‘Scotland likes to see itself as a bold, brave, progressive, dynamic 21st Century nation, but the truth is more insular, conservative, deferential and, in the end, suffocating – not just for individuals, but for ideas and innovation too. Unless that changes, nothing else will.’
Local government
Local governance reform in Scotland
‘Every major party in Scotland has contributed to the process of centralisation and this has undermined local responses to the crisis. Scotland’s constitutional status is an important issue but not at the cost of considering the need for reform of local governance….’
Community empowerment or delivering less with less?
‘..with so much promise offered by new economic democratic agendas such as new municipalism, communities can have a key role as partners with the state against the cosh of market liberalism and declining public services.’
Airbnb blitz is blighting cities
‘Nor is it all bad, by any means. Just as there were ‘good banks’ and ‘bad banks’ after the 2008 economic crash, so there is a ‘good’ Airbnb and a ‘bad’ Airbnb.’ But the bad outweighs the good, says the author
The need for cultural change
‘The economic statistics published by the SG tend to pick out relevant data from UK-wide surveys and administrative data. This approach needs to change if Scotland is to generate a more reliable, relevant and holistic evidence base of its performance from which to base its future economic vision and objectives.’
A way home for Scotland’s homeless young people
A message of hope for Christmas. Prevention is the new focus in efforts to reduce youth homelessness in Scotland via Housing First
Part Two: the council boards a runaway train
Edinburgh, once a working city, seems destined to become a tourist theme park – that falls victim to the demise of cheap air travel…
TIAA: a global American invades Scotland
‘If subsidizing a rich US corporation amounted to an abuse of Scottish revenues, arguably it is even more serious that the government and local council forfeited their impartiality as planning authorities by buying into TIAA’s deal. They may even have breached EU State Aid rules..’
Pupil attainment: up or down?
‘Unfortunately, it is not easy to evaluate the CfE conclusively at this point in time…We need more research into everything from the breadth of education students are receiving to the number of A to C grades at National 5 and Higher levels to what happens in the years after people leave school.’
Scotland’s budget prospects
The Scottish Budget was due on December 12, #GE2019 day, but will almost certainly be pulled until after the UK Budget is presented early next year on the back of wild spending promises. Even pre-Brexit the Scottish outlook is more than unusually uncertain…