Reading Time: 4 minutes Next week, at the start of the new financial year, Scotland’s 610,000 social housing tenants will begin paying a new rent for their home. Over
Month: March 2018
Scottish Income Tax: how different is it to the rest of the UK?
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Financial Scrutiny Unit (FSU) is often asked what the difference is between income tax in Scotland and in the rest of the UK, especially
The Scottish Government’s legal aid Review
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Scottish Government’s independent Review of legal aid reported at the end of February. It advocates for an improved and simplified system, with the user
Drop-out and returns: UK students at Scottish universities
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is the second blog about students dropping out of university. The first blog considered statistics published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on
Drop-out rates: UK students at Scottish universities
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes annual statistics on the non-continuation (“drop-out”) rate among first degree students at higher education institutions (HEIs) across the
The new General Medical Services (GMS) (GP) Contract: so what will be different?
Reading Time: 4 minutes This post comes as the Health and Sport Committee are presented with the Regulations that bring in the new GMS (General Medical Services) contract. The
Guest blog – Data is everywhere
Reading Time: 4 minutes As with all guest blogs on SPICe Spotlight, what follows are the views of the author, Brian Hills, Head of Data at The Data Lab
Apples and oranges? Why it’s difficult to compare Scottish and English local government funding
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Financial Scrutiny Unit is often asked to make Scotland vs England comparisons on various financial measures. When it comes to local government, comparing the
Electoral Reform
Reading Time: < 1 minute As the 2016 joint interim report on electoral law produced by the Law Commissions in the UK showed, the legislation governing elections is extremely complicated and
Financial Transactions: ‘real’ money?
Reading Time: 3 minutes In recent years, the Scottish Government has received substantial sums from the UK Government known as ‘Financial Transactions’ (FTs). To date, the Scottish Government has