Talking-up Scotland

In Energy Voice yesterday, based on an Oil & Gas UK report, we read that between 12 and 16 new fields will be developed in 2018 alone. Between 2015 and 2017, an average of only 3 new fields were developed each year. Not surprisingly Energy Voice were very positive about this trend saying:

‘The fresh investment will unlock around £5billion and yield more than 450million barrels of oil and gas in the long run, Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) said in its 2018 Business Outlook. Just nine new field developments were given the go-ahead from 2015-17, according to OGUK.’

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/166510/up-to-16-new-projects-to-get-green-light-in-reshaped-north-sea/

Somehow, the Scotsman was able to headline:

‘North Sea oil and gas outlook remains ‘uncertain’’

And to go on to say:

‘But the report highlighted a “serious concern” about the lack of drilling in the North Sea, with 94 wells started in 2017, the lowest number since 1973.’

https://www.scotsman.com/business/companies/energy/north-sea-oil-and-gas-outlook-remains-uncertain-1-4708884

Somehow, the Scotsman was able to read the same Oil & Gas UK report as had Energy Voice, miss the positive trend for 2018, and come to a pessimistic view of the future.

This report from the Scotsman is a lone voice, and luckily one with a shrinking readership, when you read the considerable number of predictions of a rich and sustainable future for Scotland’s oil and gas industry already reported here:

20 years till peak demand for Scotland’s oil, time to get our share?

Billions to flow to UK Treasury as Scottish oil prices reach nearly $65 per barrel

Survey of oil industry chiefs shows confidence in North Sea doubling in one year

Scottish oil price rises are unstoppable as hedge funds pile in to invest and put ‘the oil crash behind us.’ Also, Sterling’s surge is being fuelled by oil, not a Brexit bounce .

(c) offshoreenergytoday

From Energy Voice today:

‘North Sea oil companies will commit to developing between 12 and 16 new fields in 2018, more than in the last three years put together, a new report said. The fresh investment will unlock around £5billion and yield more than 450million barrels of oil and gas in the long run, Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) said in its 2018 Business Outlook. Just nine new field developments were given the go-ahead from 2015-17, according to OGUK, whose chief executive, Deirdre Michie, said the sector had become “leaner and more efficient” during the downturn.’

https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/166510/up-to-16-new-projects-to-get-green-light-in-reshaped-north-sea/

I haven’t written much recently on the recovery of the Scottish oil and gas industry. See these for a reminder that the above is not a one-off:

20 years till peak demand for Scotland’s oil, time to get our share?

Billions to flow to UK Treasury as Scottish oil prices reach nearly $65 per barrel

Survey of oil industry chiefs shows confidence in North Sea doubling in one year

Scottish oil price rises are unstoppable as hedge funds pile in to invest and put ‘the oil crash behind us.’ Also, Sterling’s surge is being fuelled by oil, not a Brexit bounce .

 

As the UK Tories tie themselves in knots over Brexit and plead for special deals for the City of London, for Ireland, for Gibraltar and UK car manufacturing, they throw the fist sacrifice to the EU – Scotland’s fishing fleet.

Duped into voting No in 2014, voting Yes for Brexit and voting Tory last year, the owners of the Scottish fleet and their workers are slapped in the face with a wet haddock as the Tories fail to protect UK fishing waters from incursions by the massive fleets from Spain and France.

Anyone with a brain bigger than the average fish could have seen this coming. The fishing industry is very small economically compared to the revenues from City of London trade in financial services or UK car manufacturing. It’s now clear that the UK taxpayer will meet the full cost of access to European markets for these two. We are yet to see just how much Brexiteers will have to sacrifice to preserve soft borders for Ireland and Gibraltar but it is clear that voting No in 2014 has convinced the Tories that the Scots can be exploited with no fear of them seceding. The Scottish Tories have threated to revolt on this issue, but I’ll believe that when I see it. The Scottish media, including BBC Scotland, have also talked tough, for now, in their headlines:

https://stv.tv/news/scotland/1410697-news-stand-fishing-industry-betrayed-in-brexit-talks/

https://stv.tv/news/politics/1410678-scots-tory-mp-compares-brexit-fishing-deal-to-cold-sick/

 Brexit: EU implementation agreement ‘betrays’ UK fishermen

Brexit deal sparks furious row over Scotland’s fishing industry

According to the Scotsman:

‘The announcement sparked a furious row between Scottish Tories and Downing Street, with Ruth Davidson warning that her MPs could vote against the final Brexit deal unless it contains firm guarantees that the UK will take full control of fishing rights in its waters after 2020. One Scottish Conservative MP compared the transition deal to a “pint of cold sick”.’

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/brexit-deal-sparks-furious-row-over-scotland-s-fishing-industry-1-4708728

This alleged show of anger fills me with little confidence that they’ll even abstain never mind vote against the bill. Buying their support will cost Theresa far less than the DUP did.

