Highland Buses get in gear for return of schools

From Monday 10^th August, bus services across the Highlands will increase ahead of the return of school bus services. This will continue to play a part in connecting people with workplaces, the high street and other key services as they continue to re-open.

The frequency increase does not only affect school journeys but will also be seen in the communities of lifeline services such as the Inverness City network and key commuting services between the Black Isle and Inverness.

This timetable revision will help to maintain social distancing on board the network of almost 200 buses and coaches across the Highlands.

Stagecoach has a range of measures in place to help customers travel safely and easily. The “busy bus” indicator on the Stagecoach app uses data to provide information helping customers choose quieter bus services and maintain physical distancing. Face coverings continue to be mandatory when travelling on public transport.

David Beaton, Managing Director at Stagecoach Highland, said: “We have seen a slight increase in the number of people using our services as lockdown has eased and this timetable change will  continue to provide plenty space for those travelling by bus to socially distance on board. I have been proud of the way our team has worked together over the last 6 months and I know all of our customers will have a warm welcome on a clean bus as our team will continue with our new daily procedures providing safe bus connections right across the Highlands.”

The local bus operator has recommended that when travelling by bus you should use contactless payment for your journey, or alternatively purchase your ticket in advance using the Stagecoach mobile app.

A number of additional safety steps have also been taken by Stagecoach including:

• Continued enhanced cleaning which includes at least daily cleaning of all buses with a government-recommended sanitiser, with a particular focus on key touch points, and additional in service cleaning where possible.
• All buses will continue to have a protective screen to provide a physical barrier between the driver and passenger. In line with government advice, as drivers are behind a protective screen, they do not need to wear a face covering. However, should the driver need to leave their cab to assist a customer, they will wear a face covering.
• Physical distancing measures will be in place on all bus services, which means that each individual bus has around 50% of normal passenger capacity.

Printed timetable information in bus stop displays across the Highlands will be updated in due course.

New timetables are now available to download now.

Responding to the announcement today (29^th July) by Cabinet Secretary Kate Forbes MSP of two new funding packages to support the tourism & hospitality sector in Scotland, Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:

“This will be very much welcomed by eligible hotels and self-caterers across Scotland who have faced struggles to access support funds previously. This new support will help to secure some jobs in the sector that have come under serious threat of being lost, for the time being.

“However, while this support will be appreciated by these businesses, concerns remain that ongoing costs coupled with low demand continue to place tourism and hospitality jobs at severe risk. Getting those sectors who support our bars, cafes and restaurants back to work in the safe environments they have created is critical if we are to save jobs and livelihoods.

“Further support and reliefs will be required in the future in order to secure the long term viability of the sector. We will continue to make this case and work alongside both the Scottish & UK Governments.’’

The North West Highlands Geopark Limited is a community company limited by guarantee and a Scottish registered charity . There is a subsidiary trading company, NWHG Trading Ltd, also attached to the charity. The Treasurer will sit on the Board of both Companies. The Treasurer will have two levels of responsibility: as a member of the Board, and additionally, as Treasurer.

The Board of Trustees are responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the charity, North West Highlands Geopark Ltd, and the subsidiary trading Company, NWHG Trading Ltd, developing the organisation’s aims, objectives and goals in accordance with the governing document, legal and regulatory guidelines.

Main Responsibilities of Trustees:

• To ensure that the charity and its representatives function within the legal and regulatory framework of the sector and in line with the organisations’ governing document, continually striving for best practice in governance
• To uphold the fiduciary duty invested in the position, undertaking such duties in a way that adds to public confidence and trust in the charity
• To determine the overall direction and development of the charity through good governance and a clear strategy.

Main responsibilities of Treasurer:

• Oversee the financial affairs of the organisation and ensure they are legal, constitutional and in keeping with generally accepted accounting practice.
• Ensure proper records are kept and that effective financial procedures are in place.
• Monitor and report on the financial health of the organisation.
  Oversee the production of necessary financial reports/returns, accounts and audits.

