Links: Conservatives failing schoolchildren as mental health referrals in England are more than twice the level of Scotland   Tories- the real sex pests   Continue reading Trains, sex offenders and Monica Lennon: This morning’s tweets for nontweeters

By Legerwood The UK is losing its measles free status. For UK read England mainly. Matt Hancock, UK Health Secretary, talking at the weekend of compulsory immunisation of children before they start school. The immunisation figures for England are not great. Here are the most recent figures for childhood immunisation in Scotland published 24th September 2019 by ISD Scotland Childhood Immunisation Statistics Scotland Uptake rates remain high in Scotland; over 95% of children had received each routine immunisation by the time they were 12 months of age, apart from rotavirus vaccine, which had 93.5% uptake. Rotavirus vaccine helps to protect … Continue reading Scotland loses its measles-free status despite being measles-free

I can’t see where this originates but it’s getting a lot of attention and then, unfortunately doubting questions about sources so: For patients seen in 4 hours:  https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2019/09/04/stunning-91-achievement-by-nhs-scotland-ae-12-better-than-nhs-england/ For GPs per 100 000 patients: https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W-22502&ResultsPerPage=10 For hospital beds*: https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W-24570&ResultsPerPage=10 For healthcare spending: http://www.businessforscotland.com/scotlands-nhs-outperforms-the-rest-of-the-uk-heres-why/ And, for access to GPs: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2019/09/18/93-of-scots-can-see-their-gp-within-2-days/ Much of the information for the graphs is, I find later, in: http://www.businessforscotland.com/scotlands-nhs-outperforms-the-rest-of-the-uk-heres-why/ Continue reading Evidence for this fine graphic going viral

From Ludo Thierry Updated numbers available on Scottish Fisheries. Beeb Scotland did carry news but (largely) missed the important stuff in the small, but welcome, 1% increase in those employed and the continuing (also welcome) trend for smaller vessels (under 10m) which often represent working family owned businesses. (Rather than large scale rapacious capital interests – home grown or international). My understanding (in possession of precisely less than zero knowledge in this field) is that the noticeable reduction in larger vessels in the shellfish sector is helpful as the larger vessels often apply a seabed ‘dragging’ technique which can result … Continue reading ‘Scotland punches well above its weight in the European fishing sector’

In a Freedom of Information question on Wednesday, Emma Harper (South Scotland) (Scottish National Party) asked the Scottish Government how much businesses had saved in total from business rates relief since 2007, broken down by local authority area. Kate Forbes replied: The following table shows how much non-domestic rates relief has saved businesses cumulatively from 2009-10 until 2017-18, based on local authority income returns. Local authority breakdowns are not currently available for earlier years. Local authority Rates relief (£m) Aberdeen 281 Aberdeenshire 191 Angus 96 Argyll & Bute 101 Clackmannanshire 34 Dumfries & Galloway 121 Dundee City 211 East Ayrshire … Continue reading Scottish Government business rates relief saves employers more than £5 billion

In Energy Voice June 2018: ‘The chief executive of Ghana’s Petroleum Commission has said Aberdeen will play a “vital part” in the country’s upcoming “oil boom”. Ghana is set to award nine licensing rounds in the lead up to next April, with opportunities for “supermajors, contractors and service providers”. Ghana’s laws mean any company wishing to execute a contract in its upstream sector has to create a joint venture with an indigenous Ghanaian company, with the latter getting at least 10% equity.’ The value deriving from Scotland’s oil and gas expertise has been growing for some time now. On June 16th 2017, I … Continue reading Scotland’s North Sea expertise earning globally

From an information request and a response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, published on 25th Sep 2019: Details of any briefings by civil servants or documents provided to ministers in 2017 or 2018 on the topic of a second independence referendum. The single most common concern among 7 500 responses was: Conduct of the poll. One of the most prevalent themes was concern about security and risk of electoral fraud. Respondents made suggestions about how they thought security arrangements could be tightened. There was a particular lack of confidence in postal voting. Respondents supported the proposal set out in … Continue reading Postal voting in Indyref2 is still greatest concern

Boris Johnson and his braying acolytes have succeeded in persuading a sizable proportion of the ‘ordinary’ people that they are their champions against an evil EU empire and its deluded supporters in the House of Commons. In fact, they are themselves an uber-elite primarily in pursuit of a deregulated, zero-tax (for them) economy where they can exploit, harm, those same ‘ordinary’ people by removing EU-protected workers’ rights, by fracking their environment, by weakening their health provision, by removing benefits and by feeding them shit. To do this they must beat that other elite, those post-Blair, neo-liberal, ‘meritocrats’ who inhabit with … Continue reading Wolves in people’s clothing: This is a fight WITHIN elites and ‘the people’ are being fooled again

In Insider yesterday: Scottish food and drink has (sic) grown three times faster than the economy as a whole over the past 10 years. Figures from the Royal Bank of Scotland Purchasing Managers Index shows the food and drink sector accounts for nearly one in four manufacturing jobs and underpins Scotland’s position as the dominant force behind UK international trade in agrifood products. A reason for the sector to be optimistic is the Scotland’s food and drink producers is the sector’s record in gaining a foothold in new overseas markets, especially the opportunities provided by fast-growing consumer demand in emerging … Continue reading 8% of the population 29% of food and drink exports: Scotland ‘dominant force behind UK international trade in agriculture and food products’