As the news of the death of the toddler, above, in Rochdale spread, BBC Scotland’s intrepid reporters will have thought:
Hey Scotland is colder and wetter, we must have had mould deaths too!
Try searching for ‘Scotland mould death‘ and you get the Rochdale case but only ‘warnings’ and ‘fears’ from the Express and the Courier.
BBC Scotland are quick to react with the sneakily worded:
Sensors detect damp and mould in Glasgow social housing
No surprise, it’s not about the level of damp and mould but a story about a new technology to detect it being installed in housing. The headline does its dirty work though.
After making heavy use of the tragic Rochdale case, they write:
A report by the Fraser of Allander Institute this week highlighted damp and overcrowded accommodation as a factor in the dramatic stalling of improvements in living standards in Scotland.
Previous housing condition surveys in Scotland had shown a decrease in the number of properties reporting issues with damp conditions over the past decade, but suggested that lower income households were still the worst affected.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-63662644
What does the FOA report actually tell us?
Overall, the incidence of damp in Scottish homes has fallen from 54% in 2012 to 43% in 2019.
Amongst the poorest it has fallen from 65% to 43%
The gap between the levels for the poorest and the most affluent has narrowed from 12% to 8%
The incidence of mould, too, has fallen from 12% to 9%
Among the poorest it has fallen from 16% top 12%
The gap between the levels for the poorest and the most affluent has narrowed slightly from 8% to 7%
Note: The presence of mould being reported does not always mean at the level revealed in the house in Rochdale.
Finally a wee bit of whitabootery, or as posh former rugby player, might shout at a senior civil servant:
‘Sheila! Sheila! Sheila! That’s whataboutery!
New [UK] research has revealed that almost two thirds (62%) of people claim to have had an issue with mould in their home at least once, with conditions in the home the most common reason for the spread of mould.
https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/mouldy-nation-report/
62% compared with 9%? Maybe problems with comparing these data but from the same report:
Counter-intuitive? Higher building control standards in colder wetter Scotland?
Talking-up Scotland 
Jakey Baillie blaming snp.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02c9nV4MdJHgJc7smkie3hHfRFwujf4BAPFCkeNrHv6CAMpiUpLLmB7sD9Pd7ENwvWl&id=100045372791993
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There is no doubt better and more stringent building regulations and Private Landlord Registration requirements in Scotland to weed out rogue landlords are major factors but I would also guess also that for many tenants heating costs and adequate ventilation are also key to preventing mould which unfortunately are out of our control.
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Aye, some fairly inventive crocheting of disconnected issues going in that article, but interpreting the FOA report as “…highlighted damp and overcrowded accommodation AS A FACTOR in the DRAMATIC stalling of improvements in living standards in Scotland” is doing some fairly heavy lifting on the hyperbole.
Such monitoring devices have been around for a while, it is the actual networking of long range communications which is actually “smart” in the Glasgow pilot, in all probability LORA.
It’s a good initiative by GCC since any of a number of sensors can be deployed to monitor various conditions powered only by batteries.
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It is noteworthy in the “Mouldy (sic) Britain” report that the areas with the highest incidence of mould are London, the South East and the East of England (i.e. East Anglia). These are where the most affluent households in Britain are located and also the regions which tend to score highest in most measures of affluence. They are also the parts with the mildest climates (excluding places with micro-climates, such as Tiree, Gigha, Scilly Isles.
They are also the places with the greatest inequality. There is a substantial rentier class leeching upon the less affluent and the rentiers are the ones who contribute the smallest portion of their wealth and income in tax because they have to ‘maximise profit’. Could this be the reason for the higher incidence of mould in homes – a failure to invest in proper maintenance of the homes of the hoi polloi?
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I entirely blame the mouldy old dough on the pigeons, brought in nightly exposés by BEEB Bird Broadcasters to the Colonies.
Oh, and the pie crumbs round the feet of the fat misanthropes in the labour party gorging on the public dime.
Yes you, Lard Baron Giorgio Ffoulksakia.
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I see by that map it’s a huge problem in England, and warmer climate is no defense against damp and mould. For aschild to have died in England due to damp home is just dreadful. Their little lungs can’t manage pollution and mould etc. Very sad.
We have friends who are in a private let, who have some dampness in their flat, in old tenement building. They say that the dehumidifiers are amazing and a must, and eco newer ones not so expensive to run.
Now that heating bills are unaffordable for many, damp homes will become a huge issue. With two days of heavy rain, not so good either.
Just as an aside, I have a neighbour who lives in a huge basement flat that isn’t damp at all, they had a damp proof course applied for free because of it being a ‘conservation’ area, put in by the Tory council many many years ago. Always looking after the well off the Tories.
Brexit UK, in 2022, what a bloody disgrace it is and I don’t apologise for this sentence.
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I hope those at BBC Scotland really suffer for their bad behaviour and deceit
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