Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on February 7, 2014 at 4:25 AM A letter written by a Supply Teacher. http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/letters/a-raw-deal-for-supply-teachers.23358733 "A raw deal for supply teachers Thursday 6 February 2014 IF the purpose of the latest offer on pay for Scottish supply teachers is to entice more of them back into the classroom then disappointment may lie ahead ("Pay row teachers to vote on new offer", The Herald, February 4).
Six Highland community councils are able to continue operating following recent interim elections. Nominations were invited from 21 January to 5 February 2014 for persons seeking election to Community Councils serving Caithness West; East Nairnshire; Inverlochy; Raigmore; Sinclairs Bay; and Wick In each case, the number of candidates nominated was less than the number of councillors to be returned, so no elections will take place, and the list of candidates for each community council are now declared to be elected as councillors.
Housing Regulator publishes research on rent arrears six months into Welfare Reform. The Scottish Housing Regulator today published the findings of the second phase of its research on the early impact of Welfare Reform on social landlords.
Strathy North Windfarm - 26th February, Strathy Village Hall. In February SSE are holding an information day for local businesses to find out about the ongoing opportunities around the construction of our £109m Strathy North wind farm in Sutherland.
The Highland Licensing Committee has extended until Friday 21 March the period of consultation for proposed amendments and additions to activities requiring a public entertainment licence. The original deadline was Friday 7 February but the Licensing Committee, meeting on Tuesday 4 February, agreed this should be extended following a number of representations received from outdoor activity providers and to allow time to obtain further information on the extent to which such activities are already regulated by other authorities/bodies.
Highlands & Islands MSP Rhoda Grant said that the is concerned that the views and opinions of Crofters with regard to the consultation regarding the Common Agricultural Policy funds from 1st January 2015, may not be heard unless they act now. She said, “The Highlands and Islands Agriculture Support Group working with the Scottish Government have tested the modelling of the James Hutton Institute on the payments that would be required to support Crofting.
Wick John O'Groats Airport is well placed to capture a greater share of the energy market, says Airport Station Manager William Sutherland. His remarks followed a visit by Alan Simpson, Integrated Planning and Turnaround Manager at Chevron, to mark the end of the company's year-long presence at the airport.
The resurfacing of Kessock Bridge, Inverness, is being carried out by Bear Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland (the Scottish Government agency responsible for the maintenance of the A9 and Kessock Bridge). The second phase begins on Monday 10 February 2014 and continues for 20 weeks.
The demographics of Skye, Ross and Cromarty were under the spotlight today (Wednesday 5 February) as Members of the Area Committee took the opportunity to look in some detail at the results from the 2011 census. The population of the Skye, Ross & Cromarty area has grown by 8.6% compared to the Highland average of 11.1%, with an increase in all six Council Wards, and at a local level in 65 out of 85 data zones.
A new innovation centre for industrial biotechnology (IB) is forecast to increase IB related turnover to up to £3 billion by 2030, create 1500 jobs within five years and put Scotland at the forefront of a global transformation. Funded by the Scottish Funding Council and supported by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the new Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) – hosted at the University of Strathclyde – is a key element of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology – Towards a Greener, Cleaner 2025.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (February, 5th) sold 85 weaned calves and store cattle, and 10 OTM cattle. Bullocks (41) sold to 235.6p per kilo for a pen of 382kg Shorthorn crosses from Balnespick, Kincraig, (Williamson) and £1,130 gross for a pair of 642kg Blonde d’Aquitaine crosses from Muirend Croft, Auldearn.
DSRL will be running a free workshop to train the supply chain on the new Complete Tender Management (CTM) system. The workshop will be held on Thursday February 20, 2014 at the North Highland College, Thurso from 1pm to 4pm.
In an attempt to find out what businesses are doing with their waste, The Highland Council has written to 1,400 non domestic rated premises in Caithness, Sutherland and Skye and Lochalsh that currently do not use the Council’s commercial waste collection service. The letters will be going out over the coming week to a wide range of premises, including hairdressers, workshops, offices, shops, guesthouses and self-catering holiday homes, all of which will be producing waste and by law should be paying for a waste collection.
After flowers or chocolates, the next big question that's usually on the agenda for Valentine's Day is whether to go out to that romantic restaurant or enjoy a quiet meal in. However you rate a meal out, this Valentine's Day, make sure you choose one of the 85% of eateries in The Highland Council area with a PASS.
The Highland Council has advised businesses, residents, cyclists and motorists that to get back on track with the schedule to deliver the River Ness Flood Alleviation and Streetscape Scheme it intends to extend the period of closure of Bank Street to traffic– between Fraser Street and Friars Lane - until May. The Council had planned to reopen Bank Street to through traffic between Ness Bridge and Academy Street on Monday 10 February to coincide with work starting on the second phase of the Kessock Bridge Resurfacing Project.
At approximately 12:17 hours on Tuesday 17 September 2013 police received a report from a member of the public that a body of a man had been discovered on the shoreline of Occumster. This sadly turned out to be Stefan Sutherland from the Lybster area.
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Labour) MSPs Rhoda Grant and David Stewart have arranged high level discussion with Royal Mail in the Scottish Parliament next week to discuss viability, advantages and any disadvantages of a establishing a new Caithness and Sutherland postcode, ending the use of the Kirkwall based KW code currently in use. Many people living in Caithness and Sutherland who use the KW postcode claim that due to sharing a postcode with Orkney this subjects them to island level delivery charges despite the area being part of mainland U.K.
Week Commencing 27th January 2014 Energy & Business Services: Scottish Renewables’ “Offshore Wind 2014” Conference and Exhibition took place in Aberdeen this week. The keynote speech was from Fergus Ewing MSP, the Scottish Government’s Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Minister.
NESTA (the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) has announced the launch of a new small grants scheme. Grants of up to £10,000 are available to universities and incorporated research organisations, charities, companies and consultancies for research projects.
China surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest trading country last year, measured by the sum of exports and imports of goods, latest official figures from both countries show. China, the world number 2 economy, has been playing an increasingly crucial role in the global trade arena over recent years.