot Credit Union was first published in the Stornoway Gazette on 23 August 2026. Every so often, something changes that quietly reshapes everyday life.
September 1 is often treated as simply the day summer ends and children go back to school in England. But this year it also brings a collection of changes to taxes, fuel, business rules, education and public services.
There is an encouraging message in the latest investment figures for Scotland. There is also a question that should matter particularly to Caithness and Sutherland.
A new fund will help employers across the Highlands and Islands prepare for workforce opportunities linked to £100 billion of expected investment over the next decade. Anchored by £2 million of seed investment from Skills Development Scotland (SDS), the Workforce North Co-Investment Fund aims to unlock wider public and private sector investment in skills, training and workforce development across the region.
For years, consumers have become accustomed to an extraordinary proposition. You can sit at home in Britain, order something from a company thousands of miles away and have it delivered to your door for a price that sometimes seems almost too cheap to be real.