The recycling of cooking oil is just one several projects running simultaneously at Sustenta.
In July 2024, the new Labour governmentto increase public sector pay by between 4.75% and 6% for the 2024-25 financial year.
There is a new round of recommendations from these bodies every year and they traditionally deliver in the summer.In September 2024, the government decided to speed up the process by asking for their recommendations by the spring for how much public sector pay should rise in each sector in the 2025-26 financial year.These have not been made public yet, but reports suggest the recommendations are for more than the health and education departments have budgeted for this financial year.
, the health and education departments said they could only afford to increase their pay billsthat the teachers' pay review body has recommended a 4% rise and the NHS body has recommended 3%.
In the case of teachers, this would be above the latest 3.2% consumer price inflation forecast
Because education and health are devolved, the health and education departments set budgets for spending in England only. The teachers' pay review body makes recommendations for England only but the NHS pay review body covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Public sector pay is set through a separate process in Scotland.The Church of Scotland said it expected the main church building would go up for sale later this year.
Its congregation for Sunday services is small, in what is a quiet rural area of just a few hundred people.The kirk hopes nearby Bervie Church will serve as the main focus of local worship.
The Church of Scotland said that, in recent years, it had identified a need for "radical change against a backdrop of falling minister numbers, a decline in membership and a reduction in income".A statement said: "We believe a significant reduction in the number of buildings we own is necessary in order to deliver sustainable and realistic new expressions of ministry and church and to ensure all of our buildings are suitable for the needs of mission in the 21st century.