Specifically

• Liaise with relevant staff, trustees, working groups and/or volunteers to ensure the financial viability of the organisation.
• Make fellow trustees aware of their financial obligations and take a lead in interpreting financial data to them.
• Regularly report the financial position at Board meetings (balance sheet, cash flow, and fundraising performance).
• Oversee the production of an annual budget.
• Oversee the Administrator ensuring posting and bookkeeping is kept up-to-date.
• Oversee regular reconciliations by the administrator.
• Appraising the financial viability of plans, proposals and feasibility studies.
• Lead on appointing and liaising with auditors/an independent examiner.

Qualities

• Knowledge and experience of current and fundraising finance practice relevant to voluntary and community organisations, particularly regarding restricted and unrestricted funds, and Gift Aid.
• Knowledge of bookkeeping and financial management (as necessary).
• Good financial analysis skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly.

Applications welcomed from suitably qualified professionals. It is anticipated that the role requires a commitment for approximately 10 hours per month. This is a voluntary position.

Please contact admin@nwhgeopark.com for an application form or any further questions.

Responding to the £100 million package of further employment support, as outlined by Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop MSP today, Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:

“This is a very welcome move by the Scottish Government and comes at a critical time as Scotland comes out of lockdown and we build the economy back up.

“The Scottish Chamber Network has consistently called for such measures such as a job guarantee for young people and a new national retraining scheme and we are pleased to see this come into fruition. This intervention will help to protect jobs, particularly as support schemes such as the jobs retention scheme taper off in the coming months.

“We will play an active role in working with the Scottish Government in partnership to ensure this support is targeted and works for both employers and employees alike.’’

AREG and OGUK have signed a reciprocal membership agreement to reflect the aligned goals of supporting the energy industry to achieve net zero emissions.

AREG, the membership body for renewable energy in the north east of Scotland and OGUK, the leading trade body for the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry, will work closely on low carbon project opportunities and promote the work of members within their organisations. The agreement demonstrates the close and enduring relationship between the oil and gas supply chain and the renewables sector.

Jean Morrison, chair of AREG, and Deirdre Michie, chief executive OGUK vowed to share resources and market intelligence to deliver a sustainable transition to a lower carbon future.

Jean Morrison, chair of AREG said: “There has been a longstanding connection between AREG and OGUK and I am pleased that we have been able to formalise this relationship to work closer together. The agreement will allow us to promote the energy transition in the north-east and highlight market opportunities. With decades of expertise in energy and engineering, Aberdeen and the north-east is well placed to deliver the energy transition.”

Deirdre Michie, chief executive OGUK said: “This agreement underlines OGUK’s commitment to an inclusive, fair, and sustainable transition to a lower carbon future. We look forward to continuing our work with AREG which will help ensure that communities realise their potential through the energy transition.”

Fibre 1 are pleased to announce that they can provide a VoIP telephony solution that can fully integrate with Microsoft Teams, allowing you to instantly have remote working enabled for your users.

As restrictions continue to be lifted across the country, Fibre 1 are on hand to ensure you are best equipped to adjust to what your new normal will be.  For some this may be returning to the office as before but for others you may be looking to continue to offer more flexibility in remote working.

During the last few months more and more information has been shared electronically via email, instant messaging and video chat.  Moving forward these means of communication could replace the more traditional ones we have always used.  Microsoft Teams is a great tool to enhance easy remote working.

Teams Integration will allow your users to make and receive calls wherever they are with the added collaboration benefits of: File Sharing, Screen Sharing, Video Calling and Instant Chat.  No extra software or hardware is required to get you up and running on teams and includes your existing bundled minutes.  All that is required is an additional licence to enable Teams integration which compliments your VoIP phones to provide users a physical desk phone whilst in the office and Teams for calls when out of office.

