Welcome to All Things Scotland
This week LGIU Scotland reviews useful content and everything local government related in Holyrood and relevant new reports.
On Wednesday, LGIU Scotland heard about North Ayrshire Council and how they are progressing with Community Wealth Building, before heading to Kilmarnock for Scottish Town Partnership conference. Keep your eyes peeled on LGIU Scotland webpage as this content is published next week.
Thursday’s Autumn statement announced £1.5 billion pounds of Barnett consequentials for Scotland. To understand the ramifications, this briefing uses two recent reports to examine the place of the Barnett formula and council tax. The main focus is on how the Barnett formula operates, the parallels between the two systems and the weaknesses of both are highlighted.
Invitations for Scottish Local Government
This week, we highlight the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s independent and evidence-based inquiry which will scrutinise whether Scotland’s forest expansion campaign is being effectively delivered to produce positive outcomes for Scotland’s environment, economy and society. Click here to find out more and to get involved.
LGIU Scotland
This week, we heard from the Scottish Land Commission (SLC) about the New Routes to Public and Community Reuse for Ownerless Properties. Read more from James MacKessack-Leitch ahead of the SLC’s KLTR webinar on November 29th.
In Conversation With Alan Russell at Renfrewshire Council. A year into the post of Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council, LGIU Scotland was in conversation with Alan Russell about Alan’s personal and organisational reflections on the challenges, opportunities facing Renfrewshire Council.
Autumn parliamentary summary: all you need to know from Holyrood and Westminster. The purpose of this briefing is to provide an update on the progress of key legislation currently passing through Holyrood that is of relevance to local authorities.
Working at home or in the office? The growth of hybrid working in local government. This briefing looks at home and hybrid working, exploring how it has evolved over the past two years and includes examples from local authorities who have risen to the challenge.
Reports and updates
A new Glasgow City Council report has revealed that educational outcomes for care experienced children in the city have improved significantly over the last five years. To understand more of the context and challenges of children social care reform in Scotland, check out this recent LGIU briefing.
A revised draft of National Planning Framework 4 sets out sustainable policies against which planning applications would be assessed for the next decade. Find the full draft here, as it now goes to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee for consideration.
A new drive has been launched to develop Scotland’s green heat sector. Importantly, more than £800,000 of Green Growth Accelerator funding is being awarded across all local authorities this year to help develop a pipeline of low-carbon infrastructure projects, including retrofitting existing buildings. Read the full policy here.
The Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group (SWBG) report shares the experiences of women in Scotland on low incomes affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Women are being disproportionately impacted by the cost-of-living crisis due to existing inequalities across all areas of life.
Education Scotland has published the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) Recovery and Progress report for 2021-22, which gives an overview of what is happening across Scotland to raise attainment and reduce educational inequity.
A new report from Age Scotland called “Keeping the Doors Open” outlines the pressures these vital groups and organisations are facing, the extensive benefits they offer local communities, and how they can be supported to stay open.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) published a report which evaluates the price and range of alcohol products in the Scottish off-trade sector in the 12 months following the implementation of Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol (MUP).
The Summary for Urban Policymakers (SUP) initiative has published three major reports to translate the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report into practical guidance for urban policy makers.
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) has released a new report exploring the potential of registered social landlords (RSLs) taking the lead in delivering a just transition in Scotland.
The report Green Jobs in Scotland: An inclusive approach to definition, measurement and analysis was commissioned by the Implementation Steering Group behind Scotland’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan.
Latest data and information on the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland. Gathering data from local authorities and COSLA, this publication summarises the latest Scotland-level data and information on people displaced by the war in Ukraine.
What’s on in Holyrood…
This week, Scottish Parliament brought us the latest look at labour market data for Scotland from the Office for National Statistics. Find the full report here, and read analysis from the Fraser of Allander Institute on the effects of Covid-19 on the labour market and household incomes.
Last week, the Improvement Service gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament as part of their inquiry into tackling Child Poverty and highlighted the importance of a strategic approach to prevention as well as crisis response. Watch the submission here.
Stay tuned
Next week LGIU will bring you a recap of the Scottish Town Partnership conference, a policy briefing on fracking and the latest edition of the popular Housing and Planning round up.
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