Martin Williams

2 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Martin Williams

How does the council pay for the public services it provides, what does it pay for and what are the financial challenges? (Image: Newsquest) The debt-ridden council delivering public services to Scotland's capital wants more power to raise taxes even higher saying that local authorities have faced "austerity and cuts" for too long. The City of Edinburgh Council has already agreed to an 8% increase in council tax across all bands in 2025/26.

2 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Martin Williams

The rejected ferry was similar in design to the 'emergency' catamaran ferry MV Alfred serving Arran that has now been chartered for a further five months to help state-owned ferry operator CalMac cope with lifeline services across the Clyde and Hebrides network. The usual Arran ferry MV Caledonian Isles was due out of its annual overhaul on February 17, last year but remains out of service. After a series of postponements, its latest scheduled return has been pencilled in for June 12.

2 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Martin Williams

Edinburgh pushes for more and new taxes (Image: Damian Shields) The debt-ridden council delivering public services to Scotland's capital wants more power to raise public taxes even higher saying that local authorities have faced "austerity and cuts" for too long. The City of Edinburgh Council has already agreed to an 8% increase in council tax across all bands in 2025/26. This increase aims to raise an additional £26 million to protect existing services.

3 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Martin Williams

It comes as the normal Arran ferry . 32-year-old MV Caledonian Isles  which was due out of its annual overhaul on February 17, last year remains out of service. The vessel was spotted going into dry dock 'rudderless' while returning to dry dock in Greenock this week with CalMac saying repairs were part of  planned work to the vessel and that they were being reattached this week. What is the MV Caledonian Isles?

3 days ago | heraldscotland.com | Martin Williams

Edinburgh - engulfed in debt (Image: Damian Shields) Scotland's housing emergency-hit capital is engulfed by a 'frightening' £1.7billion sea of debt which is set to rise by £1bn by the end of the decade raising concerns about its financial sustainability and its effect on the running of vital services.