Digital connectivity ambition outlined in Programme for Government. Procurement for delivering 100% superfast broadband access for Scotland will start within the next 12 months.
The Scottish Government is pushing ahead with its work to improve the transparency of land ownership. Ministers are seeking views on proposals for a register of controlling interests in land owners and tenants.
The total outstanding bank debt of Scottish farms increased nine per cent over the past year, according to the latest National Statistics released by Scotland's Chief Statistician. A survey of the main banks and other lending institutions showed outstanding loans to Scottish farms rose by £177 million in the year to May 31, 2016.
Public Engagement Event - Wick - 14 September 2016 4pm to 7pm at Mackays Hotel. On the 23rd May 2016, Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) announced that the green light had been given for construction of the 588MW, 84 turbine Beatrice offshore wind farm situated in the Outer Moray Firth.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (September, 9th) sold 5,541 store lambs. Cheviot wedder lambs (1,094) averaged £48.32 (+£5.49) and sold to £66.50 gross from Pitmain Farm, Kingussie.
Week Commencing 5 September 2016 Energy & Business Services: · It is good to note that recruitment has now started for staff who will take forward the operations and maintenance of the Beatrice offshore Windfarm Ltd development at Wick, with lead partner SSE advertising the posts of Contract Lead, Asset Engineer and Operations Engineer. These are the first publicly advertised positions to become available, and we hope that over the coming 12 to 18 months the recruitment of O&M personnel will ramp up.
The Highland Council is proud to have their Director of Development and Infrastructure, Stuart Black, chosen to receive the SCDI Heathrow Airport Award for Outstanding Business Ambassador. Chief Executive of The Highland Council, Steve Barron congratulated Stuart on his achievement saying: "I am absolutely delighted for Stuart and the Business Ambassador award is very well deserved.
Highland Council has made a continuing commitment to tackling digital exclusion in the Highlands. The council has become the latest organisation to sign SCVOs Digital Participation Charter.
The Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan (CaSPlan) which sets out The Highland Council's vision and development strategy for the area over the next 20 years is to be modified and put out for public consultation. In a Report presented to both the Sutherland and Caithness Area Committees last week the recommendations on the issues were to defend the Proposed Plan with only minor modifications, which would have seen the Plan progress to Examination as the next stage.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (September, 8th) sold 10,225 store lambs. Cheviot lambs averaged £49.51 (+£5.24 on the year) and sold to £70 gross for a pen of ewe lambs from Balnacuile, Spinningdale.
Members of The Highland Council have unanimously agreed the following motion at their meeting today, 8 September 2016. "This Council calls upon the UK Government to make fair transitional state pension arrangements for all women born on or after 6 April 1951 who have unfairly borne the burden of the increase to the State Pension Age with lack of appropriate notification.
The latest Corporate performance report shows that the Council is meeting 89% of its Programme commitments with 64 out of 72 being either completed, on target or maintaining performance. Council Leader Margaret Davidson said, "This is an excellent report and I would like to thank staff across the Council who have contributed to this outstanding performance.
Legislation that will reform council tax and raise additional, targeted funding to improve Scotland's schools has been set out in Parliament today. Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Derek Mackay, confirmed that the necessary legal instruments had been laid at Holyrood, paving the way for reforms due to take effect from April 2017.
The Highland Licensing Board has agreed upon dates over the festive period 2016/17 between which extended on-sales hours may be permitted so the Council is advising licence holders wishing to apply to do so before the deadline of 1 December. The extended on-sale hours, if approved, can be up to 4am for late opening premises and up to 2am for other on-sales premises in accordance with the Board's Licensing Policy Statement.
Nine candidates are to contest the upcoming by-election to elect a councillor to represent the Culloden and Ardersier Ward of The Highland Council. The candidates are: • Andrew JARVIE - Scottish Conservative and Unionist • Thomas LAMONT - Independent • Andrew James MACKINTOSH - Scottish Labour Party • Isla MACLEOD-O'REILLY - Scottish Greens • Duncan MACPHERSON - Independent • David MCGRATH - Independent • Pauline MUNRO - Scottish National Party (SNP) • Trish ROBERTSON - Scottish Liberal Democrats • John ROSS - Independent The by-election is being held after John Ford, one of four Councillors for Ward 18, sadly died.
The work is ongoing now. Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission's plans to install a subsea HVDC cable between Caithness and Moray to transmit the electricity generated from renewable energy developments onto the national grid..
New research from the Cass Business School, the University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 per cent more likely to get a raise when they ask. Using a randomly chosen sample of 4,600 workers across more than 800 employers, the research is the first to do a statistical test of the idea that women get paid less because they are not as pushy as men.
UNISON's further education (FE) members across Scotland will go on strike tomorrow for fair pay. As at close of business Monday, September 5, the Scottish further education employers have failed to offer any acceptable way forward in the pay dispute involving some 2,300 UNISON support workers across 20 FE colleges.
An off the shelf CCTV camera is providing crystal clear images from the depths of Dounreay's Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR). Fifty years on from the construction of PFR, the reactor decommissioning team is viewing footage that will enable it to pull apart the innards of the second and last fast reactor to be built in the UK.
The last of the higher activity liquid waste produced during Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) fuel reprocessing has been made safe for future generations. It is an important milestone in the immobilisation of the historic liquid waste, known as raffinate, created from reprocessing undertaken during the operation of Dounreay's three reactors.
