Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today, the above and: A review of England’s curriculum has recommended reducing the amount of content and emphasis on exams and instead focusing more on life skills and “enrichment”. The review, led by Prof Becky Francis, wants pupils to spend less time in exam halls and have more time “for all of those amazing other things that schools do”, such as plays, sport and work experience. It also urged the government to cut back on policies introduced by the former Tory education secretary Michael Gove, including an overhaul of controversial grammar tests in … Continue reading England to copy Scottish Curriculum for Excellence after 16 years as school leavers are “better prepared in soft skills” (teamwork, communication, adaptability)

Professor John Robertson OBA The Daily Record today has the above and: NHS Ayrshire & Arran owes nearly £130m and now tops the list of Scottish health boards with the largest amount of debt, says the Auditor General for Scotland. And the health board has been warned that its savings plan, aimed at reducing their crippling debt levels, is “overly optimistic” and they “may not be achievable.” Now South Scotland Conservative List MSP, Sharon Dowey, has waded into the issue and savaged the SNP Scottish Government for their handling of the unfolding financial crisis. Will a health board ever be allowed to … Continue reading NHS Ayrshire & Arran is not ‘on the brink of collapse.’ In England, some NHS trusts have entered special measures or been merged, but Scotland’s 14 territorial boards remain operational

Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks to Dottie for alerting us to this. From BBC London on 23 October 2025, the above and: Rents across England continue to rise, external as the numbers of households in temporary accommodation across the country are at a record high [170 000]. Meanwhile, the amount of housing benefit private renters can claim – the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) – remains frozen – as it has been for most of the past decade. Housing sector organisations, including landlords and homeless charities, are urging the government to unfreeze LHA, fearful that it’s driving more renters into homelessness. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj41v8n1ydvo The equivalent figure in Scotland … Continue reading Child homelessness soars 67% higher in England than in Scotland after a year of Labour austerity

Professor John Robertson OBA From Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 30 September 2025 published today: Scotland’s Chief Statistician has published statistics on Police Officer Quarterly Strength, which gives the number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. The key findings of the statistics are: From Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2024-25 published in June 2025, the above table showing a 39.8% fall in recorded crime since the last days of the Labour/Lib Dem coalition in 2007. Can the SNP get some credit? If it was the opposite way round and crime had climbed nearly 40% under them, they’d be … Continue reading 207 more police officers in Scotland than under Labour despite 40% reduction in crime since then – Imagine it was the other way round?

Professor John Robertson OBA From Cancelled planned operations Month ending 30 September 2025, published today: There were 25,322 operations planned to take place across NHSScotland. This is 12.1% higher (+2,738) than the number planned a year previously in September 2024 (22,584). Overall, the number of planned operations had been steadily increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted service provision, until May 2024 when increases in the 12-month rolling average began to plateau. Since June 2025 this has started to increase again.  Of all planned operations during September 2025 in NHSScotland, 819 (3.2%) were cancelled by the hospital for clinical reasons, 728 … Continue reading NHS Scotland staffed and equipped to complete 98% of more than 25 000 operations in September 2025 despite 12% increase in demand is deeply impressive

Professor John Robertson OBA The Record and BBC Scotland today are headlining a report by the police officers trade union, the SPA, claiming: A report has highlighted a “concerning increase” in the number of attempted murders carried out by children in Scotland. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) paper, external said there were 17 attempted murders involving 20 children in the three months between April and June this year. It means children were involved in almost a quarter of all attempted murders where a suspect was identified, with cases in nine separate divisions of Police Scotland. But the report found that the overall level … Continue reading Keeping quiet about a fall in actual murder and actual murder by children but headlining trade union rumours of a possible increase in attempted murder by children – BBC Scotland and The Record darkening your lives with a purpose