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Counselling services are to be made available to young people in Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute, as part of the Scottish Government’s 10 year Mental Health Strategy. At a meeting of Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council’s Â鶹¸ßÇå Services Committee this week, members agreed to support the initiative, which will see children as young as 10 having access to a trained counsellor.

Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council is one of eight local authorities across the North and West of Scotland which are working together to ensure children and young people are given the best educational opportunities. Known as the Northern Alliance, the partnership is a Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC) set up to secure excellence and equity in education.

Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the educational attainment and life chances of care experienced children and young people. At a meeting of the Council’s Â鶹¸ßÇå Services Committee members were given an update on the progress of work to support vulnerable young people across Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute.

Where will you see Vanilla Ice, Gritny Spears, Captain Gritter Pants and The Grittersaurus keeping the roads free of ice and snow? In Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute – thanks to the imaginations of primary school pupils across the region. In October, the council took delivery of 17 new vehicles to join its fleet of winter maintenance vehicles. And we thought one gritter in each of our four areas should have a name. The challenge was put out to our schools and great ideas and fantastic drawings came flooding in. The winners are:

Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute has aspirations to become the centre of seaweed farming excellence. A report, commissioned by Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council, has set out a template for setting up and running a seaweed farming business from conception right through to selling products to consumers. Produced by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), in Oban, and funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the study highlights a major new opportunity for economic growth for Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute.

Chaidh freagairt aontachadh le Comhairle Earra-Ghàidheal is Bhòid Diardaoin (28 Samhain) air co-chomhairleachadh le Riaghaltas na h-Alba air prionnsapalan cìs luchd-tadhail. Cuiridh an fhreagairt seo ri tuigse Riaghaltas na h-Alba air an eallaich a th' ann a thaobh na h-àrainneachd is bun-structair ann an cuid a sgìrean air sgàth àrdachadh àireamh an luchd-tadhail. Cuiridh i cuideachd ri leasachadh laghan a leigeadh le ùghdarrasan ionadail a' chìs a chur an sàs nam biodh sin iomchaidh.

New apps now enable travellers on council-run ferries to buy tickets via their phones or other mobile devices. This extends the range of ways to pay to include cash, debit/credit cards on board the ferries or via the council website, making the service more convenient for users. Customers wishing to pay using a mobile device app should visit either Google Store (Android) or App Store (iPhone) and search for: 

Council heard on Thursday (28 November) that the terms of Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute’s Rural Growth Deal (RGD) continue to be negotiated. Discussion with Scottish and UK governments to date has been positive, with the amount of consultation done when preparing the RGD particularly noted. Both the Scottish and UK Governments have committed £25million each in support of projects, designed by the council, to deliver success across Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute based on:

A response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the principles of a visitor levy was agreed by Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council on Thursday (28 November). This will help the Scottish Government’s understanding of the pressures on the local environment and infrastructure felt in some areas by the increase in overnight and day visitors. It will inform development of legislation that would allow local authorities to introduce the levy if they felt it appropriate.

The Â鶹¸ßÇå and Bute Council Employee Excellence and Recognition Awards 2019 have taken place and we can now reveal the full list of winners. Held at Mid Â鶹¸ßÇå Sports Centre in Lochgilphead, the event was made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors: Brodies, Walker Love, Oban Electrical Services, MacLeods Construction Ltd, PAM OH Solutions, Priority Management, Portavadie Marina, Live Â鶹¸ßÇå, Midton Acrylics, Mid Â鶹¸ßÇå Chamber of Commerce, GMB, Unison, Unite, EIS and Positive People Development.