The flat rate cost of car tax in 2024 is currently £180. However, as part of the Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed Vehicle Excise duty (VED) would increase in line with inflation, based on the Retail Price Index (RPI).
Senior leaders from Scotland's HGV industry have developed a set of actions to help the sector transition to net zero. The HGV Decarbonisation Pathway is the result of 18 months of work by the Zero Emission Truck Taskforce, whose members come from the haulage and logistics sector; energy sector (both hydrogen and electricity); truck manufacturing; government; unions; and commercial financiers.
People can now enter their vehicle registration number on the official website for Scotland's Low Emission Zones to confirm if their vehicle will comply. In addition, Blue Badge holders who require exemptions can now register their details with the new LEZ exemption system so that the vehicle they are travelling in can access Low Emission Zones.
Holidaymakers looking to book Easter and summer getaways are being warned to be wary of scams such as: fake accommodation listings on social media cold calls and unsolicited emails offering deals scam websites. fake reviews on popular travel websites.
Companies House is fully committed to ensuring the fair treatment and reward of all colleagues irrespective of gender, as well as any other protected characteristic including age, ethnicity, religion and/or belief, sexual orientation, and disability status. The promotion of equality and inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do, and we're proud of the progress we continue to make in this area.
More than £90 million will be allocated to local authorities in 2024-25 to support eligible households at risk of hardship through the Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) scheme. The funding enables local authorities to mitigate the impact of UK Government policies such as the ‘bedroom tax' and the ‘benefit cap' which can reduce how much universal credit or housing benefit someone receives.
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 requires that a report is presented to Parliament each year setting out the progress made towards delivery of the National Islands Plan. This report sets out progress made during the 2023 reporting year.
Scotland's Migration Service has launched its first phase, which will give people who have recently moved here and employers looking to hire workers from abroad access to bespoke advice. The new service will provide information and offer individual appointments to help people with moving and settling into life in Scotland.
A Highlands MSP has renewed calls for a public inquiry into the Cairngorm funicular after being told by resort bosses there is no timescale for its reopening. Bosses at Cairngorm Mountain Railway have admitted to Scottish Conservative politician Edward Mountain that they have no idea when the crucial facility will reopen.
Child Benefit was for a long time universal, in recognition of the extra costs that children bring whatever the family's income. In 2013, under the pressures of austerity, the coalition government was finally persuaded by the same logic that had proven irresistible to previous governments for so many other benefits.
n the latest week, aggregate UK spending on credit and debit cards fell by 3% and is now 5% lower than the level in the equivalent week of 2023. Meanwhile, overall retail footfall increased to 103% of the level of the previous week and 102% of the level in the equivalent week of 2023 (Bank of England CHAPS, MRI OnLocation).
Brexit has cost Scotland up to £100 million-a-year in ‘lost' salmon exports, MSPs will heard yesterday (28 March 2024) Scottish salmon is the UK's largest food export, but farming companies have faced increased red tape and costs triggered by the departure from the EU in January 2020. In 2019, there were more than 53,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon exported to the bloc, with the figure falling to 44,000 tonnes in 2023.
The underlying UK current account deficit excluding precious metals expanded to £26.3 billion, or 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, a widening of £5.9 billion from Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023. The UK current account deficit when trade in precious metals is included, increased to £21.2 billion, or 3.1 % of GDP.
UK business investment increased by 1.4% in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, revised slightly from our initial estimate of a 1.5% increase in the provisional estimate; the main contributor to business investment growth was an increase in buildings investment. UK business investment is 2.8% above where it was the same quarter a year ago.
The theme of this year's World TB Day, 24 March, was ‘Yes! We can end TB!'. An important message as tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and treatable disease.
Startup companies being supported by the Scottish Government's Techscaler programme attracted investment of more than £52 million in 2023, according to the project's first Annual Report. The initiative supported more than 500 companies in its first year, and now has nearly 2,500 members.
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an annual and quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children in Scotland. Immunisation programmes for children aim to protect the individual child from many serious infectious diseases and prevent the spread of disease in the wider population.
In Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, household spending growth (adjusted for inflation) was negative 0.1% compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023. Compared with Quarter 4 2022, household spending increased by 0.3%.
Applications opened for the fourth year of the Marine Fund Scotland on 28 March 2024. Addressing the Fisheries Management Scotland conference today, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon confirmed that £14m will be made available through the Fund in 2024-25 to help deliver Scotland's Blue Economy Vision, which sets out plans to transform the way the marine environment is used and how Scotland's ‘blue' resources are managed.
Members of the Scottish Public Health System have issued a position statement that calls for national and local action to help stop tobacco smoking and youth vaping in Scotland. The group, a collaboration between Public Health Scotland and Scottish Directors of Public Health, highlights that both issues present a public health challenge that requires bold and collective action.
