Health and wellbeing

As the Highland and Islands Climate Festival (1-30 September) gets into full swing the environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful has published a report highlighting the impact of the first year of the Highland Community Waste Partnership.

Scotland’s councils will invest £5 million this year to develop Nature Networks across the country to help tackle the nature and climate crises.

The National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, expected to launch next month, will seek to improve the capability of remote, rural and island Primary Care and enhance the delivery of community-based services.

Local authorities will be able to charge a premium of up to 100% on council tax for second homes under legislation aiming to increase the availability of housing.

If approved by Parliament, the secondary legislation would bring second homes into line with long-term empty homes, which can already be subject to a 100% premium on the full rate of council tax. Latest figures show that as at September 2022 there were 24,287 second homes in Scotland.

Single use vapes could be banned in Scotland, as part of plans to protect public health and the environment.

The Programme for Government outlined a commitment to take action to reduce vaping among non-smokers and young people and to tackle the environmental impact of single-use vapes, including consulting on a proposal to ban their sale and other appropriate measures.

Scotland’s first ever National Islands Plan was published in 2019 and is now being reviewed as required by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, which may lead to the publication of a new National Islands Plan.