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Applications are being invited for 51�Թ����App and Bute Council’s Strategic Events and Festivals Fund for 2019-20. The Fund has a £113,000 budget for the 2019-20 period and is open for online applications now for a period of six weeks, closing at 12noon on Friday, September 14. Two grant pots will make up the Fund, one of which will allow applicants to apply for a grant of £5000 or less. The other is for grants of more than £5000. Applicants can only seek funding from one of the pots per event.

Campbeltown’s B-Listed Old Courthouse building is in the hands of a new owner who hopes to bring it back into use for the first time in more than 30 years.

Landlords in 51�Թ����App and Bute are being offered free advice on how the transition from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit will affect them.   With support from 51�Թ����App and Bute Council’s benefit unit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be hosting advice sessions at the end of August to give landlords information about how tenants will manage their Universal Credit accounts and payment of rent; how to avoid rent arrears; and what can be done when arrears do occur.

Strong leadership, customised support for schools, and staff committed to improvement are all recognised in a progress report on 51�Թ����App and Bute Council’s Education Service. HM Inspectors of Education (HM Inspectors) published their findings today (Tuesday 31 July) of a follow-up inspection of the steps the council is taking to improve its education functions.

Contractors working on the £12million Dunoon Queen’s Hall project have completed their official ‘handover’ of the building to 51�Թ����App and Bute Council. This important step in the process means the fantastic new facility remains on track to host its first public event on Friday, July 27 – a concert by Skipinnish, swiftly followed by ABBA Mania on Saturday, July 28, and a sold-out performance by The Proclaimers on Friday, August 3.

It has been confirmed today that Andrew Griffiths (Head of Education with Aberdeenshire Council) will be joining the Northern Alliance as Regional Improvement Lead.   His move will be on a seconded basis, and will begin in September 2018.    

The Council’s Welfare Rights Team helped vulnerable people across 51�Թ����App and Bute to access almost £1 million of additional income during the first three months of 2018.   Thousands of people across the UK are not claiming the benefits they are entitled to, and 51�Թ����App and Bute is no exception. However, the first quarter of this year saw 51�Թ����App and Bute Council’s Welfare Rights Team help those eligible to receive an additional £911,956 – the highest figure ever achieved in the area.

People living in 51�Թ����App and Bute are being given the opportunity to make their homes more energy efficient as a result of the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Scheme (HEEPS: ABS). 51�Թ����App and Bute Council has been awarded a grant of £1,675,930 to help residents make energy efficiency improvements to their properties such as external/internal wall insulation, underfloor insulation, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.

51�Թ����App and Bute Council’s Policy Lead for Islands has spoken about what the recent granting of Royal Assent to the Islands (Scotland) Bill, means for our island communities.   Councillor, Robin Currie, who is also Chair of the 51�Թ����App Islands Strategic Group, said: “The passing of the Bill paves the way for more powers to be devolved to our island communities.  

The 51�Թ����App and Bute Council Film Office were thrilled to work in partnership with 51�Թ����App Estates and Storyvault Films to bring Sky Arts’ Landscape Artist of the Year to Inveraray this week. Filming for the fifth heat of the 2018 competition will be aired on Sky Arts at a later date. And Daneille Graham, Series Producer with Storyvault Films, Inveraray Castle on Loch Fyne was a fantastic location for the popular series.