Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) which is back this year and hosted by Edinburgh International Festival, opens on Friday 18 August 2023 with the world premiere of Silent Roar, the debut feature from Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington. Silent Roar is a teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
The film is the debut feature from BAFTA nominated Scottish writer and director Johnny Barrington and produced by Scottish producer Chris Young and includes a cast of emerging talent includes Louis McCartney, and rising star Ella Lily Hyland soon to be seen Amazon Prime’s Fifteen Love. The film’s score is created by award-winning composer Hannah Peel (Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, The Midwich Cuckoos)
Silent Roarstars newcomer Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions…
Silent Roar is the first feature film from BAFTA-nominated writer and director Johnny Barrington, and has been produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (The Inbetweeners Movie). The film was shot in the beautiful surroundings of Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, and draws inspiration from Barrington’s teenage years on the Isle of Skye.
The cast includes Louis McCartney (Hope Street), Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen Love), Mark Lockyer (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Fiona Bell (The Nest, Shetland), Victoria Balnaves (Trust Me), Anders Hayward (Looted) and Chinenye Ezeudu (Sex Education).
Hosted by Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, Edinburgh International Film Festival will present a bold, hand-picked programme celebrating the work of exceptional local and global filmmakers and ensuring the flame of EIFF burns bright for future generations of passionate cinema fans.
Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from Friday 18 to Wednesday 23 August 2023.
Scotland’s notional deficit has continued to fall at a faster pace than the UK’s, driven by record energy sector revenues and strong growth in the tax take, figures for the 2022-23 financial year show.
Total revenue for Scotland increased by 20.7% (£15 billion) compared with 11.3% for the UK as a whole. This includes a £1.9 billion increase in revenue from Scottish income tax and £6.9 billion increase in North Sea revenue. These increases have partially been offset by a rise in spending on cost of living measures and interest payments on UK Government debt.
To mark publication of the 30th Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) statistics, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, Neil Gray, visited the University of Glasgow’s Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre to learn about the significant economic potential of quantum technology to Scotland’s economy. Recent research has suggested the sector could be worth £1 billion to Scotland by 2030.
Mr Gray said: “I am pleased that Scotland’s finances are improving at a faster rate than the UK as a whole, with revenue driven by Scotland’s progressive approach to income tax and our vibrant energy sector.
“While the record revenues from the North Sea show the extent that the UK continues to benefit from Scotland’s natural wealth, these statistics do not reflect the full benefits of the green economy, with hundreds of millions of pounds in revenue not yet captured.
“It is important to remember that GERS reflects the current constitutional position, with 41% of public expenditure and 64% of tax revenue the responsibility of the UK Government. Indeed, a full £1 billion of our deficit is the direct result of the UK Government’s mismanagement of the public finances.
“An independent Scotland would have the powers to make different choices, with different budgetary results, to best serve Scotland’s interests.
“While we are bound to the UK’s economic model and do not hold all the financial levers needed, we will continue to use all the powers we do have to grow a green wellbeing economy, while making the case that we need independence to enable Scotland to match the economic success of our European neighbours.
“I’m grateful to the University of Glasgow for showing me their world-leading quantum technology research, which could be worth £1 billion to our economy within seven years, highlighting just how bright Scotland’s future could be outside of the UK.”
Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland figures ‘show Scotland benefits from being part of a strong United Kingdom with a sharing and pooling of resources’
The Scottish Government has published their annual Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland report, which shows the difference between total revenue and total public sector spending in Scotland.
The figures for 2022-2023 showed that people in Scotland are continuing to benefit from levels of public spending substantially above the United Kingdom average.
And even in a year of exceptional North Sea Revenues, Scotland’s deficit is still more than £19 billion, demonstrating how the country continues to benefit from being part of a strong United Kingdom, with the vital pooling and sharing of resources that the Union brings.
Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “The Scottish Government’s own figures show yet again how people in Scotland benefit hugely from being part of a strong United Kingdom.
“Scotland’s deficit is more than £19billion – even in a year of exceptional North Sea Revenues. Without oil and gas, that figure soars to more than £28billion.
“People in Scotland benefit to the tune of £1,521 per person thanks to higher levels of public spending.
“As we face cost of living pressures and unprecedented global challenges it is clear Scotland is better off as part of a strong United Kingdom.”
