£1.8 million to repair damaged flood banks. Farmers affected by severe flooding in parts of Scotland this autumn will be eligible to apply for grants of up to £30,000 to help repair man-made flood banks.
Scotland's Chief Statistician today released Recorded Crime in Scotland, year ending September 2023. The police in Scotland recorded 297,425 crimes in the year ending September 2023.
Tax cuts for working people and British business headlined Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's ‘Autumn Statement for Growth' today, Wednesday 22 November. Plan for stronger economy will reward hard work, putting £450 back into the pocket of the average worker earning £35,400 a year thanks to National Insurance tax cut from 12% to 10% for 27 million working people from January.
Duty on hand-rolling tobacco will rise by an additional 10%, but for beer, cider, wine and spirits will frozen until August next year - a year on from the last rise..
UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency have announced the award of a contract to Spaceflux to build a new ground-based space camera-telescope system in Cyprus. Known as Project ‘Nyx Alpha', the telescope will monitor objects in geostationary orbit, approximately 36,000km above Earth’s equator.
According to the Autumn Statement the Scottish government will receive £545m over this financial year and the next via the Barnett formula - which is used to decide how much money devolved nations receive for public spending. Nevertheless Scotland's Finance Secretary was critical of the chancellor's priorities in the statement.
State pension payments to increase by 8.5% from April, in line with average earnings..
Only go to this link it you really want lots of details. OBR for the background to the Autumn Statement .
Today, Monday 20 November, the NDA has opened registration for its tenth nuclear decommissioning supply chain event, which will be held at The International Centre in Telford on 27 June 2024. Launched in 2011, the supply chain event has gone on to attract a total of around 10,000 visitors from more than 20 countries over the years, representing thousands of companies both large and small.
With a week to go until the Highland Community Council elections The Highland Council is reminding anyone who has not yet posted their ballot paper that there is still time to do so. Postal ballots for the ten contested community councils must be completed and returned by the deadline of 12 noon on Monday 27 November 2023.
The cost-of-living crisis has led to very tough times for many families in the Highlands and throughout Scotland. Rocketing food and energy prices have been very challenging for everyone, but especially for families on low incomes who already have money worries.
55 local projects awarded share of nearly £1 billion from Round 3 of government's flagship Levelling Up Fund, to spread opportunity, create jobs and revitalise local communities. New levelling up funding will provide a major boost to high streets and improve transport links with £1 billion awarded today to 55 transformational projects in communities across the UK.
Free mediation services for people involved in civil disputes are being expanded to cover all of Scotland. The services offer those who are eligible an opportunity to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution to their civil dispute, reducing the stress, cost and time of going through a court process.
Last week, the first major phase of work started to install a new universally accessible roof terrace, which will form part of the visitor experience at Inverness Castle, involving the careful removal of an original section of a concealed slate roof and the installation of a new structural deck in its place. The roof steel will be lifted and lowered in through a pre-prepared opening in existing roof structure.
Highland Council's Trading Standards and the Climate Change & Energy Team are joining forces to warn unsuspecting householders and Health Centres to be on their guard if they are approached by traders offering funding for the installation of home energy products. This follows recent reports from two GP Practices in the Fort William area, who have been asked to assess patients for an offer of home energy products under Government funded schemes, implying they are approved by Highland Council when this is not the case.
The decommissioning costs for the UK's nuclear generation are coming home to roost, and they are laying golden eggs for the firms that won the business. For UK citizens, not so much.
Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks (PSNB ex) in October 2023 was £14.9 billion, £4.4 billion more than in October 2022 and the second highest October borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. PSNB ex in the financial year-to-October 2023 was £98.3 billion, £21.9 billion more than in the same seven-month period last year, but £16.9 billion less than the £115.2 billion forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in March 2023.
Retail sales volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in October 2023, following a fall of 1.1% in September 2023 (revised from a fall of 0.9%). Looking broader, sales volumes fell by 1.1% in the three months to October 2023 when compared with the previous three months.
Several news source are reporting that on Wednesday the chancellor will announce reduction in National Insurance payments for 28 million workers. No details have been released officially so we may have to wait on the chancellors speech..
