From Fraser of Allandar Institute published on 12 December 2017. Tax increases may alleviate some budget pressure, but cannot hide difficult choices ahead This week's Scottish Budget comes at a crucial time for Scotland's economy, with the Scottish Government needing to set out a clear plan for how it intends to support growth and productivity in Scotland, according to the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI).
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting . The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time.
THE West Link distributor road has fully opened to traffic on, Monday 11th December 2017. The completion of the first phase of Inverness's West Link road was marked by an opening ceremony and convoy of vehicles at 09:30am which opened the link between the A82 and the Dores Road.
Coffee Morning For Anyone Starting a Craft Business. Friday 15th December 10:00am - 1:00pm.
KP Technology was awarded "Rural Business of the Year" at the Amazon Growing Business Awards Ceremony last night in London recognising our 'truly global business'. Professor Baikie, Founder and CEO of KP Technology, speaking from the Materials Research Society Conference in Boston USA, said "We are very proud to win this national award against stiff competition.
Engineers at Dounreay have raided a scrap car and a kitchen can opener to help decommission one of the site's reactors. The handbrake from a vintage 1968 Ford Cortina has been used to help steer a camera, attached to wheels taken from can openers, into the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) where a detailed survey inside the plant was completed.
THE West Link distributor road will be fully open to traffic from noon on Monday 11th December 2017. The completion of the first phase of Inverness's West Link road will be marked by an opening ceremony at 09:30am, followed by the road, which links the A82 to Dores Road, being fully opened to traffic at noon.
Principal photography for Outlaw King, the new feature film from Scottish director David Mackenzie and one of the biggest productions ever made in Scotland, has completed. Based on the story of Robert the Bruce, Outlaw King is produced by Glasgow-based Sigma Films, backed by Netflix and funded by the Scottish Government and National Lottery.
Never seen before footage of Dounreay workers removing the last remaining radioactive fuel elements from one of the site's iconic reactors has been made available in a new film. Work started earlier this year to remove material which has been stuck inside Dounreay Fast Reactor for several decades.
Scottish million pound property sales fell by over a third (35%) in the first half of 2017 compared to last year. Million pound property sales suffered the most in Scotland compared to the rest of Great Britain.
Scottish rural businesses see digital technology as key to growth but face skills and training barriers. · New research by Scotland's Rural College and Rural England finds nearly four in five rural businesses say digital technologies like cloud computing, 5G, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are important to their growth.
Overseas Scottish food and drink exports were worth £4.3 billion in the first nine months of 2017, an increase of almost £500 million compared to the same period last year. Food exports were valued at about £1.2 billion increasing by 20% - around £200 million more than the same period in 2016.
Three organisations from across the Highlands and Islands have teamed up in a new collaboration to boost life sciences in the region. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the University of the Highlands and Islands, and NHS Highland have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as they progress joint initiatives on Inverness Campus.
Budget will prioritise growth and innovation. Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has said his priority is to build Scotland's future as he prepares to present his second Draft Budget to Parliament.
Scotland's Chief Statistician has published the Estimate of Community Owned Land in Scotland 2017 publication. The publication presents the area of land in community ownership, the number of land parcels/assets in community ownership and the number of community groups that own land parcels/assets.
Spittal is a new electricity convertor station and is part of the £1.1bn Caithness-Moray project which represents the largest investment in the north of Scotland's electricity network since the hydro development era of the 1950s and is the largest capital investment project undertaken by the SSE Group to date. It is also the largest Living Wage contract ever awarded in the UK, demonstrating SSEN's strong commitment to ensure all employees working on its sites get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.
The Beatrice project reached a significant milestone yesterday as the final cluster of foundation piles was safely installed marking the end of the piling phase of offshore construction. A total of 86 clusters of four piles (344 individual piles) are now in place in the Moray Firth.
Week commencing 4 December 2017. Energy & business services: The installation of all 86 sets of foundation piles for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm was completed this week - a major project milestone for the company.
With Storm Caroline hitting the Highlands yesterday, today's heavy snowfall and the forecast for a drop in temperatures over the next 48 hours, the Highland Council's crews and winter vehicles have been busy in action. The fleet includes 105 gritters, 42 footpath tractors and over the coming months 200 plus staff will be providing winter maintenance services.
The European Commission has today recommended to the European Council (Article 50) to conclude that sufficient progress has been made in the first phase of the Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom. It is now for the European Council (Article 50) on 15 December 2017 to decide if sufficient progress has been made, allowing the negotiations to proceed to their second phase.