GERS 2023 – Uptick in oil revenues narrows the gap between Scottish and UK Deficit
Fraser of Allander Institute’s MAIRI SPOWAGE, JOAO SOUSA and CIARA CRUMMEY unpick the latest statistics:
The revenues raised from Scotland, from both devolved and reserved taxation;
Public expenditure for and on behalf of Scotland, again for both devolved and reserved expenditure;
The difference between these two figures, which is called in the publication the “net fiscal balance” – but as you may well hear colloquially referred to as the “deficit”.
These statistics form the backdrop to a key battleground in the constitutional debate, particularly when it is focussed on the fiscal sustainability of an independent Scotland and what different choices Scotland could make in terms of taxation and spending.
So what do the latest statistics show?
The latest figures show that the net fiscal balance for 2022-23 was -£19.1 bn, which represents -9.0% of GDP. This is a fall from the 2021-22 figure of -12.8% of GDP and is down significantly from 2020-21 which was inflated hugely by COVID-related spending.
The comparable UK figure for 2022-23 is -5.2% of GDP. The UK figure is unchanged from 2021-22. The reason for the differential trend for Scotland and the UK as a whole has been driven by North Sea revenue, which contributed £9.4 billion to Scottish revenue in 2022-23.
Chart 1: Scottish and UK net fiscal balance, 1998-99 to 2022-23
Source: Scottish Government
In this year of record North Sea revenue (at least in cash terms), the difference between the Scottish and UK deficit is driven by the expenditure side of the net fiscal balance equation.
Chart 2: Spending and revenue per head, Scotland-UK, 1998-99 to 2022-23
Source: Scottish Government
On revenues, including the North Sea, Scotland raised £696 more per head than the UK, whilst on expenditure, Scotland spent £2,217 more per head than the UK average.
So what do these statistics really tell us?
These statistics reflect the situation of Scotland as part of the current constitutional situation. That is, Scotland as a devolved government as part of the UK. The majority of spending that is carried out to deliver services for the people of Scotland are provided by devolved government (either Scottish Government or Local Government).
To a certain extent therefore, the higher per head spending levels are driven by the way that the funding for devolved services is calculated through the Barnett formula. Add on top of that the higher than population share of reserved social security expenditure, and we have identified the two main reasons for higher public expenditure in Scotland.
Let’s go over some of the main points that may come up today when folks are analysing these statistics.
Scotland isn’t unusual in the UK in running a negative net fiscal balance
This is absolutely right. ONS produce figures for all regions and nations of the UK, and these have shown consistently (in normal years, so excluding COVID times) that outside of London and surrounding areas, most parts of the UK are estimated to raise less revenue than is spent on their behalf.
In 2021, we discussed the differences between parts of the UK in an episode of BBC Radio 4’s More or Less programme.
The Scottish Government doesn’t have a deficit as it has to run a balanced budget
This statement isn’t quite true (the SG now has limited capital borrowing powers and resource borrowing powers to cover forecast error). The Scottish Government’s Budget is funded through the Barnett determined Block Grant, with some adjustments to reflect the devolution of taxes and social security responsibilities (most significantly, income tax).
The SG do not have the flexibility to borrow for discretionary resource spending.
However, to focus on this around the publication of GERS somewhat misses the point of the publication. It looks at money spent on services for the benefit of Scotland, whoever spends it, and compares that to taxes raised, whoever collects them. As touched on above, the Barnett-determined block grant funds services at a higher level per head in Scotland than in England in aggregate.
What does this tell us about independence?
Setting aside the noise that will no doubt accompany GERS today, there are essentially two key issues, that need to be considered together.
GERS takes the current constitutional settlement as given. If the very purpose of independence is to take different choices about the type of economy and society that we live in, then it is possible that these a set of accounts based upon the world today could look different, over the long term, in an independent Scotland.
That said, GERS does provide an accurate picture of where Scotland is in 2023. In doing so it sets the starting point for a discussion about the immediate choices, opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed by those advocating new fiscal arrangements. And here the challenge is stark, with a likely deficit far in excess of the UK as a whole, other comparable countries or that which is deemed to be sustainable in the long-term. It is not enough to say ‘everything will be fine’ or ‘look at this country, they can run a sensible fiscal balance so why can’t Scotland?’. Concrete proposals and ideas are needed.
And please guys… dodge the myths!
