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Caithness Partnership – eBulletin November
2005
Welcome to another edition of the Caithness Partnership ebulletin. The
bulletin was set up to both circulate information that has come in to
the Partnership office, and in order for the Partners to be able to
share information. A bulletin will not be issued in December, so if you
have anything you want circulated before January please get in touch. If
you have difficulty accessing any of the web links we can get you a
paper copy. Please forward the bulletin within your organization.
Inside this issue:
National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS)
Caithness Biodiversity Action Group Newsletter
Creating the infrastructure for engagement
Business rates reduction for Scotland
Old mobile phones and ink cartridges wanted
Top tips for terrible meetings
Investment with a Difference Training –
HNC Working with Communities (UHI)
Events
· Tourism is Everyone’s Business – Highland Council Annual Tourism
Seminar 7th December, Inverness
· Access Information Day - 12 December, Newtonmore
· Scottish Centre for Regeneration events
· Community Voices consultation event - 16 December, Perth
National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS)
For up to date labour market statistics the Office for National
Statistics offer an online service, free of charge. An extremely useful
source of information on unemployment, benefit recipient numbers and
other statistics down to ward level. For instructions on how to use the
site and a link into the site itself follow this link:
http://www.caithness.org/caithnesspartnership/documents/nomis.htm
Caithness Biodiversity Action Group Newsletter
Osprey poles, sandmartin barrels and a water vole survey – just some of
the things the CBAG members have been up to. They have just issued
another Biodivesity Newletter for Caithness – well worth a look at
http://www.caithness.org/nature/biodiversity/newsletter/
Creating the infrastructure for engagement
Concerned about communities suffering consultation fatigue? Then this
article will interest you…Jeff Bishop takes stock of the burgeoning
world of engagement initiatives and proposes a moratorium until the
‘infrastructure’ for more effective engagement is established in key
organisations. The paper asks key questions of how public sector bodies
in particular approach stakeholder engagement and the issue of building
capacity to design and deliver it well. It then goes on to identify how
they could focus their efforts in a more coordinated and effective way.
“if anything moves someone, somewhere will demand to be consulted on
it…not surprisingly many commentators are now worrying about overload,
about people being consulted to death.”
http://www.interactnetworks.co.uk/documents/CreatingtheInfrastructureforEngmt_000.pdf
Scottish business rates reduction announcement
The rate is currently 46.1p in Scotland and 41.5p in England. The rate
in Scotland will be cut to 44.9p from April 1, 2006. Finance and Public
Service Reform Minister Tom McCabe announced recently that the small
business rates relief scheme - which benefits 72 per cent of businesses
in Scotland - will continue and that the surcharge for bigger businesses
has been reduced. "Our top priority is
growing the economy and creating an environment where all businesses -
large and small - can thrive. We have underlined that commitment by
pledging to bring our business rates poundage in line with England. This
is the first step towards delivering fully on our pledge by April 2007.”
Follow this link to get the full story:
http://www.edascot.org.uk/news_story.php?id=165
Got any old mobile phones or ink cartridges?
Lynne Whitelaw from Thurso Swimming Pool is collecting old mobile phones
and ink cartridges for the local Autism Group and would be grateful for
any.
Top tips for terrible meetings
Want to make the meetings you organize memorable? Then read on…
http://www.interactnetworks.co.uk/documents/TopTipsforTerribleMeetings.PDF
Investment with a Difference
Futurebuilders England Ltd has now agreed 90 investments to community
enterprises totalling £35 million. The programme has completed its first
application round investing in voluntary organisations providing public
services – to find out what happened see:
http://www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk/
TRAINING
HNC in Working with Communities
This is a part-time course designed to interest people working in the
field of community learning and development and part-time workers in the
voluntary sector, with flexible remote learning opportunities.
http://www.uhi.ac.uk/courses/index.php?page=6&course=576&language=en
EVENTS
7 December 2005 Council Chamber Inverness, “Tourism is everyone’s
business” Highland Council’s Tourism Seminar. Places are limited – for
more information contact Gordon Ireland
Gordon.Ireland@highland.gov.uk
or phone 01463 710729 12 December 2005 ,
Newtonmore Access Information Day
The Paths for All Partnership and the Community Land Unit have organised
an access information day to be held in Newtonmore on the 12th December
this year. There is a programme planned which will appeal to
landowners/managers and those involved with community ownership, those
already involved with access initiatives in their local areas and also
those who may be thinking of improving the access resource within their
locality.
If you would like any further information please contact; Cath Clark at
the Paths for All Partnership
cath.clark@pathsforall.org.uk or Janette Carrison at
janette.carrison@pathsforall.org.uk
Tel. 08454 534 215 Scottish Centre for
Regeneration continues its programme of events over the next few
months aimed at people involved in regeneration projects. The Scottish
Centre for Regeneration is part of Communities Scotland, the Scottish
Executive's housing and regeneration agency, and works to help improve
the effectiveness of people and organisations trying to achieve the
Scottish Executive's Closing the Opportunity Gap objectives. The aim of
the events is to support those involved in community regeneration to
improve their effectiveness:
8 December 2005 Edinburgh, Creating Heathier Communities
23 February 2006, Edinburgh, International Perspectives on Community
Regeneration
2 March Glasgow, Integrating Sustainable Development into Community
Regeneration
For more information on all these events have a look at
http://www.zealey.com/SCR/
16th December Stirling, Digital Inclusion
Consultation - Community Voices Network
The Scottish Executive is reviewing its Digital Inclusion policy –
ensuring that people from disadvantaged areas had access to the internet
was a key element of the Scottish Executives social justice strategy.
For more information on this event see:
http://www.zealey.com/cvoices/DI/Consultations.htm
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