Latest News

The Council is encouraging those who are working from home due to COVID-19 to check if they are eligible for HM Revenue and Customs tax relief for 2021/22.

This month has seen the Council’s Museums team welcome Nick Hewitt as Team Leader - Nick already has a special link with some of Scapa Flow Museum's most significant artefacts - read on!

Local contractors Heddle Construction and Orkney Builders Contractors Ltd have successfully eased 100-year old naval guns from their plinths at the Scapa Flow Museum under the watchful eye of the Council’s Museums team.

A new clinic will open in Stromness this week to help people unsure about how to carry out ‘lateral flow device’ tests – or LFD tests – on themselves, in an effort to help monitor infection in the community.

It’s the season of goodwill so….. if you have overdue library books from last month, last year, pre-lockdown, pre-millennium, pre-decimalisation, don’t worry.

Just hand them in to the Kirkwall or Stromness Library, or pop them into one of the book-drop boxes, any time from now until 24 December, and the wonderful library staff will waive any fees and clear your library account – ready for a fresh start in 2022.

Orkney Islands Council's household waste and recycling centre (HWRC) in Hatston will reopen as normal from 08:00 tomorrow, Tuesday 30 November following damage to an overhead cable in Friday's high winds.

An exciting array of free activities for young people in Orkney is to be trialled following a successful OIC-led “Streetwork” project earlier this year.

The Council’s Community Learning and Development (CLD) Team, alongside staff from partner agencies carried out the engaging exercise with young people on the streets of Kirkwall and Stromness on Friday evenings from February to May.

The Council’s gritter crews were on the road again last week for the first time this winter as temperatures dipped around the county.

Also, for the first time the OIC is ustilising a new weather forecasting system which allows treatment to be targeted where it’s needed – instead of a blanket coverage of areas.

The NSPCC Talk Pants campaign to help protect young children from sexual abuse is continuing in the county.

A display has gone up at the Northlight Gallery in Stromness and a short film will be shown ahead of film screenings within the Pickaquoy Centre cinema.

The purchase, via national contracts, of PPE and IT equipment to enable safe working has contributed to OIC’s local spend falling to 38%, or £15.4 million.