At Holyrood yesterday Graham Simpson MSP (SCAUP) asked for an update on the performance of local authority building verfication services. The response showed and improvement in the percentage of projects approved within 10 days of compliant details from 72.73% in Q3 2017/18 to 84.78% in Q2 of 2019/20. This dramatic improvement must have been particularly welcome to builders and to their clients. Click to access WA20200122.pdf I suspect the process will be even faster in England given their less rigorous demands and consequent flooded or burning housing. Continue reading New building approvals more than 16% faster!

Health Minister Vaughan Gething AM (Labour) has survived a no-confidence motion in the Welsh Assembly but there have been calls from relatives for him to resign. BBC Wales say they are unaware of the story and, it is rumoured, don’t really care what a Unionist party does anyway. The December A&E figures have yet to emerge but in November they treated only 74.4% within 4 hours compared to SNP Scotland’s 85.5%. The December figures are already out for Scotland and England, but NHS Wales seems reluctant to reveal their data. Continue reading Calls for Health Minister to resign, as A&E waiting times fall to Third World levels, are missed by BBC Wales

I’ve paraphrased the famous line from the 1948 film, Naked City, for my headline. It makes the obvious point that BBC Scotland had many other options but chose this, on examination, pointless and empty little story because, regardless of its inadequacies, it fits the agenda. Readers will know, of course, that the SNP’s minimum pricing policy has been a quick and impressive success: Immediate impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol … https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l5274 BBC Scotland reported yesterday: NHS experts have found no evidence that minimum pricing for alcohol is having an impact on underage drinking. A study of 50 drinkers … Continue reading ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city. This HAS NOT been one of them really’ BBC Scotland pounce on anything bad about an SNP policy no matter how insubstantial

The Chief Statistician has released further encouraging stats regarding the fuel efficiency of Scottish homes and levels of fuel poverty being experienced. Note the longer term trends achieved since 2013 for reducing fuel poverty – and from 2010 for Energy Efficient Dwellings and for SHQS social housing pass/failure rate. Remember – these longer term positive trends are NOT occurring by accident. These good outcomes are being achieved BECAUSE there is an SNP Scottish Government with some kind of coherent plan in operation with a focussed desire to improve living conditions throughout Scotland. Don’t let the Britnats undermine these hard won … Continue reading Increased fuel efficiency in Scottish homes

From ITV’s Emily Morgan yesterday, after noting grudgingly that NHS Scotland had treated 85.5% within 4 hours: Last week I was in Wales and visited the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport. Only 58% of its patients were see within four hours in A&E in November last year, that is shocking and not one of the patients I spoke to there was surprised, many had been waiting 12 hours themselves. Across Wales the figure stands at 74.4% and in England, just 79.8% were seen within four hours in December, down from 86.5% in 2018. She has the wrong figures for England. … Continue reading Now ITV’s health correspondent gets the NHS Scotland and England figures all wrong

And yet: The number of children in Scotland with no obvious sign of tooth decay has hit a record high. Figures from NHS Scotland show four out of five (80%) P7 children had no obvious decay experience in their permanent teeth in 2019. This is up from 53% in 2005 when records began. Data from a national inspection programme shows seven out of 10 (69.5%) P7 children from the most deprived areas have no obvious decay experience. This is less than children in the least deprived areas where almost nine out of 10 (88.1%) have no decay. https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2019/10/22/the-number-of-children-in-scotland-with-no-obvious-sign-of-tooth-decay-has-hit-a-record-high/ Continue reading Has Herald exposed falling attendance at dentists due to Scots having better teeth?

Peter A Bell When assessing the BBC’s coverage of Scottish politics and the now undeniable bias in favour of the British establishment it would be a mistake to think in terms of a formal conspiracy. If you’re imagining a cabal of managers, producers, directors, journalists and presenters secretly conniving together to do down the SNP and the independence movement, you are entertaining a fantasy. There is no organised plot. Nor is there any need for such a thing. What, with hindsight, has all the appearance of having been carefully contrived is, in fact, no more than the incidental outcome of … Continue reading ‘Conspiracy as an emergent property of organisations’ like the BBC

From Contrary: The Digital Covenant 2019 webpage is up and running for signing: https://digitalcovenant.co.uk So sign it. If you are ‘waiting for the SNP’ you’ll be cold in your grave before anything happens – in saying that, only do what you feel comfortable with. At least read the first page of the signing process which describes what you need and explains that it is a legal document, so make sure that you agree with the statement before signing. I haven’t actually been through the process yet, got to scan a couple of documents, so not sure if it is easy … Continue reading ALERT: Awakened Scottish Covenant 2019 webpage:

We’ve had a few reports here of excellence in Glasgow hospitals, sourced by our Glasgow Correspondent, Brian McGowan and, of course, largely ignored by our MSM as they, rat-like, follow the scent of blood and avian excrement. Today we hear: NHS Glasgow and Greater Clyde (NHSGGC) is embracing a person centred visiting approach across hospitals to enhance patient wellbeing and recovery as part of its tailored individual care model – ‘Person Centred Visiting’ (PCV). Visiting will no longer be restricted to specific times but rather planned around the wishes of individual patients and families. This will enable patients to decide … Continue reading Glasgow’s hospitals miles better but ignored by BBC Scotland again

The SNP Government is abundantly to blame for this! The above data are from this year’s Social Mobility Barometer. The Barometer is an annual survey of around 5,000 people from across the UK. People’s own experiences and perceptions can often give a sharper insight than research and statistics. Last year it exposed deep pessimism among young people about their futures and a feeling that it was becoming harder for those from working class backgrounds to get on in life. As in some other surveys such those on poverty, Scotland seems to be doing that bit better and given that the … Continue reading After 12 years of SNP administration Scots are the most optimistic about their futures