Directory of Local Services

Like many local economies, jobs in the public sector make a major contribution.

The Highland Council alone provides employment for 12,438 people, the large majority in local communities around the Highlands. Strategic decisions on an annual budget of more than £500 million are taken at its headquarters in Inverness.

The Council has an established network of 37 one-stop advice and information centres called Service Points which ensures the Council?s services are accessible, effectively delivered and are a visible influence across the area.

It is responsible for a range of frontline services such as education, support to children and families, community care, housing, council tax collection, planning and development, roads and transport, food safety, animal welfare, leisure facilities, refuse collection and waste management.

NHS Highland - the region's supplier of health services - provides employment for around 7,500 at their hospitals and other facilities which reach out across the Highland area. Nursing staff, doctors, allied health professionals, scientists and support staff, such as IT professionals, administrators and hospital porters, all play a part in delivering a first class healthcare service.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise employs 600 economic and social development staff - one-third of whom are employed at its core in Inverness and the majority at its network of local enterprise companies and Careers Scotland centres in the north and west of Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) - the public body with responsibility for conservation, enhancement, enjoyment, understanding and sustainable use of natural heritage, is moving its national headquarters from Edinburgh to Inverness by 2024. This will add more than 200 jobs to the 150 SNH staff already based in the Highlands.

Dispersing public sector jobs like those at SNH is a stated priority of the Scottish Executive. This means areas like the Highlands may benefit from the relocation of other public sector departments in the future.

Other agencies represented in the Highlands include the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Water, Communities Scotland, the Crofters Commission, the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department and VisitScotland.