Rural Community Gateway

In Off the Shelf, we highlight some recent additions to the Rural Gateway documents library. There are hundreds of documents in our library, from research reports to community newspapers. You can search by keyword or by description, making it easier to find what you need.

Bird of prey persecution

The persecution of Scotland’s birds of prey has been making the news recently, particularly the killing of a golden eagle in the Borders. The Scottish Government have also called for tougher penalties to be introduced for those who commit wildlife crimes.

RSPB Scotland have recently published Persecution: A review of bird of prey persecution in Scotland 2006. This report describes the extent of the known criminal destruction of bird of prey during that year.

You can find out more in the Gateway articles Tougher penalties for wildlife crime proposed and Golden eagle poisoned in the Borders. Let us know what you think about the report, or the issue in general by adding a comment to the document library or the articles.

The Scottish Government recently published a learning strategy called Skills for Scotland: A Lifelong Learning Strategy. In the introduction to the document they state that the Skills Strategy has afforded them the opportunity of setting out their ambitions for skills, in a lifelong learning context, from cradle to grave.

As part of the strategy, the organisations Careers Scotland and Learndirect Scotland are to merge.

In her Ministerial Foreword, Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning says, "Above all, this strategy is a call to action which is intended to challenge us all on what we have to do."

Find out what the challenges are by downloading Skills for Scotland from our documents library.

Local consultations on the future of the post office network have begun. Up to 2500 branches will close, with some of these being replaced by ‘outreach services’ such as mobile services.

The local consultation follows a 12-week national consultation that started in December 2006. The Government has published their response and you can download The Post Office Network: Government response to the public consultation from our library.

The document includes a summary of views and comments and information on the Government's decisions.

To find out more about the local consultations go to Gateway article Post Office local consultations begin.

The Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (no.55) comes into force on 1st October 2007. The Order contains detailed legal requirements for the calculation of holiday pay, minimum wage and so on.

Agricultural Wages in Scotland: Twelfth Edition: A Guide for Workers and Employers aims to explain the rules in simpler terms and answer questions that are likely to arise.

The guide is also available in Gaelic, Polish and Russian. If you would like the document in one of these languages contact the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board at sawb@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 0131 224 6397.

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