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The Caithness Partnership
Newsletters
July 2005

Caithness Partnership – eBulletin July 2005
In order for Partners to be able to share information and to disseminate some of the information given to the Partnership office we have put together this eBulletin. If you feel this service is useful and wish to provide information for the next issue please let us know. Or, if there is statistical information you feel it would be useful for the partners to receive on a regular basis please let us know. We will try to make this service as useful to you all as we can. If you have difficulty accessing any of the information off the web we can get you a paper copy.

Inside this issue:
Connected Communities
Labour Market Profile for Caithness & Sutherland
CASE Area business survey 2005
Postwatch Scotland
European Prize for Cultural Heritage
Funding – for communities & business
Events

CONNECTED COMMUNITIES is a multi-million pound project to bring wireless broadband services to rural communities throughout the Western Isles. Funded by DTI, Western Isles Enterprise, Western Isles Council and the EU and involving NHS Western Isles and the Scottish Executive, the project will bring a high speed broadband service across the islands, which the partners see as a necessity for modern business and service provision. The network project is one of the first and the largest in the UK to incorporate the recently licensed 5.8Ghz bands.
www.connectedcommunities.co.uk , and see case studies on http://www.connectedcommunities.co.uk/case/

FUTURESKILLS SCOTLAND – LABOUR MARKET PROFILE FOR CAITHNESS & SUTHERLAND – this report provides a labour market profile for Caithness & Sutherland with information of local labour demand and supply from Autumn/winter 2004, skills and qualifications, school leaver destinations, joblessness statistics etc. Interesting comparison of workforce employment (number of jobs in the area) 14,900, and resident employment (number of employed persons living in the area) at 19,000 showed that the number of people living in the area but working elsewhere had increased by 46% in Caithness & Sutherland compared to 1% across Scotland. For a closer inspection see
http://www.futureskillsscotland.org.uk/uploadedreports/Caithness%20and%20Sutherland.pdf

CASE AREA BUSINESS SURVEY 2005 – In march CASE sent out a survey to 500 businesses in Caithness & Sutherland quizzing them on their perspectives of recruitment, training issues and business confidence. The survey showed that local companies preferred using local methods of recruitment, they tended to find a lack of interest in their vacancies and the interest of the right people for their positions, and that between 40 – 60% of recruiters have experienced problems which result in undesired outcomes such as unsustained or unfilled posts. However, four out of ten businesses are planning to provide training for their existing workforce. For the full report see http://www.hie.co.uk/case/business-survey.html

POSTWATCH SCOTLAND is the independent consumer watchdog for postal services representing business and individual interests in postal matters. 86% of mail delivered by postal services is from business customers and Postwatch is keen let the business community know what Postwatch can do for them, including assistance with complaints about the service. Call the helpline 08456013265 (local call rate) or see www.postwatch.co.uk Interestingly Postwatch cites an incident where a villager in Canisbay had to take the morning off work to go the delivery office in Wick to collect an item that was too big to go through his letterbox – new “Sorry you were out” cards have since been developed explaining that items can also be picked up at the local Post Office for a charge of 50p, or redelivered to the same address or another address on the delivery route…

EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE
Europa Nostra has now launched the 2005 awards to give recognition to exemplary initiatives and best practices by individuals or organisations that contribute to the protection and enhancement of cultural heritage in Europe. The categories for 2005 are Architectural Heritage; Cultural Landscapes; Collections of Works of Art and Archaeological Sites. The awards are open to individuals, public bodies and non-governmental organizations. Outstanding heritage achievements will be rewarded by six monetary prizes of €10,000 each, in addition to Medals and Diplomas.
http://www.europanostra.org/lang_en/index.html
Deadlines: The closing dates for entries are 1 August 2005 and 1 September 2005.

FUNDING
ESMÉE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION
The Foundation will make grants totaling £28M in 2005 for the following type of projects:
New Approaches to Education – improving the quality and relevance of pre-school and statutory education (0-16).
Hard to Reach Learners – excluded children, hard to reach adults, parents and carers.
UK Biodiversity – conservation of hard-to-fund native species and habitats, marine reserves, control of invasive species
Low Carbon Economy – e.g. sustainable transport, renewable energy, lessen effects of greenhouse gas emissions
Sustainable Food Systems – local sourcing and distribution of food, up-skill local producers, allotments, viable retail opportunities
Enterprising Communities - emphasis on helping people and organisations to be more enterprising and to develop new ways of tackling the needs of those at greatest disadvantage. Amongst the kind of things that could be supported are work that enables organisations to be more sustainable, social enterprises, new entrepreneurial approaches to tackling social need, and projects that enable people to find real work.
Financial Independence, where the emphasis will be on supporting work that improves access to financial services for individuals, voluntary and community organisations and businesses which are unable to use traditional sources of finance. This may include grants to credit unions or Community Finance Institutions, as well as other partnership and innovative schemes in the field.
http://www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/index.html