Once we see the costs of the special deals for real priorities like the city of London and Nissan, and the Scottish fishing fleet sails up the Thames, saltires flying, surely enough No voters will get the message and turn?

 

(c) planetradio.co.uk

From edie.NET on 16^th February:

‘Scotland is currently lit by more than 900,000 street lights, costing local authorities £41m a year in electricity charges. These lamps also release 200,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. Total investment from Scotland’s councils in LEDs is predicted to reach £337m by 2021 and is forecast to deliver energy and maintenance cost savings of £1.2bn and save 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 over the next 20 years.’

https://www.edie.net/news/6/Scotland-spends-to-save-with-revamped-LED-streets-initiative/

It’s not clear from the report, and I can’t find any evidence of just how much of that £337 million will come from Scottish Government central funds, but my experience of tracing the funds used for affordable house building has been that the central funds have often been the greater part despite getting little credit in the reporting.

(c) westcoastplacer.com

I’ve reported several times before, on the expertise of Scottish scientists and engineers playing a major role beyond the North Sea:

Scottish Subsea expertise to make billions raising World War 1 and 2 wreck cargoes

Scotland’s sub-sea expertise earns £15 million research fund to work with Japan

Scotland’s tidal energy expertise to help poor communities in South-East Asia

And, now, from Energy Voice today:

 ‘Scottish offshore survey experts have helped to create a complete digital map of the world’s ocean floor. Working remotely from a control centre in Aberdeen, the Fugro team collected data covering nearly 13, 500 square miles of Atlantic Ocean seabed. The exercise was part of a mammoth project aimed at producing a definitive high resolution bathymetric map – the equivalent of land topography – of the world’s oceans and seas by 2030.’

Until now, only 20% of the world’s ocean floor had been mapped. It is hoped that this new data will lead to better, more-informed, decision-making about developments on and above the world’s ocean floor.

https://www.energyvoice.com/other-news/166456/scottish-experts-help-create-digital-map-of-worlds-ocean-floor/

A National Union of Students survey was headlined today as:

‘A third of UK Muslims report abuse or crime while studying’

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/19/a-third-of-uk-muslims-report-abuse-or-while-studying

The survey did include Scottish respondents but, as you might expect, there is more to be said about it than the Guardian noted.

First it was a small and ‘self-selecting’ sample whereby only 578 responses were gathered despite the campaign offering a prize draw of £25 to £150 to ‘encourage responses.’

https://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/the-experience-of-muslim-students-in-2017-18

So, the methodology suggests quite severe limitations on the usefulness of the findings.

If, however, we accept, as did the Guardian, that the study does have some value as an rough indicator of a problem in UK higher education, then the geographical breakdown of the responses is of interest to us in Scotland.

Only 3% or 17 of the respondents, were based at Scottish Universities. Scotland has 7.7% of the UK population. I appreciate that, to be more accurate, I would need to know what percentage of all Scottish and UK HE students report as Muslims, but this very low response level, despite a prize being offered, suggests that the problem of abuse or crime against Muslim students may be less prevalent in Scottish universities.

Perhaps strengthening the case, we already know that hate crime is falling in Scotland as it climbs elsewhere in the UK. See:

Racial hate crimes increase by 33% in England & Wales while falling by 10% in Scotland: Who says we’re not different?

Off course, we also know that violent crime in Scottish university cities is significantly lower than in any other UK university cities, in the first place, so a lower level of crime or abuse against Muslim students may be just part of that wider pattern:

Scotland’s university cities by far the safest places to send your children

Inconclusive, I know, but still good news?

In the Scotsman yesterday, we read the headline:

‘Scots doctors driven abroad by bullying and lack of work-life balance’

However, in the article below, we find the research sample is only 17 from an unspecified total. I can’t actually find out how many ‘foundation year two doctors’ there are but there are 140 000 staff in NHS Scotland and there more than 5 000, even, of that presumably relatively rare breed, the consultants. In the absence of any context provided by the ‘researcher’, we must assume this tiny group of student doctors, saying they plan to leave, may have little representativeness of the wider population. Only 17 of virtually any NHS staffing category is most unlikely to be representative.

As for the bullying implied in the headline, see this detail:

‘Loneliness at work, in particular a lack of contact with other doctors, was an issue for some, as was bullying.  And Research author Dr Samantha Smith said negative reasons for leaving such as bullying were “very concerning”. “Even if just one person is experiencing bullying in the workplace that is a bad sign and my own experience in the NHS suggests that bullying does exist there,” she said.’

One? Does Dr Smith really think one case of self-reported bullying is enough to suggest a wider problem in a larger NHS staffing group? Also, does she really think her own personal subjective experience is valid data for a credible research study? Is she an MD (undergraduate) doctor or a PhD doctor who might know something about research methods?

