On Wednesday, the Scottish Government and COSLA released their anticipated (and widely leaked) consultation on Council Tax changes. The proposals set out would see a repeat of the 2017 increases in band multipliers for properties in Band E – H with the consultation seeking views on whether the changes to the mulitpliers should be higher or lower, or not happen at all. . Table … [Read more...] about Tweaking council tax won’t solve its fundamental flaws
Plotting Scotland’s unsettled future
Understanding the direct and specific impacts of Brexit on Scotland, as distinct from the rest of the UK, will always be challenging. Firms that operate across the UK usually do not separate out export/import activity that relates to only one geographic part of their operations and only looking at Scottish headquartered firms will give a false picture of the true impact … [Read more...] about Plotting Scotland’s unsettled future
Eradicating poverty in Scotland: a long way to go
Today saw a new set of data released on income and poverty across the UK. The full set of data and analysis for Scotland have been published by the Scottish Government here. For Scotland, this is the first set of figures we’ve had for a couple of years due to the impact that the pandemic had on the size of the survey sample. These statistics also give us an insight into … [Read more...] about Eradicating poverty in Scotland: a long way to go
Climate change and farming
The 2021 United Nations (UN) 26th Climate Change Conference (COP26) is scheduled to take place in Glasgow between 31 October – 12 November 2021. The Fraser of Allander Institute will be discussing key economic issues surrounding climate change and climate change policies. It will also be highlighting a range of research related to COP26, from academic papers to pieces of … [Read more...] about Climate change and farming
National Care Service: adequately funded?
It’s not every day that “the most significant public service reform since the creation of the National Health Service” comes along. Those words came from the First Minister’s speech at the launch of the Programme for Government (PfG) on 7 September. The scope of the National Care Service has got larger over time, with proposals currently out for consultation. There were some … [Read more...] about National Care Service: adequately funded?