We have produced a detailed guide to GERS which goes through the background of the publication and all of the main issues around its production, including some of the odd theories that emerge around it. A few years ago, we also produced a podcast which you can enjoy at your leisure.
In summary though, to go through the main claims usually made about GERS:
GERS is an accredited National Statistics produced by statisticians in the Scottish Government (so is not produced by the UK Government) and is a serious attempt to understand the key fiscal facts under the current constitutional arrangement
Some people look to discredit the veracity of GERS because it relies – in part – on estimation. Estimation is a part of all economic statistics and is not a reason to dismiss the figures as “made up”.
Will the numbers change if you make different reasonable assumptions about the bits of GERS that are estimated? In short, not to any great extent.
If you have any more questions about how revenues and spending are compiled in GERS, the SG publish a very helpful FAQs page, including dealing with issues around company headquarters and the whisky industry.
Look out for more analysis
It’ll be interesting to see the coverage of these statistics today and the talking points that are generated given where we are in the constitutional debate.
If you have any questions about GERS for us, then why not get in touch? Submit them to fraser@strath.ac.uk and we’ll try to cover them in our weekly update later this week!
We’ll be taking a wander around Leith Links again this evening (Thursday 17th) from 6pm til 7pm. Come and join us. The weather looks to be dry and sunny. Gentle exercise, conversation, and fresh air.
Agreement will see largest Junior Doctor pay investment for 20 years
A record 12.4% pay increase for junior doctors and dentists in training for 2023–24 has been accepted British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland members.
Together with the pay raise of 4.5% awarded in 2022–23, this amounts to a total increase of 17.5% over two years.
The deal also includes a commitment to future years pay, contract and pay bargaining modernisation and it brings to an end the threat of industrial action.
Health Secretary Michael Matheson said: “I am very pleased that BMA members have overwhelmingly voted to accept this record pay deal for Junior Doctors. This is the single biggest investment in Junior Doctor pay since devolution, and maintains our commitment to make Scotland the best place in the UK for Junior Doctors to work and train.
“Due to the meaningful engagement we have had with trade unions, we have avoided any industrial action in Scotland – the only part of the UK to avoid NHS strikes.
“We will now implement this pay uplift, and will work with BMA to take forward the other aspects of the deal including contract and pay bargaining reform.”
This pay deal represents a £61.3 million investment in Junior Doctor pay – the largest in the last 20 years and the best offer in the UK – and means a doctor at the beginning of their career would receive a salary increase of £3,429 in 2023–24.
For those at the end of their training the rise would be £7,111 over the same period.
Next steps to ensure sustainable fisheries in Scotland
Proposals to introduce electronic tracking and monitoring technology for small fishing vessels will be consulted on as part of package of new fisheries measures announced this week.
The consultation proposes that vessel tracking devices will be required by Scottish commercial fishing vessels under 12 metres in length wherever they operate, and by all vessels of the that size when they operate in Scottish waters. It also asks whether Remote Electric Monitoring systems (REM) – which are more sophisticated than vessel tracking – should be required on some inshore vessels.
Rolling out such technology across Scotland’s fishing fleet would show that vessels are operating sustainably and within the law, increasing consumer confidence in Scottish seafood. They would also provide valuable data which would help fisheries to be managed more sustainably and informing marine planning, benefiting Scotland’s fishing industry and the marine environment.
Environment Minister Gillian Martin, who met with fishing industry representatives in Peterhead this week, said: “These proposals will support the sustainable management and development of our marine environment – the next step in delivering a blue economy that benefits our communities, economy and environment.
“I encourage the inshore sector and others with an interest to continue to engage with us and to take part in the consultation on vessel monitoring.
“Government, industry and communities all have a shared interest and commitment to a healthy marine environment. Open dialogue and constructive working of the sort that has helped to develop these proposals will ensure that we benefit from the expertise of the fishing industry. Cooperation and co-management will ensure that both Scotland’s fishing industry and our marine environment can thrive sustainably.”
The Scottish Government has also published the outcome of two consultations:
Remote Electric Monitoring (REM) will become mandatory on large pelagic vessels and all scallop dredge vessels in Scottish waters. Further rollout of REM will be considering alongside the Future Catching Policy development.
Future Catching Policy will take concrete action to increase the sustainability of our fishing activity, supporting fishers to avoid catching fish and other sensitive marine species which they don’t want to land, or catch in the first place
These announcements represent the next steps in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy – which has been developed in partnership with the fishing industry and other stakeholders. The package of measures within the Strategy helps place Scotland in a leading international position to deliver sustainable fishing.
