The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) rose by 8.9% in the 12 months to March 2023, down from 9.2% in February. The largest upward contributions to the annual CPIH inflation rate in March 2023 came from housing and household services (principally from electricity, gas and other fuels), and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Producer input prices rose by 7.6% in the year to March 2023, down from 12.8% in the year to February 2023. Producer output (factory gate) prices rose by 8.7% in the year to March 2023, down from 11.9% in the year to February 2023.
The world's first rewilding centre has been opened in the Highlands that will help more people experience forest restoration, the natural environment and Gaelic culture. The Rewilding Centre is located at Dundreggan Estate, Invermoriston by conservation, education and research charity, Trees for Life.
HRH The Princess Royal, accompanied by Lord Lieutenant James Wotherspoon officially opened the Thomas Telford Corpach Marina, Fort William on Tuesday 18 April 2023. As part of HRH visit, The Princess Royal toured the new state of the art marina facilities and unveiled the plaque.
The Government is ploughing ahead with its new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. It claims the changes will unlock £4.7bn over the next 10 years.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has published a new policy prospectus, setting out how the government will deliver for Scotland over the next three years. In his first major statement to Parliament, the First Minister said three missions, centred on the themes of equality, opportunity and community, will be central to his government.
The Royal Air Force has successfully completed a Voyager air-to-air refuelling flight, powered by an approximately 43% blend of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Voyager aircraft powered by 43% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) flies over North Sea.
459 directors were disqualified in 2022-23 for abuse of the pandemic financial support schemes, with average disqualification length of seven years four months, up from five years ten months last year. Over 450 directors have been disqualified by the Insolvency Service in 2022-23 for abusing the COVID-19 financial support scheme, as the agency continues to clamp down on pandemic fraudsters.
The Scottish National party's treasurer, Colin Beattie, has been arrested as a suspect in the police investigation into the party’s funding and finances. Police Scotland said Beattie, 71, had been taken into custody and was being interviewed by detectives..
It's essential reading for transport managers and drivers of lorries and buses and includes best practice advice on a range of items to keep vehicles safe on the road. Tyre management and what to look for on walkaround checks are covered as well as a range of items including advice on towing, brake performance, emissions and fuel management and PSV bus reportable incidents.
The Institute for fiscal Studies highlights an important issue for the cost of running government bodies and for all of expecting public services to continue. While the article sets out some technical issues on public sector pension costs in the end it affects everyone from taxpayers to users of services.
R3, the insolvency and restructuring trade body, has launched a new free guide for directors and business owners in Scotland. The free resource, ‘A guide to dealing with corporate financial distress', sets out the duties and responsibilities of company directors and the importance of meeting them, outlines the signs a business may be financially distressed, and provides an overview of the main options available to company directors to help resolve this issue.
In a podcast Jack Williamson is joined by Deputy Director, Emma Congreve to discuss the latest ONS GDP data, IMF's forecast for the UK economy in 2023 and the road ahead for Humza Yousaf as he settles in as FM. Listen HERE Timestamps: (00:24) Latest GDP data from the ONS (02:30) IMF forecast of UK economy in 2023 (05:08) UK Statistical Authority weighs in on proper use of data (07:48) What have we seen so far from the FM (09:37) The road ahead for Humza Yousaf.
An interesting article about the rising sites offering an alternative to Twitter may be of interest. Substack Notes, Post and Mastodon are among the platforms hoping to benefit from Twitter's problems.
The UK Space Agency is launching the £20 million International Bilateral Fund. The UK Space Agency is launching a £20 million fund to support international partnerships that will harness the UK's national strengths, support new space capabilities and catalyse investment.
Millions of UK households will receive £301 directly from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between 25 April and 17 May. This is the first of three payments totalling up to £900 for those eligible and on means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, in 2023/24.
More Tax Credit claimants will soon be asked to claim Universal Credit as the Government expands the movement of legacy benefit claimants to the modern benefit system. From April, more benefit claimants on Tax Credits will need to complete their move to Universal Credit to streamline and simplify the benefits system Affected claimants will receive letters notifying them of action to take Affected claimants will continue to receive the benefit they are entitled to through a more dynamic system that better reflects individual needs each month By migrating to Universal Credit, with the support of the Department for Work and Pensions, claimants will continue to receive the benefit they are entitled to through a future-proofed modern benefits system.
Around one-in-six people aged 18-34 - 2.6 million people in total - live in people poor quality housing, and it is having a detrimental impact on their physical and mental health, according to new research published today (Saturday) by the Resolution Foundation. The briefing Trying Times – supported by the Health Foundation – uses data from a new YouGov survey of 10,122 adults to examine how people are coping with housing payments during the cost-of-living crisis, the extent of poor quality housing across the UK, and its impact on peoples' health.
Councils empowered to prioritise homes for living in. Plans to enable councils to raise the amount of council tax paid on empty and second homes will be included in a new consultation to help increase housing availability.
Scottish Labour has said Scotland's rural communities have been "abandoned" as rural poverty soars by 50 per cent under the SNP. Since the SNP came to government in 2007 the number of households in poverty in rural Scotland has soared by around 50 per cent, rising more than twice as fast as the national average.
