A total of 20,000 households in the Highlands are being given the chance to take advantage of a free offer to keep their homes warmer this winter and cut their energy costs. Households in The Highland Council wards of Cromarty Firth, Tain and Easter Ross and Aird and Loch Ness received letters from The Highland Council this week outlining how they can apply for free loft and cavity wall insulation.
The Highlands has a new Youth Convener. John Erskine from Dingwall has this week taken up the unique role of Highland Youth Convener.
Funding for a scheme to help people get on the housing ladder has been doubled, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil announced today. The Scottish Government has increased the budget for the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme from over £10 million to over £20 million.
Thousands of tourists beating a path to Greenwich, home of the Olympic Equestrian Centre and Royal Museums Greenwich, may find their feet on Caithness stone if they also stop by the world’s last surviving tea clipper. One of the world’s most famous ships, the Cutty Sark was devastated by fire in 2007, but opened again to the public this year in grand style after six years of intensive conservation work.
The Scottish Government's new Cabinet team has been announced by First Minister Alex Salmond, subject to the necessary parliamentary approval. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's longest serving health secretary, will now become Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, playing a key role in the Scottish Government's programme for economic recovery.
Many evening classes to choose from in Caithness. See the online brochure at - www.northhighland.uhi.ac.uk/nhc_uhi/study-at-nhc/prospectus/evening-classes-2012.
Highland Council call for increased awareness of risks from private water supplies. The Highland Council has two thousand private water supplies which serve around seven thousand properties throughout the area.
Last weekend a very successful Gaelic Parent and Toddler Open Day took place in the Croileagan Inbhir Thèorsa (Thurso Gaelic Play Group) Building in Thurso. The event was organised by Croileagan Inbhir Theòrsa and the Gaelic Parent and Toddler Development Worker for the North Area Mrs Carol-Anne Farquhar.
Northern Constabulary and Tayside Police disappointed in speeding numbers in recent A9 campaign Officers from Northern Constabulary and Tayside Police have expressed concerns today following final figures from the ten-day A9 enforcement campaign from Perth to Inverness being released. The campaign, which ended on 25th August 2012, involved partners from VOSA, Northern and Tayside Camera Partnerships as well as officers from both Forces and aimed to reduce the number of collisions and the number of casualties within the busy month of August.
A new report reviews the legal avenues to resolve conflicts between land managers and reintroduced species, as well as recommending comprehensive management strategy for all reintroductions. Scotland has already successfully reintroduced sea eagles and red kites, and is now considering reintroducing beavers, with a trial underway.
Still time to apply for Highland Council and University of the Highlands and Islands Gaelic Bursary Scheme Students wishing to learn, or study through the medium of Gaelic at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI and Lews Castle College UHI are being invited to apply for a Gaelic Bursary Scheme. The deadlines for applications submitted to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is Friday 14 September, and to Lews Castle is Friday 21 September 2012.
Police advise caution to members of the public when using classified advert websites. Northern Constabulary is warning the public to exercise caution when dealing with classified advertisement websites.
Police in Caithness and Sutherland are advising members of the public to be aware of the changing weather and tides in the area following the rescue of two youths. On the 31 August 2012 Police in Thurso and the Coastguard were alerted by a member of the public of two youths who were stranded on a cliff at Victoria Walk due to sudden incoming tides.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has welcomed figures confirming that the Scottish Government is continuing to exceed its target to deliver 1,000 additional police officers across the country. The latest Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics show that there were 17,373 police officers in Scotland on June 30, 2012.
On Tuesday 4th September 2012 First Minister Alex Salmond unveiled the Scottish Government's programme for the new Parliamentary year with a pledge to create 'a better Scotland' for future generations. Mr Salmond revealed the package of 15 bills - led by the flagship Referendum Bill, which will legislate for a vote on independence in the autumn of 2014 - during the first day of the new Parliamentary session.
Two meetings in a series of 12 public consultation events on The Highland Council's budget for 2012 - 2017 are being held in: the Norseman Hotel, Wick on Tuesday 11 September; and Durness Village Hall on Thursday 13 September, both starting at 6:30pm. The meetings are joint arrangements of the Council's Ward Forums for Thurso, Wick and Landward Caithness Wards and the North, West and Central Sutherland Wards.
Richard Lochhead has stressed the importance of the EU Fisheries Commissioner achieving a break through in mackerel talks with Iceland next week. Mr Lochhead has set out Scottish concerns over the continued overfishing of the mackerel stock by Iceland, ahead of a meeting on Monday between Commissioner Maria Damanaki, Norway's Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and Icelandic Fisheries Minister Steingrímur Sigfússon.
The vast majority of Scottish students will start university knowing that their package of financial support is already in place, it was announced today. The Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) has already processed 117,000 applications in record time, meaning there is one less thing for students to be worried about ahead of the coming academic year.
Ten new Council homes in Conon Bridge are the latest to be completed by The Highland Council as part of a 202-house Highland-wide project supported by the Scottish Government. The new tenants at Marjorie Mackenzie Place were welcomed on Friday by Councillor Dave Fallows, Chairman of the Finance Housing and Resources Committee, and Ward Members for Dingwall and Seaforth Alister Mackinnon, Angela Maclean, Graham Mackenzie and Margaret Paterson.
First Minister Alex Salmond officially opened two new energy education hubs at The North Highland College UHI on Thursday 30th August 2012. The First Minister met with staff, students and trainees at the official opening of North Highland College UHI's new Engineering, Technology and Energy Centre (ETEC) and Centre for Energy and Environment (CfEE).