FUTUREBUILDERS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS FUND
Administered on behalf of Communities Scotland by ScotlandUnLtd, these Seed Corn Awards are given to emerging social entrepreneurs – individuals over 16 demonstrating entrepreneurial solutions to social problems. Expects to support over 100 individuals over two years.
Awards of up to £5,000 www.scotlandunltd.com

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS – CASE may be able to contribute up to 25% of the costs of training staff within a business. For this and other training grants/support see
http://www.hie.co.uk/case/workforcegrants.htm

EVENTS
6th September 2005, Corn Exchange Edinburgh – “Planning in Scotland – the implications of the White Paper” – a one day conference which will examine the future of planning in Scotland. The Executive has released a White Paper setting out a major package of reforms to the planning system to make it fit for purpose (by making it easier to plan effectively for a range of different types of development, and respond appropriately to applications with regard to their size and impact), more efficient (by putting local development plans at the heart of the system), more inclusive (by ensuring better transparency in the decision-making process) and to ensure that all development is sustainable (delivering high quality, sustainable design). http://www.holyrood.com/nav/conference/planned.asp

15th September 2005, London - “Offshore Development – New frontiers of Opportunity” – a one-day conference run by CoastNET, the UK’s national network that supports those who care for and manage the coastline. Covering topics such new technology that enables new uses for the marine environment (including electricity generation), maximizing local economic and social benefit from offshore developments and integrating development aspirations into strategies for coastline management. http://www.coastnet.org.uk/new/index.asp?page=event/events1.htm 

16th September 2005, Edinburgh – “Green Jobs – Examining the Scottish Executive’s Strategy” – a one day conference which examines the Executive’s Strategy for developing green jobs, Scotland’s clean energy potential and placing the issue of job creation in the setting of taking a more sustainable approach to the economy. Subjects to be discussed include the economic benefits of environmental quality, green tourism, recycling and exporting renewables technology. http://www.holyrood.com/nav/conference/planned.asp

19th, 20th & 21st September 2005, Portland Arms, Lybster – Initiative at the Edge National Conference – bringing together community, voluntary and agency representatives from all the Initiative at the Edge (I.A.T.E.) areas. Main theme to be covered is likely to be “Making best use of marine resources” but this is still to be confirmed. Programme is as follows: 19th September – evening informal networking reception. 20th September – welcome by Minister and keynote address on I.A.T.E. followed by panel event, workshops on I.A.T.E. issues, evening reception for delegates and Ministerial address. 21st September site visits and wrap up session. For more information nearer the time contact Eric Larnach on 01593731455 or Hugh Donaldson 01967431815. For more information about Initiative at the Edge in Caithness see http://www.caithness.org/initiativeattheedge/  or nationally http://www.initiative-at-the-edge.org.uk/  .

26th & 27th September 2005, Inverurie - “Funding and support for Rural Services” SCVO-led Scottish Rural Services Conference. This year's theme is "Funding and Support for Rural Services", and the conference will be looking at this issue from as many angles as possible, offering policy background, examples of good practice, practical advice and the opportunity for you to have your say. Top speakers include Dr Frank Rennie from Lews Castle College and Sheena Munro of Highland Community Care Forum. The Minister for Environment and Rural Development has been invited to give a keynote address. The event is aimed at everyone involved in planning and delivering services to people living in rural communities voluntary organisations, local authorities, Enterprise Networks, Health Services, Rural Partnerships, Community Councils, local business - and anyone else who's interested. For more information contact laura.bridges@scvo.org.uk  01463251730.

3rd October 2005, Edinburgh – “Protecting Communities – the Antisocial Behaviour etc. Act one year on” – on June 2nd 2005 Justice Minister Cathie Jamieson urged agencies to help communities stand up to anti-social behaviour. This Scottish Exec-led conference will evaluate the Anti-social Behaviour Act and highlight examples of its powers being used effectively and consider questions such as the role of planners in providing safer communities, how to divert potential offenders and the use and effectiveness of ASBOs in Scotland.
http://www.holyrood.com/nav/conference/future_events/conf_protcomm05/conference.asp?content=contents

4th October 2005, Royal Museum Edinburgh -
“Regenerating Scotland – Partnerships for Communities”
– a one day conference. The regeneration of Scotland’s deprived communities is key to the Executive’s goal of breaking the cycle of deprivation, as well as raising personal and community ambitions. Community regeneration can be a potent economic driver for Scotland, as well as a major contributor to achieving social justice and sustainable development. The conference will examine both urban and rural regeneration in Scotland and will discuss the forthcoming Planning White Paper .
http://www.holyrood.com/nav/conference/planned.asp

 
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