n the latest week, aggregate UK spending on credit and debit cards fell by 3% and is now 5% lower than the level in the equivalent week of 2023. Meanwhile, overall retail footfall increased to 103% of the level of the previous week and 102% of the level in the equivalent week of 2023 (Bank of England CHAPS, MRI OnLocation).
Brexit has cost Scotland up to £100 million-a-year in ‘lost' salmon exports, MSPs will heard yesterday (28 March 2024) Scottish salmon is the UK's largest food export, but farming companies have faced increased red tape and costs triggered by the departure from the EU in January 2020. In 2019, there were more than 53,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon exported to the bloc, with the figure falling to 44,000 tonnes in 2023.
The underlying UK current account deficit excluding precious metals expanded to £26.3 billion, or 3.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, a widening of £5.9 billion from Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023. The UK current account deficit when trade in precious metals is included, increased to £21.2 billion, or 3.1 % of GDP.
UK business investment increased by 1.4% in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, revised slightly from our initial estimate of a 1.5% increase in the provisional estimate; the main contributor to business investment growth was an increase in buildings investment. UK business investment is 2.8% above where it was the same quarter a year ago.
Startup companies being supported by the Scottish Government's Techscaler programme attracted investment of more than £52 million in 2023, according to the project's first Annual Report. The initiative supported more than 500 companies in its first year, and now has nearly 2,500 members.
The theme of this year's World TB Day, 24 March, was ‘Yes! We can end TB!'. An important message as tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable and treatable disease.
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an annual and quarterly update of immunisation uptake rates for children in Scotland. Immunisation programmes for children aim to protect the individual child from many serious infectious diseases and prevent the spread of disease in the wider population.
In Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023, household spending growth (adjusted for inflation) was negative 0.1% compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2023. Compared with Quarter 4 2022, household spending increased by 0.3%.
Applications opened for the fourth year of the Marine Fund Scotland on 28 March 2024. Addressing the Fisheries Management Scotland conference today, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon confirmed that £14m will be made available through the Fund in 2024-25 to help deliver Scotland's Blue Economy Vision, which sets out plans to transform the way the marine environment is used and how Scotland's ‘blue' resources are managed.
Members of the Scottish Public Health System have issued a position statement that calls for national and local action to help stop tobacco smoking and youth vaping in Scotland. The group, a collaboration between Public Health Scotland and Scottish Directors of Public Health, highlights that both issues present a public health challenge that requires bold and collective action.
No one remembers the names of the soldiers who arrested Jesus, or the civil servants who organised his crucifixion. But Judas Iscariot has not been forgotten, and will forever be associated with treachery and betrayal.
Scotland's capacity for electricity generation from renewable sources increased by 10% within a year, with the largest growth coming in offshore and onshore wind installations. New figures for 2023 show Scotland continues to generate more electricity than it uses, with net exports to other UK nations worth an estimated £1.5 billion thanks to record production levels in the second half of the year.
In the latest figures on UK house prices, new builds are particularly eye-catching. The price for such homes has increased by 17% in the past year, while the average price for existing homes cooled by 2.4%.
Generative AI - technology such as ChatGPT that creates content when prompted - is affecting how solicitors, judges and barristers work. It's also likely to change the work they are being asked to do.
New measures to simplify the planning process for zero and low carbon technologies will help homeowners and businesses save money and reduce their emissions. Permitted development rights grant permission for certain developments through legislation, meaning they can be undertaken without a planning application.
All public sector use of Artificial Intelligence to be registered. Scotland is to become the first part of the UK to make it mandatory to register any use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the public sector.
Prussian general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz presented the concept of the "fog of war" in 1832. It is a phrase that has become synonymous with the uncertainty and confusion of military battle.
A new report on climate risk, co-authored by a GAD actuary, is based on the latest climate research. It was a collaboration between actuaries and scientists.
Provisional data shows UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions fell further across several key sectors between 2022 and 2023. UK greenhouse gas emissions continue to fall, UK now half way to net zero as emissions have been cut by 53% between 1990 and 2023 or 50% when including emissions from international aviation and shipping.
Economic data in early 2024 is showing that the economy is likely to be recovering hesitantly as expected, following the contractions in growth in the final part of 2023. This comes in the latest economic assessment from the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University.