The living wage should be more actively promoted across the Highlands Council Area, Rhoda Grant MSP has said, after figures showed that 90% of Scots think that companies should pay the living wage. There are around 19,570 people across the Highland Council area who are paid less than the living wage, currently set at £7.65 an hour.
Latest estimates for January to March 2014 show that employment continued to increase, unemployment continued to fall, as did the number of economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64. These changes continue the general direction of movement over the past two years.
The Post Office has launched a £20m Community Branch Fund to help secure the long-term future of branches in villages and remote communities, and underpin their crucial economic and social role. As the traditional banking network declines, community branches are critical in enabling local people to maintain access to the majority of high street banks, along with a wide range of other Post Office products and services.
* Output levels rise solidly in April, albeit at slowest pace in four months * Faster increases in new business and backlogs of work * Inflationary pressures strengthen slightly. Scotland's private sector economy continued to grow in April, the latest Bank of Scotland PMIreport showed, with output and employment both rising on the month.
Members of The Highland Council’s Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee will be updated on the draft findings of recent research into the cumulative effect of wind energy developments in Caithness at their meeting on Wednesday (14 May 2014). This follows The Highland Council’s successful joint bid with Argyll and Bute Council for Scottish Government funding to undertake such studies in parts of the two council areas.
Along with increasing the number of experienced bank and relationship managers in frontline roles, the bank's digital offering has been developed in order to make things as convenient as possible for customers. In this vein, February saw RBS and NatWest launch a new online business portal providing all the essential information businesses need if they are thinking about applying for a business loan.
uSwitch.com’s survey of over 7,000 credit card customers shows retail brands Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury’s stealing the limelight from the Big Four banks, as customers rank them higher in trust, value for money and customer service. - Too big to fail? The Big Four banks fail to win a single award in credit card satisfaction survey.
- 8.6 million drivers risk missing out on savings by sticking with their existing insurer when renewing - 2.4 million motorists can't be bothered to shop around for cover - Motorists could save up to £220 a year each by switching UK motorists are wasting £1.9 billion each year by staying loyal to their existing car insurer. Not shopping around for a better deal at renewal time means drivers could be throwing away around £220 a year1, says MoneySuperMarket.com.
HSBC has installed free Wi-Fi in branches around the UK to help its customers get online while they bank. The hotspots, powered by BT Wi-Fi, are initially available in over 650 HSBC branches throughout the UK.
* Total household wealth up by over £3 trillion since 2003 or £96,000 per household * Household wealth grows faster than disposable income and inflation * Financial asset value rises as housing wealth drops. According to latest research from Lloyds Bank Private Banking total household wealth1 at the end of 2013 is estimated to have reached £7.84 trillion, an increase of £3.07 trillion over the past decade; equivalent to a rise of £96,000 per household.
* New powers To control Dangerous Dogs * Longer Prison Sentences For Irresponsible Dog Owners * New Powers For Police and Local Authorities * Laws already in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) - which represents the largest number of dog attack victims in the UK - is welcoming tough new dog control laws introduced today.
MoneySuperMarket.com Comments On Barclaycard Launching The Offer - . Commenting on Barclaycard launching the UK's longest ever balance transfer offer of zero per cent for 32 months, Kevin Mountford, head of banking at MoneySuperMarket said: “Following on from Halifax launching its 31 month balance transfer card last week, Barclaycard has upped the ante once again and updated its offering to maintain pole position in the balance transfer market.
Milestone reached in contractors payment scheme. The first payment has been made in an innovative scheme designed to speed up payments to contractors working on public sector construction projects.
£15 million for Green Homes Cashback scheme. Households will be able to apply for up to £7,300 through a new, more generous, phase of the Scottish Government’s Green Homes Cashback scheme.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (May, 13th) sold 37 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (25) averaged 207.1p (+2.9p) and sold to 223p per kg and £1,471.80 gross.
The work of police officers and staff in the Highlands and Islands plays a vital role in keeping people safe, Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said today. The Chief Constable was visiting the divisional headquarters of Highland and Islands Division in Inverness today (Tuesday 13 May 2014) to attend a ceremony honouring the long service of police officers and staff.
Value May Be A Destination Decider - But UK Holidaymakers Overspend Abroad By 44 Per Cent. - Only one-third of holidaymakers stick to their spending budget on overseas trips - On a holiday spending budget of £552 the average overspend is £242 - But perceived value remains key to destination choice: Turkey and Spain score but France, Dubai and Italy get the thumbs down Value for money may be the key factor in deciding on a destination for an overseas trip but a new report by Post Office® Travel Money reveals that overspending is widespread once UK tourists get to their holiday hotspot¹.
An innovative commercial heating scheme, which will result in lower operating costs for community facilities across Shetland, has received a significant funding boost from Scottish Government agencies. A new wood pelleting plant at Gremista, run by North Fish (Shetland) Ltd is now supplying energy to the Lerwick District Heating Scheme, reducing the systems need to use more expensive heating oil.
Julian Kelly has been appointed as the new Director General Public Spending and Finance (DG PSF) in the Treasury, the Chancellor and Chief Secretary have announced. The new role, created following the Review of Financial Management in Government merges the role of Head of Public Spending with Head of the Government Finance profession for the first time.
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Labour) MSP David Stewart has received assurances from SSEPD (Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution) following the April power cut outage which affected more than 200,000 properties at the height of the disruption affecting the North of Scotland which included Fort William, Moray, Caithness, Orkney and the Western Isles. David Stewart MSP was quick to seek answers and an explanation regarding the cause of the unprecedented outage from SSEPD and met with officials from the company in the following days.