Give Fibre 1 a call for more information on how the integration of Teams could help you and your employees.

Commenting on the Scottish Government announcing today (9^th July) that the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax threshold will be increased to £250,000, Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:

“We welcome the Finance Secretary Kate Forbes’ announcement that the threshold for the application of LBTT will rise to £250,000 which means that eight out of 10 transactions won’t be charged.

“This will not only boost the housing market it will also support the construction industry, both of which are essential to addressing Scotland’s chronic housing shortage.

“We ask that this should be urgently fast tracked to prevent distortion in the marketplace.”

Commenting on Scotland moving to Phase 3 of the easing of lockdown restrictions as announced today by the First Minister (9^th July), Dr Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said:

“Today’s confirmation by the First Minister that the country can now return to more normality will be very much welcomed by all, particularly businesses that are due to reopen and begin to build up their trade.

“Hospitality and tourism businesses now need time to plan therefore the exact detail around the mitigations they will be expected to put in place to safely reduce physical distancing to 1m from 2m is needed now.

“Our business communities across Scotland are eager and ready to get back to work in order to breathe life back into our economy and protect the livelihoods it supports. Businesses have invested heavily to comply with all health & safety regulations and government guidance. We are firmly open for business and would ask everyone to come out and support your local businesses.

“The next great challenge is now determining if consumer demand can be stimulated and maintained as government support measures taper off in the next few months.’’

The Chancellor of the Exchequer today delivered a statement to the House of Commons outlining Phase 2 of the UK Government’s economic recovery plan.

We have received an update from Scottish Chambers of Commerce laying out the key reserved areas which will apply in Scotland, as follows:

Support for jobs:

• Job retention scheme bonus – employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed as of 31 January 2021, to provide additional support to firms to keep employees as demand returns. Further details will be available at the end of the month.
• Kickstart Scheme – a £2bn fund to create hundreds of thousands of new, high quality, fully subsidised jobs for young people aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long term unemployment.
• Expansion of work search support – including a new online one-to-one Job Finding Support offer for the recently unemployed, additional funding for the Flexible Support Fund (including boosting DWP’s Rapid Response Service), doubling the number of work coaches and additional intensive support for those who have been unemployed for more than three months; as well as an expansion of support offered to young job seekers.
• Construction Talent Retention Scheme – an online job-matching platform minimising redundancies in the construction sector by supporting the retention and redeployment of workers across the UK.

Support for the tourism and hospitality sectors:

• Temporary VAT reduction – the UK government will cut the rate of VAT applied across the UK to hospitality, accommodation and attractions from 20% to 5%, for a period of six months. The reduced rate will apply from 15 July 2020 and guidance will be published tomorrow.
• Eat Out to Help Out – a 50% discount on eat in meals and non-alcoholic drinks at participating restaurants, cafes or other food services establishments across the UK. This scheme will be valid Monday-Wednesday during August with the discount capped at £10/head/meal. Participating establishments will be fully reimbursed and registration guidance will be published tomorrow.

Green/R+D Investment:

• Social Housing Decarbonisation Demonstrator – a £50m demonstrator project to start the decarbonisation of social housing over 20/21, focussing on innovative approaches to retrofitting social housing at scale.
• Decarbonising Public Sector Buildings – investment to upgrade public sector buildings, making them fit to help meet net zero with energy efficiency and low carbon heat measures. This measure is in a devolved area of policy but will apply to the UKG estate across the UK.
• Direct Air Capture – up to £100m to support DAC technologies, as announced by the PM last week.
• UKRI world class labs – A £300m investment in 20/21 to boost equipment and infrastructure across universities and institutes across the UK

We are aware that through the Barnett formula, today’s announcements will result in Scottish Government receiving an additional £800m. We will be working closely with Scottish Chambers of Commerce to ensure that Scottish Government works with business and targets support where it is needed most.

We will update you as we receive further information on today’s announcements and any new support announced by Scottish Government over the coming days.