Brief update on the works at Kishorn Port from directors Alasdair Ferguson and Simon Russell..
Brief update on Nigg Energy Park by Rory Gunn of Global Energy Group..
Brief update on Port of Cromarty Firth by Joanne Allday.
A planning application will be submitted to Highland Council later this year to cover the next phase of planning at the Dounreay site. Planning permission from 2018 to the shutdown of the site, also known as the interim end state, is the third phase of the planning required for the Dounreay decommissioning programme.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed a new chief executive. Charlotte Wright, who is currently the agency's Director of Business and Sector Development, has held the role of Interim Chief Executive since the end of August last year.
A major exhibition opened this week at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh focusing on the Flow Country, one of Europe's last wild places. The Flow Country is a vast open landscape in the far north of Scotland, dominated by blanket bog, a rare type of peatland.
Marine mammals and seabirds will continue to use the waters around operational wave and tidal renewable energy devices, finds a report published on Tuesday 13th June 2017 by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). A major study of wildlife observations collected over ten years around wave and tidal energy test sites in Orkney has found little evidence of any long-term effects on the use of surrounding seas by the birds and marine mammals living in the area.
A new £2.5 million fund will improve the help delivered to people looking to access employment and training. The Employability Innovation and Integration Fund will look to join up employment support with health and social care, justice and housing services, making sure people receive the level of support they need to find sustainable employment.
Capita are a recruitment agency for Dounreay. You can check out possibilities at their sessions in Thurso and Wick..
HIGHLAND Council has seen its target passed for people paying for the brown bin service. The is charge £30 per year to collect garden waste and 24,030 households have ordered the service.
The legacy of an IT programme set up to deliver financial support to rural businesses still presents significant risks and costs for the Scottish Government. Audit Scotland has reviewed the progress made in resolving serious issues with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Futures programme, created to enable the Scottish Government to provide financial support to farmers and rural businesses in line with European Commission (EC) reforms.
Changes in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 - Tenants' Improvements Amnesty: Farm Advisory Services events will say "use it or lose it" Event: Use it or lose it - FAS Tenants' Improvements Amnesty. Date: 17.45 - 21.00, Tuesday 11 July 2017 Location: Jurys Inn, Millburn Road Inverness, IV2 3TR The Scottish Government's Farm Advisory Service (FAS) is holding a series of events across Scotland this summer to inform tenant farmers and landowners about important changes to tenancy legislation including the current Tenants’ Improvements Amnesty.
The Highland Council has moved to reassure Council tenants on the fire safety of the Council's housing stock, following the tragic fire in London. The Council owns a number of multi-storey flatted properties but does not have any high rise buildings (above 5 storeys), including schools, & council homes.
Members of The Highland Council's Places Committee have today (Thursday 15 June 2017) agreed proposals to transfer the Highland Council Ranger service to High Life Highland. The Council's Ranger Service is one of the largest local authority ranger services in Scotland with staff running many events and guided to raise awareness and encourage the appreciation of the scenery, wildlife and heritage of the Highlands.
Welfare Support provided by The Highland Council helped customers to a record financial gain of £4.651 million over the past year (2016-17). Over this period, the Welfare Support team supported 1,560 customers to maximise their benefits.
Sweeping new powers for schools have been announced by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney. In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Swinney announced reforms to put schools in charge of key decisions about a child's education, including: Responsibility for raising attainment and closing the poverty-related gap in their school Choosing school staff and management structure Deciding curriculum content, within a broad national framework Directly controlling more school funding, with a consultation on fair funding launched today The new powers will be guaranteed in a statutory charter for headteachers, and young people and parents will also have a stronger voice in schools.
The Chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), Andrew Flanagan, has announced his intention to stand down from his role. Citing recent media and Parliamentary attention on his disagreement with a former board member and perceptions around SPA transparency, Mr Flanagan has concluded that debate on these issues risks distracting policing from important work underway on strategy and finance and that it is in the best interests of policing in Scotland that he stand down.
People living in the Highlands who are thinking of a career change to Primary teaching are being urged by The Highland Council to consider a distance learning course (DLITE) with the University of Aberdeen. Training for the Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education DLITE (Distance Learning ITE) starts on 20 January 2018 and the deadline for applications is 21 August 2017.
The Highland Council is pleased to introduce the third, iteration draft Gaelic Language Plan 2017-2022 which is being submitted for a 6 week public consultation. The Highland Council draft Gaelic Language Plan has been prepared as a statutory document for submission to Bòrd na Gàidhlig in response to the formal notice of requirement to prepare a Gaelic Language Plan and with regard to the requirements set out in Section 3 of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.
The purpose-built NKT Victoria cable-laying vessel has successfully laid the first HVDC cables in the Moray Firth as part of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' £1.1bn Caithness-Moray transmission project. The state-of-the-art vessel completed its first campaign from Noss Head in Caithness to the midpoint of the cable route this week.
