The Highland Council is to make a robust response to the Scottish Government's Review of Scottish Ferry Services, highlighting the huge importance to rural and island communities of lifeline ferry services. Councillors said ferries are as important to the Highlands as the Forth Road Bridge is to Edinburgh and the East of Scotland and is the economic bedrock of many communities.
The economy of Caithness & North Sutherland is well-placed to benefit from new opportunities, as it decreases its dependence on work at Dounreay. In an address to Caithness business leaders this week, Enterprise Minister Fergus Ewing praised the work of the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership for making a significant contribution to securing new opportunities, investment and jobs to the area.
EnergyHunt, the North of Scotland's premier renewable energy engineering company, is celebrating after achieving a crucial Det Norske Veritas (DNV) industry accreditation The company, based in Caithness, is the first renewable energy business in the North of Scotland to have achieved the award from DNV (, one of the world's leading certification bodies, following an exhaustive audit of its Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental business and management systems. It is now certificated to UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) standards.
WHAT IS EARTH HOUR ALL ABOUT? WWF's Earth Hour is a simple idea that's quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people turning off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the planet.
Hopeful candidates for the council elections can get moving from today. The notice of election is being published later and nomination papers have to be returned by 4pm on Thursday 29 March 2012 There arer 22 wards in the Highland council area.
Week commencing 5th March Energy: Encouraging news this week that North Highland College has been successful in attracting additional funds for its efforts to support employment opportunities. Four programmes were offered a total of approx.
There will be a consultation event at Highland Council Chamber, Glenurquart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX on Wednesday 14th March between 3.30pm and 5.30pm The Office of Fair Trading wants to hear your views about living in a remote rural area and in particular: the prices you pay for goods and services the range of products on offer the quality of goods and of service that you receive. This information will influence their work and help to develop ideas for the future.
The Highland Economic Forum, a partnership of public and private sector organisations chaired by Highland Council, is pursuing an initiative designed to build on the substantial employment and population growth that the region has achieved over the past ten years. Highland's population grew by 6.1% between 2001 and 2010 (twice the Scotland growth rate), and the Moray Firth sub region achieved the second highest economic growth between 1998 and 2008 of all the areas in the UK.
200,000 Scots called to action to tackle the nations litter problem! Keep Scotland Beautiful Keep Scotland Beautiful, one of Scotland's leading environmental charities, is calling out to 200,000 Scots to do their bit to clean up their favourite part of Scotland during a two month attack on the nations litter. Scotland's biggest annual litter clean up, known as National Spring Clean, is Keep Scotland Beautiful's flagship volunteer campaign and is supported by Zero Waste Scotland.
A report to The Highland Council's Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee on Thursday 16 March has identified that the Internet trading activities of almost 200 businesses across the UK are under investigation by Council's Trading Standards as a result of a survey undertaken between November 2011 and January 2012. Over 300 responses were received during the survey identifying problems with how delivery charges were calculated and how these charges were communicated to online customers.
The Highland Council has assured organisers of free-to-enter events that there will be no change to the current licensing arrangements when new guidance on public entertainment licensing is introduced on 1 April. This means that there will continue to be no charge for community or fund-raising events that are free to the public to attend.
The Cabinet Minister for Education and Life-long learning, Mike Russell dropped in on Ardnamurchan High School on Friday 2nd March en-route to the formal opening of Acharacle Primary School. The Highland Council's Director of Education, Culture and Sport , Hugh Fraser, and Acting Head of Education Calum Macsween together with councillors, Michael Foxley, Drew Millar and Bill Fernie joined Head Teacher Chris Millar-Craig and Parent Council Chair Sean Turner in welcoming Mike Russell to Ardnamurchan High School.
Senior appointments Planning for Integration - The Highland Council and NHS Highland. The Highland Council and NHS Highland are very pleased to announce some key senior appointments to support the move to integration of health and social services in April.
The Highland Council is inviting applications to its Deprived Area Fund from community and third sector organisations to assist defined disadvantaged communities to develop and implement activities that improve the quality of life and regenerate their communities. Priority will be given to projects that directly deliver employability outcomes for individuals who are furthest removed from the labour market and live within the targeted areas including parts of Alness, Fort William, Invergordon, Inverness, Seabord (East Ross) and Wick.
New grant set to help Business Gateway companies in Highland grow. Highland companies with ambitions to grow could be eligible for up to £10,000 of support thanks to a fund being offered exclusively through Highland Council's Business Gateway.
The Highland Council has confirmed the recommendations of a Cross-Party Working Group, which are aimed at providing better support in the classroom for pupils and teaching staff. It has agreed the establishment of a single post of Pupil Support Assistant, graded at two distinct salary levels to reflect the difference in general support required by the majority of pupils and the specific support required by pupils with significant levels of need.
The Highland Council's Countryside Rangers, in partnership with the Rangers from Moray Council, have launched their 2012 brochure featuring over 400 guided walks and events to encourage everyone to get out and explore the great outdoors and find out more about the animals that share it with us. Some highlights in the programme of walks and events, that covers the whole of the Highlands and Moray, include Gruffalo children's activity days, long distance walks, mountain conservation days, whale and dolphin spotting, wild food foraging and gentle wildlife walks.
One month's countdown for entry to Scotland's Finest Woods Awards 2012. Woodland owners and managers are being urged to prepare their entries for this year's prestigious Scotland's Finest Woods Awards and compete for a share of the £7,500 prize money.
ScottishPower Creating 300 Engineering And Technical Jobs - £6.5 Million Also Earmarked To Counter Skills Gap. ScottishPower expects to invest over £5bn to upgrade the electricity network in central and southern Scotland over the next 10 years, and is launching a recruitment drive to boost its engineering and technical workforce by creating 300 new roles.
Additional funding has been awarded to the professional development of Scotland's science teachers as the Scottish Government welcomes experts' recommendations to further improve science and engineering learning. Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages, today announced funding of £600,000 as he welcomed the Science and Engineering Education Advisory Group (SEEAG) report which sets out a range of recommendations for the Scottish Government and its partners.