Money Matters at Ward Forum
Residents living in the Tain and Easter Ross Ward area are invited along to their next Ward Forum to hear about the service the Highland Council’s Money Advice and Income MaximisationTeam can offer.
Pat Sproul, The Council’s Money Advice Manager, said that going to Ward Forum’s gives the team a local perspective and helps them to tailor the service they provide.
“As well as giving us the opportunity to promote our service to communities and their representatives through the various discussions that come up, it also allows us to get a feel for the particular types of money and benefit problems that people face in rural communities,” she said.
“Money worries can affect people on all levels of society, no matter what income they have, so we are here to help everybody not just those on low wages,” she added.
Recent work done for the Tain and Easter Ross Ward Local LEADER Development Plan by Steve Westbrook, Economist, shows there were 2,100 people in employment in the Ward in 2007 according to the Annual Business Inquiry. Relative to other areas, a higher proportion of workers are employed in manufacturing and construction in the Ward, and a lower proportion in public administration, education and health and banking, finance and insurance.
In the Ward, 11.3% of households earn less than £10,000 per year compared to 9.9% across the Highlands (Source: CACI Paycheck 2007).
Campbell Stewart from Transport, Environment and Community Services will also be at the Forum to go over the proposed Grounds Maintenance Programme for the Ward for the coming year.
The Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum is being held in the Inver Hall on Thursday 23 April from 7.30pm to 9.30pm with a 20-minute slot allocated at the end of the meeting for questions from the public. Teas and coffees, hosted by Inver Community Council, will be available from 7pm to 7.30pm.
Every Community Council in the Tain and Easter Ross Ward and other representative community organisations are members of the Ward Forum and have the opportunity to feed the views of their community into the subjects being discussed.
If you have an enquiry about the Tain & Easter Ross Ward Forum; would like to submit questions in advance of the meeting; or have any special requirements/needs to help you take part, please contact Carol Elliot at Tain Service Point or by phoning 01349 886643.
Further information, agendas and past Ward Forum notes can also be found on the Highland Council website http://www.www.highland.gov.uk/ under “Your Ward”.
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