Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Many thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this and for finding the references. In the Guardian today: Kinship carers in England to be given financial support in government pilot – Charities hail ‘groundbreaking’ scheme for grandparents and others who take full parental responsibility for a child. ‘Ground-breaking’ eh? Nothing like it before or anywhere else in the UK then? BBC Scotland must be drafting something for Anas Sarwar to say about it? But wait, since 2009, seventeen … Continue reading 17 years late, England pilots kinship care financial support but still does not match Scotland’s more equitable system

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From the Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: February 2026, published yesterday: Fall in emergency hospital admissions due to assault since 2015-16. In 2024-25, there were 1,554 emergency hospital admissions due to assault, including 376 due to assault with a sharp object. These were, respectively, 36% and 33% lower than in 2015-16. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-february-2026/pages/statistics-on-community-safety/ What might explain this? First, Murder by stabbing in Scotland has fallen in a steady trend to half of the level 6 years ago – From Knife crime … Continue reading 33% fall in emergency hospital admissions due to assault with a knife since 2015-16

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From the Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: February 2026, published yesterday: Most adults feel safe walking alone after dark. The SCJS found that three-quarters (75%) of adults said that they felt very or fairly safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark in 2023-24. This is an increase from 66% in 2008-09 but has been stable since 2016-17. https://www.gov.scot/publications/safer-communities-and-justice-statistics-monthly-data-report-february-2026/pages/statistics-on-community-safety/ What might explain this improvement, contrasting with the front page reports of murder and stabbing and raping so … Continue reading Increased number of Scots feel safe walking alone after dark!

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON Looking at the above two graphs, you’ll see that the SNP Government arrived in the middle of a spike in crime in 2007 and maintained a high level of police staffing to drive it down, only reducing the staffing from 2020, by which time crime had plummeted by almost half and stabilised there. Nevertheless, as you’ll see below police officer numbers are as high today as they were before the increase. From the Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly … Continue reading SNP Scotland still has more police officers than Labour had before the surge in crime from the 1990s to 2007 and then still maintained a far higher level until after rates fell

Please Support Talking-up Scotland at:https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-talking-up-scotlandClick on the above.Or direct bank transfer at Sort Code 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Name – JOHN ROBERTSON From BBC UK in October 2025: New vocational courses called V-levels will be rolled out for 16-year-olds under government plans to simplify a “confusing landscape” of qualifications in England. Skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith said V-levels aimed to simplify options for students. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyzjp5n5kro By cuckooshoe The last paragraph in Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 8: 2026 edition shows a 33.2% increase in the number of mainstream and special school leavers achieving one or more … Continue reading As UK Labour BEGIN to push education toward a vocational/skills-based emphasis with a Skills Minister and new curricula simplification, Scotland’s surging results over three years already are ignored