The UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new, fully subsidised job placements for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment.
Employers of any size will receive funding for 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions. Employers will also receive £1500 towards training, equipment and set up costs.
Employers can spread the start date of the job placements up until the end of December 2021.
All job placements under the Kickstart Scheme must be new roles and must not replace existing or planned vacancies, or cause existing employees, apprentices or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours.
Inverness Chamber of Commerce is acting as a “gateway organisation” to assist those interested in taking part of the scheme but looking to create less than 30 new roles.
If you are interested in taking part in the scheme, download the employers guide and then simply click here to register your interest and request an application form.
A new improved section of the A9, north of Inverness, to open traffic later today
The £9.6 million Berriedale Braes Improvement project which at its peak supported over 50 jobs during construction, will today start to deliver benefits for road users and local communities.
The improved road alignment, which involved removing an existing hairpin bend, will improve journey times and enhance road safety by removing the need for vehicles to slow down or stop to negotiate the bend.
Delivering this transport project underlines the Scottish Government’s commitment to improve the trunk road network across the length and breadth of Scotland.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson said:
“I welcome the opening of this key improvement project today, which will now begin to deliver improved road safety as well as better journey times for A9 road users.
“I would also like to pass on my appreciation to the contractor, RJ McLeod for their hard work and effort in constructing this project. They have been mindful from the outset of the strategic importance of this key route in the picturesque Scottish Highlands and the need to balance the delivery of complex engineering works with measures to mitigate impacts on the surrounding environment.
“During a visit last summer, I was able to see some of the measures the contractor took including using alternative techniques to remove a vast quantity of rock while avoiding disturbance of the nearby coastal bird colony during breeding season.”
Contractor RJ McLeod will remain on site for a period of time to undertake necessary finishing and landscaping work. A temporary 30 mph speed restriction will be in place for around seven days after the road opening to allow the workforce to safely carry out landscaping and verge works adjacent to the road.
Scott Marr, Site Agent, RJ McLeod, contractor said
“We are delighted to see the works concluded and the new road opened at A9 Berriedale Braes. The works have been designed and constructed to alleviate previous issues with tight bends and steep gradients on this notorious stretch of road. We trust that the travelling public will now enjoy a safer and more comfortable travel experience on this stretch of the A9.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community and the general travelling public for their patience throughout the construction period.”
Michael MacLean, AECOM Technical Director, Roads, UK and Ireland, said:
“The opening of this much anticipated improvement to the Scotland’s trunk road network is another key milestone for the project. Following years of planning, local road users, who regularly travel along this route, will now benefit from more efficient and safer journeys through this beautiful part of the Scottish Highlands.”
Young people are expected to face some of the greatest challenges with employment as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As such, Social Security Scotland would like to make as many businesses and individuals as possible aware of the Job Start Payment so that it can reach those who could benefit from it.
Businesses are encouraged to make any new employees aged 16 to 24, or 25 if they are a care leaver who has been in receipt of certain benefits for a period of 6 months or more aware of the scheme so that they can apply. The £250 or £400 if the young person has responsibility for any children is available to help them get whatever they need to be able to start work.
Getting a job offer can sometimes just be the first hurdle for a young person. If they have faced a period of unemployment, getting the money together to cover the costs of starting a job can be a barrier too.
People will be able to apply for Job Start Payment from 17 August 2020 online using this link or via the freephone helpline: 0800 182 2222
Businesses can find resources to support the promotion of this benefit here.
“We’re Good To Go” is the official UK mark to signal that a tourism and hospitality business has worked hard to follow Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines and has a process in place to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing.
Apply now to confirm your business has taken the necessary measures and is operating in line with the Government guidelines and Public Health guidance (relating to Scottish businesses) clearly set out in your COVID-19 Risk Assessment.
Upon successful completion of the application, you will be sent a secure link to download your certificate, mark and a toolkit with practical steps for telling your customers that your business is Good to Go.
The application will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and you need to make sure you have read the relevant Government and Public Health guidance for your country before you begin. Please also make sure you have read the Terms & Conditions.
For more information on reopening your business, including links to sector specific guidance, please visit the Business Advice Hub. If you have any further questions, please call 0345 873 8050.
Click here to find out more.
The MoD have started the procurement process for the Site Management and Decommissioning of Vulcan.
Part of this process is holding a Market Engagement Day. Though the MoD are likely to be looking for a Tier 1 supplier for the overall contract, there will be opportunities for the local Tier 2, 3 and 4 supply chain and this Market Engagement Day will allow the supply chain to understand the process for the procurement, timescales and opportunities.
