As I wrote the last post on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) giving direct credit to Scottish Government initiatives in reducing deaths and serious injuries, the memory of Reporting Scotland’s 06;28 am insert into breakfast TV, with two out of 4 stories being just Tory propaganda about Nicola’s Indyref2 obsession (not the 2 million Yes supporters of course), and SNP softness on crime, I remembered three other example of NO credit where credit was due:
- Sound Finances
When reporting negatively, the Scottish Auditor General doesn’t hold back so this praise is worth remarking upon. She:
- said the Scottish Government produced a sound financial report for 2016/17 and managed its budget effectively;
- highlights the Scottish Government’s good record of financial management and reporting;
- said her independent audit opinion on the 2016/17 accounts is unqualified.
- Said the Scottish Government managed its overall 2016/17 budget of £33.96 billion well, reporting a small underspend of £85 million.
Noting some of these words that I’ve emboldened, this is a glowing report for a government that clearly knows what it’s doing. Who in the Labour or Tory cohorts do you imagine could match this competence? Go through the faces and see if you can keep a straight one yourself.
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/uploads/docs/report/2017/s22_170928_scottish_gov_pr.pdf
- Reducing obesity
Based on research led by Laura Webber of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, reported in the Independent on 26th May 2018:
‘Under current trends it is predicted that 11 per cent of the population in Wales will be morbidly obese in 2035, roughly 340,000 adults, while Scotland is likely to plateau at about 5 per cent and England will rise to about 8 per cent.’
The researchers offer a surprisingly clear, confident and simple explanation for the significantly slower growth in Scotland – Scottish Government policy initiatives and resource allocation:
‘The government put a massive push on developing a route map for how we can actually combat this. They put together resources from the NHS that were proving to be effective. They did put a lot of work into it.’
- Managing NHS Scotland
Scotland has a unique system of improving the quality of health care. It focuses on engaging the altruistic professional motivations of frontline staff to do better and building their skills to improve. Success is defined based on specific measurements of safety and effectiveness that make sense to clinicians. There is much for the other countries of the UK to learn from this…Scotland has a longer history of drives towards making different parts of the health and social care system work together. It has used legislation to get these efforts underway while recognising that ultimately local relationships are the deciding factor. There is much for England and Wales to learn from this.
The above statements positively glow with praise for NHS Scotland. It’s an A plus plus!
Research Report, July 2017, Learning from Scotland’s NHS at: https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/files/2017-07/learning-from-scotland-s-nhs-final.pdf
Talking-up Scotland 
Totally agree, credit were credit is due, if there something they’re doing well then say it. if theres something they’re are doing badly then say that as well, a wee bit of honest reporting, is that to much to ask. Unfortunately those at the BBC take a nose bleed at the slightest mention of SNP/good its a sackable offence you know :-).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Both of the Tory ‘distracting’ items you mention were given repeated coverage on GMS, too. In these inserts there were counterarguments put to the Tory propaganda, but these were after the Tories had been allowed an extended period first.
And, of course, Mr Alex Cole-Hamilton was allowed time to say his piece about the ‘obsession’.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Tweeted this to @BBC_HavsYourSay ,
Awaiting their response. (Most definitely not holding my breath!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heard on Radio 4 that Scotland funds personal care 43% more per person than England–£445 to £310.
Given the fuss BBC Scotland made the other day about care package delays, I fully expected to see this stat on the 1.30pm (its always 5 minutes late) news.
Needless to say, there was NO MENTION!
For the BBC in Scotland, only bad news is news.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aye it was on the BBC web pages but stated that the English were “short changed on care funding”. No acknowledgement that it is a choice made by the Scottish Government to allocate adequate money for the social care and a choice NOT made by the government in England.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed, this was one of the few pieces of legislation Mr Henry McLeish managed to get on to the statute book during his short tenure as FM. He was fiercely opposed by his own party and, in all probability, this ‘disloyalty’ led to the leaking of the information about rental earnings on his constituency office which led to his resignation. Personally, I think he was entirely innocent and he made no personal gains. I think the fingerprints of his near neighbour in Fife, Bodger Broon were over it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aye it was on the BBC web pages but stated that the English were “short changed on care funding”. No acknowledgement that it is a choice made by the Scottish Government to allocate adequate money for the social care and a choice NOT made by the government in England.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The beeb Health page (and main News page) carry this piece on the different priorities given to Social Care spending in Scotland and Wales as compared to England – strangely I couldn’t see it carried on the beeb Scotland page: Link and snippets below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48438132
Health
English ‘short-changed on care funding’
By Nick Triggle Health correspondent
Public spending on care for the elderly and disabled is much higher in Scotland and Wales than England, figures show.
In England, £310 per person is spent each year on services such as care homes and home help for daily tasks such as washing and dressing.
But in Scotland, £445 is spent – 43% more than in England – and in Wales it is £414 – 33% more.
The analysis has been produced by the Health Foundation using official spending and population data.
The think-tank said the differences were “huge” and had a major impact on the care that could be provided by councils to these vulnerable groups.
Public spending per head tends to be higher in other parts of the UK than it is in England.
Economies of scale and the rural nature of Wales and Scotland are key drivers for this.
But the analysis suggests what is happening with care spending far outstrips this.
For example, health spending in Scotland is just 8% a year more than it is in England – five times less than the difference in care funding.
Anita Charlesworth, from the Health Foundation, said: “While there are differences in the populations and needs of the UK countries, this cannot possibly account for the huge differences in per head spending on publicly-funded social care.
“Considering the scale of the problem in England, it is perhaps unsurprising that the long-delayed social care green paper is still ‘forthcoming’.
“One reason governments have struggled is that any solution is expensive. But transformation is now, more than ever, needed to make the social care system fair and sustainable in the future.”
The analysis shows spending per head fell by a tenth once inflation was taken into account between 2010-11 and 2016-17 in England.
Over the six-year period spending had also fallen in Scotland and Wales, although not by as much.
In all parts of the UK, care is means-tested with people expected to contribute towards the cost of their care.
But since devolution, differences have emerged in approaches to care.
LikeLike
Hi Gavin – clearly great minds think alike (or something)!!
LikeLike
Hi Ludo–agreed.
Sadly the BEEB seem to be painting this as a resource “grab” by Scotland/Wales, while poor little England gets shafted. Nothing about differing allocation of funding from the three governments.
The BBC has never been the same since Cameron gave its Chairman a wee pep talk after he won in 2016—this after Cameron threatened to sell the BBC off, BEFORE the election.
The BBC now goes soft on the Tories and promotes British nationalism/Unionism endlessly.
LikeLike