Introducing the new norm, the safety benefits of speed limit adherence and changing and informing driver behaviour will be key to the Highland Council's roll out of 20mph speed limits across the Highlands. A report going to the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will highlight additional actions and interventions the Road Safety Team are planning to support the new 20mph speed limits which are currently getting rolled-out to 121 villages and towns across Highland, fully funded by Transport Scotland.
Stanmore consultancy boss claimed £25,000 before closing the business in effort to avoid repaying taxpayer loan. A London businessman has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to fraud by abusing the Bounce Back Loan scheme.
In Q1 2023, the overall GB vacancy rate remained at 13.8%, the same level as Q4 2022. It was 0.3 percentage points better than the same period last year.
The UK and Poland have signed a major £1.9 billion export agreement to roll out a British air defence system across the European nation. Prime Minister hails landmark deal between UK firm MBDA and Poland as major boost for Euro-Atlantic security.
Work is underway to create to create four new business units at Wick Business Park, following interest from local firms. Caithness company, John Gunn & Sons was appointed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for the development, following a public tendering process.
For years, many have feared that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over national security mechanisms, leading to human slavery, domination of human society and perhaps the annihilation of humans. One way of killing humans is medical misdiagnosis, so it seems reasonable to examine the performance of ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that is taking the world by storm.
The social separation imposed by the pandemic led us to rely on technology to an extent we might never have imagined - from Teams and Zoom to online banking and vaccine status apps. Now, society faces an increasing number of decisions about our relationship with technology.
Research published by Changeworks sets out the impact of far higher levels of fuel poverty on the physical and mental health of people living in rural areas of Scotland. ‘A Perfect Storm: Fuel Poverty in Rural Scotland' was commissioned by the Rural & Islands Housing Associations Forum (RIHAF), the Highlands & Islands Housing Associations Affordable Warmth group (HIHAAW) and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
At yesterday's (Thursday 27 April 2023) Housing & Property Committee meeting, Members approved the new Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028 (LHS). The Strategy was produced following an extensive period of discussion with various stakeholders who have ensured that it meets legislative and regulatory requirements but also focuses on the key housing issues affecting communities across Highland.
Are you an established business with a new product or service that you want to bring to market? This programme will take you through every every stage needed to give your new product or service the best possible start. Over 12 weeks, you'll learn how to improve the likelihood of success and come away with a business-wide action plan.
Different coping mechanisms are being used by different groups to get through the cost-of-living crisis, with middle-aged people running up debts, young people turning to friends and family, and poorer people resorting to more extreme measures like eating less and visiting food banks, according to new analysis published on Thursday 27 April 2023 by the Resolution Foundation. The Foundation's new report Hoping and coping - supported by the Health Foundation - uses data from a YouGov survey of 10,122 adults to assess the various approaches people have employed to navigate the cost-of-living crisis in recent months, and how they differ across income and age groups.
At yesterday's (Thursday 27 April 2023) Housing and Property Committee meeting, Members approved the draft Housing and Investment Plan 2023-2028 for submission to the Scottish Government. Members also agreed to the indicative five year investment programme to 2028.
The Green Jobs Capital Fund supports organisations to create and retain green jobs. These are jobs focusing on the production of goods or services that benefit the environment, or that help drive more environmentally friendly processes.
Spain recently adopted a menstrual leave policy, which makes additional (paid or unpaid) days off work available to "only and all cisgender women". It's so great that we're having more public conversations about menstrual and menopausal health, but I'm getting very tired of being told that menstrual leave is the solution.
Members at next week's meeting of the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will be allocating the distribution of £7.7M of the £20.5M capital roads budget specifically for carriageway structural maintenance. Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Many of our roads are suffering from lack of attention due to limited resources over a number of years.
Caithness Rural Transport members are growing daily and the service has expanded dramatically these past few months. The service relies on volunteers to cover any additional runs throughout the week that the main drivers/volunteers who have set days are unable to cover due to already having runs booked in.
A national network of climate action hubs is being set up to support communities to take forward climate action in their areas. Find out how to apply to set up a hub.
State schools to receive extra cash in May following additional £2 billion investment. Every state school in England is to receive a cash boost, as primary and secondary schools are allocated extra funding for the next academic year.
Energy and trade intensive businesses as well as heat network operators can from today apply for further support. Support for energy and trade intensive businesses opens for applications today, with savings of up to 20% on wholesale energy bills.
Signs of growth are encouraging, says Secretary of State, while focus remains on halving inflation and reducing debt. The Scottish GDP figures for February 2023 have been published today here.
