Glasgow defined : a business perspective

Commerce, trade and business together with education have been the heart of Glasgow over the centuries. Glasgow played a central role in developing Scotland's trans-Atlantic commerce and trade- based economy with the development of the tobacco trade. As the 'second city of the empire' in the late 1800s it was, as Findlay (2011) notes, a central player in the first industrial revolution with its textile, mining, iron and shipping industries. Glasgow's leadership in the manufacture of ships, locomotives and heavy engineering reflected not only a highly skilled workforce, but equally a strong tradition of technological innovation and invention together allied to a strong financial and business services base. Through much of the 20th century Glasgow, along with many other industrial cities, had to confront the problems of industrial change and rising social deprivation and experienced several cycles of decline, renewal and regeneration. However, the traditions of innovation, together with a strong higher education sector, and a vibrant culture and dynamism have enabled Glasgow to change and to renew its economy. Since the 1980s, Glasgow has been rebuilding itself through a series regeneration programmes including: the 'Glasgow Miles Better' campaign, the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival, being European City of Culture in 1990 and, looking forward, hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014. These, together with a series of development strategies, most notably the private-sector led Glasgow Action which led the implementation of a services-led McKinsey strategy from the mid-1980’s to the Joint Economic Strategy of Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise set out in 2006 'Step Change' strategy programme and – even more recently - the creation of the Glasgow Economic Commission and the private sector-led Glasgow Economic Leadership all illustrate the innovation and strength of commitment of civic, business and academic partners to continuing and strengthening Glasgow's economic growth and renewal

Sustainable development : fourth annual assessment of progress by the Scottish Government

SDC Scotland’s annual assessment is based on a review of government policy across a range of topics from economy and energy to education, health, waste and biodiversity. The conclusions and recommendations are also based on discussions with expert groups in each policy area, government civil servants and a stakeholder survey.Publisher PD

Submission from the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland on the Scottish Government's 'Energy efficiency action plan'

This letter is a response from the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland to the Scottish Government's 'Energy efficiency action plan'.Publisher PD

Affordable housing need in Scotland

This report presents the findings from research conducted in 2015 which sought to estimate the need for affordable housing across Scotland as a whole. The research was commissioned by Shelter Scotland, the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA). The core model estimates an affordable housing requirement in Scotland of 12,014 dwellings per annum over five years. This represents 64.2 per cent of the expected net increase in households in Scotland (18,704) over the next five years

Consuming identity : the case of Scotland

The paper examines national identity in Scotland. The research explores how consumers perceive the symbols used to represent Scotland, how these symbols relate to their perceptions of contemporary Scottish identity and their responses to the use of these symbols to promote Scotland and Scottishness. A series of in-depth interviews revealed that national identity in Scotland was seen to be multidimensional. Activities associated with art and culture, as opposed to business and industry, were identified as primary characteristics of contemporary Scotland. The traditional symbols of Scottish identity (e.g. tartan and whiskey) remain dominant signifiers, however, and the problems of this are discussed

Polish migrants in Scotland: voting behaviours and engagement in the Scottish independence referendum

Polish migrants are the largest non-UK born population in Scotland (56,000 in 2012). As EU citizens who are resident in Scotland, they are eligible to vote in the 18 September 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. Using a survey of 245 Polish migrants in Scotland we investigate their level of engagement with the Scottish referendum asking; do Polish migrants vote and where (Poland and/or UK)? Will they take part in the referendum? Will the outcome of the referendum have an impact on their migration or settlement plans in Scotland

Investigation of Travel Behaviour of Visitors to Scotland

Tourism in Scotland is both an important and extensive land use and a major contributor to Gross Domestic Product. In 2005, it is estimated that Scotland received around 10.5 million visitors from outside Scotland. Just over 76% of the visits originated in the rest of the United Kingdom, with the remainder having an international origin. Tourism relies heavily on passenger transport both to access the destination, but also to travel around within it. However, there has been a lack of attention to the internal accessibility of Scotland from the visitor perspective. Whilst some attempts have been suggested and prioritised for facilitating tourists' travel around Scotland, such efforts are mainly undertaken by tourism organisations throughout Scotland, whose ultimate power to enable changes to transport systems is largely limited to lobbying. Moreover, without a clear picture of how accessible Scotland is internally as a destination, or of the transport demands of visitors in terms of internal accessibility, any measures taken to enhance visitor transportation remain largely uninformed. How tourists travel around Scotland, the extent to which they are reliant on public transport and the importance of existing transport provision in their travel behaviour and experience of the destination, including the areas they ultimately visit, merits further clarification. To this end, this study was commissioned by the Transport Department of The Scottish Executive to provide an overview of existing research into the travel behaviour of visitors to Scotland. The principal aim of the study was to review and collate existing sources of information on the use of transport by those visiting Scotland for leisure, recreation and business purposes. In conjunction with the objectives of the Scottish Executive, a thorough review of the literature and secondary data sources pertaining to the use of transport by visitors to Scotland for leisure, tourism and business purposes was conducted

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements: MAPPA in Scotland: What do the numbers tell us?

This briefing paper collates for the first time statistics about Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) across Scotland. The statistics presented here were originally published in individual MAPPA annual reports, which each report on a different geographic area of Scotland. The paper begins by outlining the MAPPA arrangements in Scotland and compares information about offenders managed through MAPPA in Scotland with those in England and Wales. The paper then focuses on a detailed examination of the data available about MAPPA in Scotland. The figures outlined in the paper are presented in the appendix, where all tables referred to in the paper can be found

Visualising and quantifying 'excess deaths' in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK and the rest of Western Europe

BACKGROUND: Scotland has higher mortality rates than the rest of Western Europe (rWE), with more cardiovascular disease and cancer among older adults; and alcohol-related and drug-related deaths, suicide and violence among younger adults. METHODS: We obtained sex, age-specific and year-specific all-cause mortality rates for Scotland and other populations, and explored differences in mortality both visually and numerically. RESULTS: Scotland's age-specific mortality was higher than the rest of the UK (rUK) since 1950, and has increased. Between the 1950s and 2000s, 'excess deaths' by age 80 per 100 000 population associated with living in Scotland grew from 4341 to 7203 compared with rUK, and from 4132 to 8828 compared with rWE. UK-wide mortality risk compared with rWE also increased, from 240 'excess deaths' in the 1950s to 2320 in the 2000s. Cohorts born in the 1940s and 1950s throughout the UK including Scotland had lower mortality risk than comparable rWE populations, especially for males. Mortality rates were higher in Scotland than rUK and rWE among younger adults from the 1990s onwards suggesting an age-period interaction. CONCLUSIONS: Worsening mortality among young adults in the past 30 years reversed a relative advantage evident for those born between 1950 and 1960. Compared with rWE, Scotland and rUK have followed similar trends but Scotland has started from a worse position and had worse working age-period effects in the 1990s and 2000s