Further, who is the researcher? Who is she employed by? Where was the report published? We find none of this in the Scotsman report and when I look for the author, I find only the Scotsman article to confidently connect with her. Needless to say, there are many Dr Samantha Smith’s including one at the Met Office, one at BUPA, a BBC South-West editor and one in Forensic Chemistry at Derby University but none doing research into healthcare that I can find. Wait a minute, is she Sarah Smith’s daughter?

Seemingly unsatisfied with the damage attempted, the Scotsman author drags in these concerns to further worry the readers:

‘The study has been published amid concern over consultant and GP shortages in Scotland.’

I’ve dealt with this before but here it is again:

As of September 2017, there were 5 189.8 consultants working in NHS Scotland. Thought there are still 430.5 vacancies still to be filled, the shortage fell in the last quarter by 9.6% and the annual overall number of consultants rose by 3.5%. Vacancy rates for consultants are also down from 8.3% in 2016 to 7.5% in 2017. More strikingly, consultant numbers have risen by 43.1% under the current government! To put that in context, overall NHS Scotland staffing has risen by 25.4% in the ten years of SNP administration.Also, in 2017, the number of specialists in intensive care increased by 27.5% and the number of specialists in acute internal medicine increased by 49.2%!

https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health%2DTopics/Workforce/Publications/data-tables2017.asp

https://news.gov.scot/news/latest-nhs-workforce-statistics

as for GP shortages, just see:

‘Scotland has more GPs per head of population than any other part of the UK, newly released statistics show’

Already the best staffed and least stressed in the UK, Scottish GPs to get better contracts

New Scottish GP contract rated far superior, by BMA, to English equivalent as Scottish GP numbers hold steady and NHS England loses 1 000 in one year!

Overall, the Scotsman piece rivals their worst for lack of required details, sources and context. I know I keep using this final dig but, BA Journalism, year 1, week 1, day 1, writing workshop activity – E minus, see me after class.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/health/scots-doctors-driven-abroad-by-bullying-and-lack-of-work-life-balance-1-4707698

Naked propaganda and pretty rich, when you read these recent headlines in the English press:

‘Patient safety hit by lack of staff, warn 80% of NHS workers’

‘NHS faces year-round crisis over lack of social care, says council chief’

‘NHS crisis worse than last year as patient care deteriorates, doctors say’

I could go on, and on and……………………

From Insider today:

‘Growth follows £11.5m of investment into the sector by Scottish Enterprise since 2011. Turnover in the Scottish computer games sector has soared almost £80m during the past five years, according to new data. The number of video games companies in Scotland has trebled from 35 in 2011 to 105 in 2017, with the combined turnover increasing from £36.9m in 2011 to £115.7m by 2015, figures released by the SNP show. The party said support from government body Scottish Enterprise has underpinned the growth in the sector. In an answer to a parliamentary question submitted by SNP MSP Ash Denham, Fiona Hyslop said Scottish Enterprise had invested £11.5m in 38 video game companies over the five years since 2011.’

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/computer-games-turnover-surges-number-12200882

The role of Scotland’s universities has also been key to this success. See:

Abertay University Number 1 in Europe for computer games degrees.

 

(c) americanscottishfoundation.com

From Insider yesterday:

‘For the first time in four years, the most visited attractions outside London were in Scotland. Scotland’s top visitor attractions have “outperformed” the rest of the UK for the sixth year running, according to analysis. The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) found that Scotland’s tourist destinations had a “record-setting” 2017, with a 13.9 per cent increase in numbers through the doors compared to the previous year. This was up against the 7.3 per cent boost in visitor numbers recorded for sites across the UK as a whole.’

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-visitor-attractions-post-record-12198809

We’ve seen this coming for some time now with these earlier reports:

‘Outlander links see visitors to historic sites soaring’

Tourism spending in Scotland surges ahead of UK figure

And forecasts for 2018 are highly optimistic. See:

Whisky tourism boom expected to add to record year for Scottish tourism in 2018

From Education Business yesterday:

‘Three-quarters of school heads believe the attainment gap has started to close and almost all expect progress in the next five years as a result of national attainment funding, new research has shown. An evaluation has been published on the first two years of the Attainment Scotland Fund, when £52 million was targeted at schools in the most deprived areas.’

The survey also found that 78% of head teachers have already observed improvements in the first year of the extra funding for schools while 97% expect to see further improvements in the next five years.

http://www.educationbusinessuk.net/news/16032018/scotland%E2%80%99s-attainment-gap-closing-thanks-national-fund-heads-say

It’s worth noting that attainment gaps were already smaller in Scotland than in rUK after the first 10 years of SNP government:

Educational attainment gaps much smaller in Scotland than in England after 10 years of SNP government: JRF Poverty Report Extract 6

SNP Government increases teacher numbers to create far superior pupil/teacher ratios and much smaller attainment gaps than in England