The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee has approved a draft Strategic Housing Plan for 2021-2026 that sets out The Council's key housing investment priorities and demonstrates how they will be delivered for development across Highland. The Plan, which will be submitted to the Scottish Government for their approval, also identifies the resources required to deliver new homes and outlines the partnership approach with housing associations and developers to achieve the Council’s commitment to providing more quality affordable housing across the Highlands.
The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee members have approved a report which highlights the actions taken by the Council to further the conservation of biodiversity. The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 requires public bodies in Scotland to produce a publicly available report every three years.
New measures and £112 million investment will support sector over winter. A plan outlining steps to prepare and support Scotland's social care sector through the winter has been published.
New measures targeting workplace inequality. Further steps to tackle inequalities in the workplace and help women return to work following a career break have been announced by Fair Work Minister Jamie Hepburn.
A report presented to The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure today (Wednesday 4 November) gave members an update on work on the Opportunity Cromarty Firth project. Although no decision is sought on the merits or otherwise of the Freeport by the Council at this point, Chair of the Committee, Cllr Trish Robertson welcomed the chance to discuss the proposals.
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, David Stewart, stepped up the pressure on the Scottish Government today to support football clubs through the "perfect storm" brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak. The MSP asked the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe Fitzpatrick, what advice, guidance and financial assistance is being provided to professional football clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Don't Yawn about another UK space programme story. It's much bigger than you think so read the last paragraph if nothing else.
Highland Council is encouraging its workforce to be aware of stress during working life and its potential impact as part of National Stress Awareness Day, which takes place on Wednesday, 4 November 2020. A key focus for National Stress Awareness Day this year is to tackle the anxiety and emotional pressure which many may be feeling as a result of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, ranging from concern for family and close friends to financial worries.
Parents on qualifying benefits encouraged to apply now. The new Scottish Child Payment - which is unique to Scotland - is to open early for applications from Monday 9 November.
Review group calls for tighter control on fireworks. An expert group that includes police, fire and animal welfare representatives has called for the introduction of no fireworks zones and tighter restrictions on the purchase and use of fireworks.
Consultation launched on how to cut ammonia emissions from the use of solid urea fertilisers to better protect human health and the environment. The government has launched a consultation today (3 November) seeking views on reducing ammonia emissions from solid urea fertilisers used for growing plants and crops.
Airbus has been awarded a new landmark climate change space contract. Airbus has been awarded a contract to prepare a mission to collect the most accurate measurements of energy coming into the Earth from the Sun, and light reflected off Earth's surface, to help understand changes in balance (global warming) and mankind's impact on the planet.
Scotland's Chief Statistician has released results on levels of trust in data from the Scottish Social Attitudes 2019: Data Trust. The findings are drawn from the latest Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, which took place between August 2019 and March 2020, before lockdown.
Universal Credit will continue to be calculated based on current earnings as Minimum Income Floor suspension extended. The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) for self-employed Universal Credit claimants will remain suspended until the end of April 2021, extending a vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people, Therèse Coffey, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced today (3 November 2020).
A postcode tracker has been launched by the Scottish Government today to prevent any confusion around which local restrictions people are in. "It's crucial that everyone knows what level their local authority is in and that they stick to the rules in their area," Sturgeon said.
Scottish Labour has called for the SNP Government to step up its plans for dealing with a backlog of court cases as figures released this week show a sharp rise in remand prisoners who now make up almost a quarter of the prison population. Recent figures from the Scottish Prison Service show that as of 23 October there were 1,717 untried prisoners in Scotland's prisons.
The CMA will investigate descriptions and labels used to promote products and services claiming to be ‘eco-friendly', and whether they could mislead consumers. This new programme of work is a response to the growing number of products and services being marketed as environmentally friendly, as awareness of environmental issues increases.
The Chair of the Vaccine Taskforce, Kate Bingham, has placed the UK at the leading edge of the international effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic through the development of clinically safe and effective vaccines. An article published this week in the Sunday Times has made a series of allegations and insinuations about Kate Bingham and her role.
Update 2 November 2020. YPO has abandoned its proposed deal with Findel.
The Highland Council area has been set at Protection Level One in the Scottish Government's 5 tier framework. This means fewer restrictions for the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors than elsewhere in the UK.