Due to COVID-19 the Market Engagement Day will be a virtual one held on Tuesday 9 June.
The Chamber will be making a short presentation on the day to outline the expertise of the local supply chain. Suppliers will also have access to our nuclear directory which many of you feature in, which includes those directly involved in decommissioning but also other services such as hotel accommodation, supplies, IT, transport, back office support etc, all of which are important and play a part in this size of contract.
Details are still to be finalised for the Market Engagement Day but to register go onto https://www.contracts.mod.uk/ and then:
- Register for a DCO supplier account which allows UK suppliers to search and access the Vulcan PIN and associated Addendum which is a DCB opportunity (i.e. only open to UK suppliers).
- Suppliers should register on AWARD via the link below and provide the required information by midnight on 22nd May, as detailed in the PIN Addendum: https://award.bravosolution.co.uk/vcdec/web/project/102/register
- Any suppliers still experiencing issues should contact the DCO helpdesk on 0800 282 324.
- The information available to suppliers at this time is included in the PIN, associated Addendum and on the AWARD tool. There are no charges associated with registrations for DCO or AWARD accounts.
Registering means you can get all the information and attend the Market Engagement Day, it doesn’t mean you have to go through the procurement process. Any problems with registration call the helpdesk number above.
A scientist from the University of the Highlands and Islands has been awarded £986,000 to undertake a major new research programme into the peatlands of northern Scotland. Dr Roxane Andersen from the Environmental Research Institute at North Highland College UHI will use the funding to explore how climate change could affect blanket bogs and to assess the effectiveness of restoration efforts.
The research leadership award, provided by the Leverhulme Trust, will enable Dr Andersen to develop a team of nine researchers who will conduct the investigations over a five-year period. They will use cutting-edge technologies and techniques, including satellite remote sensing, to investigate how we can protect and restore blanket bog areas. Peatlands are renowned for their ability to soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to promote biodiversity and to provide high quality water.
The Thurso-based scientists will benefit from access to the Flow Country, the largest blanket bog in Europe and a region which is under consideration for World Heritage Site status. The project will build on existing collaborations, notably with scientists at the James Hutton Institute, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the University of Nottingham and others who have been leading research in the Flow Country for many years. The project will also support new initiatives across the university’s research centres and foster national and international collaborations, including work with Canadian peatland research groups.
Speaking about the project, Dr Andersen said:
“Peatlands are the Earth’s most efficient terrestrial carbon store. They regulate water and climate and support unique biodiversity. However, their degradation affects the delivery of these key functions. In the UK, the cool, wet climate supports a globally rare peatland type: blanket bogs. Most UK blanket bogs have been degraded by human activities and, left alone, they make a significant contribution to our greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector. However, unprecedented efforts to restore our blanket bogs are underway, for example through Scottish Natural Heritage’s Peatland Action programme in Scotland.
“Astonishingly, we do not know the extent to which these interventions work or how blanket bogs, restored or otherwise, will cope with the added threat of climate change. I am thrilled to have been chosen by the Leverhulme Trust for this Research Leadership Award. I look forward to working with my team and colleagues to pioneer approaches from molecular to landscape scales to fill some of these gaps in our knowledge and to inform UK and global peatland management strategies.”
The project will focus on three key areas of research. The team will explore how environmental conditions can affect Sphagnum mosses, one of the building blocks of peat in blanket bog. They will continue to develop a method which uses satellite data to measure how the seasonal patterns of swelling and shrinking of bog surface, known as ‘bog breathing’, change in response to climate extremes and restoration activities. They will also work to refine models which predict how blanket bogs may respond to different management approaches in future climate change scenarios.
Emma Goodyer, Manager of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature UK Peatland Programme, said:
“The area covered by near natural peatland worldwide (over three million square kilometres) stores more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. However, drained and damaged peatlands contribute about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector annually, despite covering only 0.4% of the global land surface.
“Scotland has become a global leader in peatland management. The research hub in the Flow Country has been instrumental in delivering programmes of research which tackle some of the most pressing issues for peatland restoration and policy. This significant funding boost will offer the opportunity to understand the resilience of peatland ecosystems in the face of the climate crisis whilst also reversing biodiversity losses.”
For more information about the Environmental Research Institute, visit the Environmental Research Institute website.
The Highland Council’s Your Cash Your Caithness funding event was held in Thurso on Saturday to give Caithness residents the deciding vote on what community initiatives should receive a share of the cash pot.
