The Highland Council is to form a Highland Citzens' Panel to gauge representative views of the Highland population on Council services and spending priorities. The Council will switch the current spending on externally commissioning its public performance survey each year to funding the panel and surveying it instead.
In the Highland Council area over the festive period, there will be changes to the collection schedule for kerbside refuse and blue recycling boxes/bins. There will be no refuse collections on Christmas Day and New Year's Day and all waste and recycling centres will be closed on Christmas Day and 1/2 January.
Young people at Thurso, Wick, Golspie and Farr High Schools learned about the engineering sector during a series of industry days organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) North of Scotland initiative, the days were held in partnership with local employers, North Highland College and Skills Development Scotland.
The Highland Council is urging parents and carers in the Highlands not to waste their cash but to take advantage of the fact that more people are now entitled to free school meals. Chairman of The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Committee, Councillor Bill Fernie said: "The eligibility criteria for free school meals and school clothing has been extended, and this means that some people who were previously not entitled may now be.
The Highland Council has made a bid for £1.75 million to allow people - aged between 18-24 years - to get training to help them back into work in the Highlands and deliver benefits to the community. The bid is to the Department of Work and Pensions for funding from the Future Jobs Fund.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (December, 2nd) sold 209 weaned calves and store cattle, 12 adult head of breeding cattle, and 85 OTM cattle. Bullocks (114) averaged 177.8p and sold to 220.7p per kg for a pen of 213kg Limousin crosses from Bual, Ramscraigs, Dunbeath, and £965 gross for a pen of 538kg Charolais crosses from 16 Balvaird, Muir of Ord.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (December, 1st) sold 59 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (27) averaged 171p (-10.4p) and sold to 178p per kg and £1,188.45 gross.
A £2.2m bridge upgrade on the A82 is set to get underway following the award of the works contract for the Ba Bridge replacement Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, announced today. Transport Scotland has awarded the contract to RJ MacLeod, who will undertake replacement of the existing narrow sub-standard bridge with a new modern and safer structure.
The newsletter below was perpared by Jeannie Graham External Funding Manager Education, Culture & Sport Service The Highland Council Council Buildings Glenurquhart Road Inverness IV3 5NX Tel: (01463) 702064 E Mail: jeannie.graham[AT]highland.gov.uk HIGHLAND FUNDING INFORMATION AUTUMN 2009 STOP PRESS!! HIGHLAND PROJECTS IN LINE FOR PEOPLE'S MILLIONS In a prevision newsletter we mentioned the People's Millions: a UK lottery programme where ITV viewers vote on short listed projects to decide which of them will receive £50k. In the STV North area two Highland projects will be competing for funding on Tuesday, 24th November.
Two comprehensive reports on radioactivity in Scotland's food chain and environment were be published last week. The annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 2008 (RIFE) report shows that in 2008 doses received by members of the public from authorised releases of radioactivity were within international dose limits.
Within a few years, much of the experimental nuclear site at Dounreay will disappear from the landscape. Many of the facilities that have dominated the skyline of Scotland's north coast for the past 50 years will be razed to the ground.
Research confirms new ways of working in Highland demonstrate real benefits for children The Highland Council and NHS Highland have welcomed the publication of research undertaken by Edinburgh University for the Scottish Government, confirming that new ways of working in Highland have demonstrated real benefits for children. Getting it right for every child is Scotland's reform programme for children's services.
There is evidence that cases of Influenza A H1N1v (swine flu) have increased in Highland over the past 7-10 days. The levels of illness seen in the central belt some weeks ago are now being reported in our area.
Developers behind the Spittal Hill wind farm, Steven and Tom Pottinger, will be giving the people of Caithness the opportunity to view and provide comment on updated plans for the 30 turbine wind farm, and also outline proposals for a potential experimental archaeological centre and the delivery of a Caithness-wide community benefit fund which renewable energy providers in the area could pay into. A public exhibition will be held at Caithness Horizons, Old Town Hall, Thurso on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd December (see Notes to Editors) by Spittal Hill Wind Farm Ltd.
The Highland Council has appointed Bill Alexander to the temporary post of Chief Operating Officer in the Social Work Service. Over the next six months, Mr Alexander will step aside from his substantive role as Head of Children's Services to work directly to Harriet Dempster, Director of Social Work, to lead the modernisation of social work services for adults.
The Highland Council calls on building construction and consultancy companies to register interest Consultants, contractors and skilled trades businesses are being advised they have until Friday 8 January next year to register an interest in working for The Highland Council on future contracts with an individual value of up to £25,000. The Council is also urging consultants to register an interest by this deadline for future consultancy work for projects of all values.
Guidance on tackling bullying via the Internet and mobile phones is soon to be distributed to all staff in education, culture and sport establishments throughout The Highland Council's area. Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of the Council's Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: "Members have given their full endorsement to new Cyberbullying Guidance which was created by a multi-agency/organisation working group.
Groups seek Big Lottery funding to make improvements to their communities' futures Highlands and Islands Enterprise has carried out final checks on over 50 applications to the Big Lottery for almost £30 million from community groups across Scotland. Communities from Shetland to Dumfries, and from the Western Isles to Aberdeen, are bidding for amounts from £54,000 to over £1.5 million in the final round of funding from the 'Growing Community Assets' (GCA) fund, which will have distributed £50 million pounds when it comes to the end of its four year programme in March next year.
School Leavers are to be given extra help in training for jobs as a result of additional funding from the Scottish Government. £2 million is being made available to fund 420 new places for young school leavers to learn skills in engineering, motor vehicle, warehousing/retail, IT and administration Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced today.
This week sees completion of new Caithness slab footways on the south side of Dingwall High Street as the first phase of a £947,000 package of town centre improvements starts to take shape on the ground. Throughout the project, the Council has been working closely with the Dingwall community through regular stakeholders' meetings which are chaired by the Ward 9 Councillors.
