Rural services

Woodland Habitat Impact Assessment (WHIALite) Workshop – Tayvallich

As part of The Wild Deer Best Practice guidance collection, Steering Group partners, including NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) developed a simplified methodology for assessing the impacts of grazing herbivores on woodland habitat.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget has been approved by Parliament, including £21.7 billion for health & social care and more than £15 billion for local councils, alongside social security measures supporting an estimated two million people.

The Budget invests:

Land for Rural Housing: Supporting the Delivery of New Rural Homes

The Scottish Land Commission (SLC) has published a new report on Land for Rural Housing and the opportunity for public sector leadership. 

This session will explore the need to increase rural housing and the role of a supply of land in creating new homes.  Major opportunities for economic growth in rural Scotland require new homes to support that growth.  At the same time remote communities are suffering from depopulation and an ageing demographic.

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is to be a Gaelic hub in the new Centre for Teaching Excellence, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has announced during a visit to the college.

The Cabinet Secretary met with staff at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, during a visit to discuss the aims of the new Centre in providing opportunities for Gaelic teachers across the country.

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) will lead a review of three core elements of the Scottish Government’s existing funding and policy support for rural and island communities: Community Led Local Development (CLLD), Scottish Rural Action (SRA) and the Scottish Rural Network (SRN).  

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with the UK Government to deliver its Project Gigabit programme to bring faster broadband connections to hard-to-reach parts of Scotland.

Small communities across the Highlands are set to benefit from two new mobile library vehicles.

Young people from Stranraer have marked construction beginning on a landmark £6.7m Water Sports Hub overlooking Loch Ryan. 

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