Leader of The Highland Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson has welcomed Police Scotland's announcement that it has created 25 new jobs in Inverness with the creation of a specialist call handling service team. Cllr Davidson said: "The creation of 25 new jobs in the city is good news for Inverness and Highland region especially during the ongoing economic decline caused by coronavirus.
As unemployment rates continue to rise, many tradespeople may consider turning to entrepreneurship for the benefits of being their own boss at an uncertain time. Although this means more flexibility and independence, it also comes with risks, as new business owners need to spend £33,975.34, on average, when embarking on a new venture.
Councillors have agreed a cautious and prudent approach to the Highland Council's Revenue Budget for 2020/21. Depute Leader Cllr Alasdair Christie said: "We know how hard these past 6 months have been for individuals, groups, schools, care providers and businesses.
4TH GENERATION TERM CONTRACT FOR MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SCOTTISH TRUNK ROAD NETWORK - NORTH WEST UNIT A9 NAVIDALE ROUNDABOUT AND A9 HELMSDALE CARRIAGEWAY RESURFACING INFORMATION. BEAR Scotland, on behalf of Transport Scotland, will be undertaking essential carriageway resurfacing works on two sections of the A9 Trunk Road, at Navidale Roundabout and through Helmsdale.
As part of the Scottish Timber Transport Project structural road improvements are currently underway in Sutherland along the A839 between Rosehall and Lairg. To allow for a safe working environment to carry out additional strengthening works to the Altass Bridge (also known as Minister's Bridge), the single-track section of the A839 that crosses the bridge will be temporarily closed to traffic for 3 days next week.
Introduction Security company Carbon Black released a report showing that 88% of UK businesses suffered from a data breach during a 12-month period. It also revealed the average number of breaches per organization: 3.67.
Rhoda Grant and David Stewart, Scottish Labour's MSPs for the Highlands and Islands region have pledged to constituents that they are still here to help and those who wish do to so are able to contact them by mail or over the phone, despite regional offices remaining closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The MSPs were contacted by the consumer campaign, Keep Me Posted, which aims to ensure that consumers who do not have access to the internet or who just prefer to receive bills or mail by post are able to do so, for an assurance that constituents can still contact their MSPs by post.
Rishi Sunak unveils government's plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months. central to plan is a new Job Support Scheme and extension of Self Employment Income Support Scheme.
The Chief Executive of High Life Highland has spoken following the First Minister's statements to remind customers that the Charity's locations should not be affected by the restrictions coming into place later in the week. Steve Walsh said, "High Life Highland has worked extremely hard to ensure that our locations are operating strictly in line with the Scottish Government's guidelines.
Virtual education in Highland - Supportive, Interactive, Engaging. The Highland Council can support and deliver education to any pupils who are asked to self-isolate by the Health Protection Team, in all of our 203 schools across the region.
2020 has not been the easiest of years and, for many people, saving has been the last thing on their minds - but there's never been a more prudent time to think about putting money aside for a rainy day. Or a global pandemic.
Highlands and Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, is becoming increasing frustrated at the lack of transparency on the future of Migdale Hospital's Strathy ward in Bonar Bridge. When the Sutherland hospital opened in 2011 it had 22 beds with two units - the Strathy ward, for older people with mental health problems, and another offering a range of in-patient services, such as palliative care, general medicine and rehabilitation services.
The Scottish Government is leading a global push to ensure action is taken at all levels to protect biodiversity. A statement of intent, known as The Edinburgh Declaration, has been agreed between subnational, regional and local governments across the world and calls on the Convention on Biodiversity to take bold action to halt biodiversity loss.
The Scottish Government will lay legislation to enable delivery of the new Child Winter Heating Assistance later today. This is the first disability benefit to be introduced using new social security powers.
Education specialists from across the North-east, North and West of Scotland are to deliver a week-long series of digital professional learning events for teachers and practitioners from the end of September as part of a drive to increase awareness about child poverty in Scotland and the impact this has on learning. Led by the Northern Alliance (Regional lmprovement Collaborative for the area's eight local authorities) in collaboration with Education Scotland, Promoting Equity Week will run from Monday 28 September and will help schools across the region consider the barriers faced by young people living in poverty and investigate the pressures the pandemic has had on vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Review of the Scottish tech ecosystem by Mark Logan, commissioned by the Scottish Government, with recommendations on how to develop a world-class tech sector. In May 2020, Cabinet Secretary of Finance Kate Forbes asked Mark Logan, tech entrepreneur and former Skyscanner COO, to conduct a short-life review into how Scotland's tech sector can contribute to Scotland's economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the Institute for Fiscal Studies - Authors Rowena and Crawford and Carl Emmerson. From tomorrow (1st September), the first 18-year-olds will be able to access Child Trust Funds (CTFs) set up over a decade ago by Tony Blair's Labour government.
Article published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 26 August 2020 - Author David Phillips. Summary Today's Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures show Scotland's implicit budget deficit increasing to 8.6% of GDP in 2019-20, around 6 percentage points higher than the UK as a whole, largely reflecting higher government spending.
Plans to establish a vertical launch site for satellites in the north of Scotland have taken another step forward. Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is applying to the Scottish Land Court for consent to build, operate and, ultimately, decommission Space Hub Sutherland on a crofting estate on the A'Mhoine peninsula.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will publish a Programme for Government next week focused on dealing with the economic, health, and social crisis caused by coronavirus (COVID-19). Protecting public health will remain the priority, and the Scottish Government will also set out plans to help people, businesses and communities recover from the pandemic by creating new jobs, promoting lifelong health and wellbeing and tackling inequalities.