A total of 25 local organisations battled it out for a share of the cash, with 11 good causes gaining financial support for the innovative ventures.
Every candidate was invited to give a five-minute presentation about their project before being subjected to a public vote to decide the winning campaigns.
John O’Groats Mill Trust were one of the groups who secured £1,000 with the grant being put towards renovating Scotland’s last winter mill near the village into a vibrant community hub and visitor attraction.
Thurso Community Development Trust will spend the money on a bid to create a new community meeting place in the former BB Drill Hall, while North Highland Cancer Information and Support Centre will use the cash to organise new therapy sessions.
Grants of £1,000 were also presented to Caithness Macular Support Group, Thurso Community Cafe and Bower Busy Bees.
No Limits Caithness received a grant of £990, while the Caithness Broch Project walked away with £961, Home Start Caithness obtained £525 and Northern Starts Thurso was given £500.
NORTH MSP Gail Ross has launched a consultation on a proposed bill to address the needs of rural areas.
She is calling for feedback between now and the end of January with the aim of giving remote mainland communities the kind of protection Scotland’s islands already have.
The main chamber of Wick Town Hall was filled with business leaders and other interested parties who came to hear about Mrs Ross’s draft proposal for introducing a member’s bill in the Scottish Parliament called Safeguarding Scotland’s Remote Rural Communities.
Speaking after Monday’s meeting, Mrs Ross said: “This is a consultation and I’m looking to get as much feedback as possible. There’s a specific website people can visit or they can go through the Scottish Parliament website.
“I welcome anyone to email me too. I want to know from people in remote rural areas what they would like to see different and are there things they would like to see change?
“It could be as wide-ranging as from bank closures to bus routes. What we really want is an overview of how remote rural Scotland feels.”
The SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross called this initial process towards creating the bill a “listening exercise”. She added: “I’m here, I’m listening and I want the feedback.”
The proposed legislation would offer protection for mainland communities in a similar way to the 2018 Islands Act. Public bodies would also have to take the impact on remote rural communities into account when making policy under the proposed guidelines.
In her consultation document Mrs Ross highlights the sense of isolation that can be felt within the rural setting and how this can impact upon mental health. She also highlights Highland Council’s corporate plan prediction that the population of Caithness will continue to decline unless work is done to stop it.
The document says: “It has also been stated in the past that large local authorities that cater for some of our most remote communities and also urban areas, such as Highland Council, cannot possibly apply a ‘one size fits all’ approach to their decision-making.
“A policy that fits Inverness may not be suitable in Durness or Applecross. Even within council regions, some policy decisions need to be tailored for a specific area.”
Mrs Ross said that she could not stress enough how important it was for the public to give feedback.
Kirsteen Currie, SNP councillor for north, west and central Sutherland, was at Monday’s meeting in support of Mrs Ross and said: “I think we need as much support for remote and rural communities as possible.
“I’m worried that the main benefits we’ve had from the EU are going to be lost to us in the next few weeks or months. It will have a major impact on our public services and communities.”
Karl Rosie, SNP councillor for Thurso and Northwest Caithness, said the Islands Bill from 2018 had made a huge difference to the communities affected by it and Mrs Ross’s bill will “emulate and replicate” it for the rural population of the far north.
“We have got to act with urgency to support the bill so we can address the challenges ahead,” Councillor Rosie said.
Mrs Ross admits that the process for a member’s bill is “quite long” and she doubts if it will get through at this session of parliament.
She said: “The consultation ends on January 31 [2020] and we’ll collate all these results and make them available to the Scottish Government and anyone who wishes to see them. We will then look at taking forward a draft bill.”
An online survey is available at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/RemoteRuralCommunities/ and further information can be found at https://remoteruralcommunities.scot/
Gail Ross can also be emailed at gail.ross.msp@parliament.scot
Source – John O’Groat Journal
Commenting on the announcement that the UK and EU negotiators have come to an agreement, Dr Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC), said:
“On the surface this is good news but the devil is in the detail. The huge effort by UK and EU negotiators to get us this far is appreciated. But until we see what the deal means for businesses on the ground, many are reserving judgement.
“We need to see what this new deal entails for businesses in Scotland that trade with companies in Europe and Northern Ireland, and businesses that employ EU nationals.
“Frankly, the announcement that a deal has been reached gives a slight feeling of ‘déjà vu’. We have been here before. Let’s not forget, this is not the end of the Brexit process, it is the beginning of the end of the first chapter. But that is only if the deal can secure parliamentary support.
“We wait with bated breath for a sensible solution to the Brexit conundrum.”