The inshore vessel tracking and monitoring consultation is open until 7 November 2023 and can be completed on the Scottish Government consultation hub.
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Vintage Vibes supports people over 60 in Edinburgh who are feeling lonely or isolated, matching them with like-minded volunteers to form friendships and to start enjoying life again!
If you can spare an hour a week to change someone’s world, send us a DM or visit our website at vintagevibes.org.uk for details.
Britain’s first ever thoroughbred census launched to help improve traceability of former racehorses after they retire from the sport
Census to be carried out by equine research experts at Hartpury University
All owners of former racehorses will be encouraged to complete and submit the census between 28 June – 31 December 2023
Data will help build a wealth of intelligence on the lives former racehorses go on to lead
Census will help fill an identified gap in data due to low levels of equine identification document (passport) updates being undertaken once thoroughbreds go into private ownership
Initiative part of British Racing’s Horse Welfare Board’s five-year welfare strategy ‘A Life Well Lived’ and its commitment to improve traceability for all horses bred for racing
Equestrian communities to be asked to share the census far and wide to encourage participation
British Racing’s Horse Welfare Board is launching the first ever thoroughbred census in Great Britain, in collaboration with research experts at Hartpury University.
All owners of former racehorses are being asked to submit a completed census between 28 June – 31 December 2023. The census will help build an improved thoroughbred data bank about former racehorses and the lives they go on to lead.
The project’s primary objective is to help improve traceability of thoroughbreds after they have been retired from racing.
With improved data, British Racing and its aftercare charity, Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), can better support owners with access to educational resources and routes to compete if desired, as well as continue to build informed and helpful communities.
Improved data at this stage of a thoroughbred’s life can also help the Horse Welfare Board and RoR improve and adapt welfare initiatives and will, most importantly, enable fast and effective contact in the event of an equine disease outbreak.
The census will request information on each horse’s equine identification document (passport) number, microchip number, age, current residence, second career, and more to provide a robust view of the 2023 British retired racehorse population.
The six-month census has been launched in partnership with Retraining of Racehorses (RoR), British Racing’s official aftercare charity, funded by the Racing Foundation, and is supported by World Horse Welfare and Weatherbys General Stud Book.
Helena Flynn, Programme Director, Horse Welfare Board, said: “Improving the traceability of thoroughbreds after they retire from racing is a fundamental part of the Horse Welfare Board’s five-year welfare strategy. The launch of this census is a significant project to help increase the depth, quality, and volume of data about thoroughbreds at this important stage of their lives.
“Just as importantly, this campaign will help us talk about responsible ownership and the critical part every thoroughbred owner plays in ensuring their equine identification document (passport) is up to date. We are delighted to be working with Hartpury University on the census and hope that between us we can encourage as many owners as possible to participate.”
Jane Williams, Head of Research at Hartpury University, added: “We’re delighted to be part of this proactive initiative as Hartpury is committed to supporting the equine sector to improve the quality of life of the horses’ we all love.
“The census will present an opportunity to understand more about the lifetime care of thoroughbreds, generate evidence to safeguard against future disease outbreaks, and showcase the huge benefits thoroughbreds bring to so many people.”
The primary source of traceability for all horses in Great Britain is the equine identification document (passport), which new owners of any horse are required to update within 30 days of new ownership.
During their racing careers this information is meticulously maintained with the Weatherbys General Stud Book via breeders, owners, and trainers. However, data for former racehorses reduces significantly when they go into private ownership after their first step out of racing, with general equine identification document (passport) compliance at an average of 20% across the equestrian world.
The reasons for this are presumed to be a lack of understanding of the importance of this step, confusion on costs, the desire to hold on to the document after a horse has died and general apathy to engage in the process.
As a result, an additional objective of the census will be to communicate to private owners and encourage them to take action, to check their horse’s equine identification document (passport) and if needed, to get it updated. At the same time, owners of horses who were registered with a licenced British trainer in their past will be encouraged to register their horse for free with Retraining of Racehorses (RoR).
David Catlow, Managing Director, Retraining of Racehorses, added: “We are pleased to be teaming up with the Horse Welfare Board and Hartpury University to encourage owners of former racehorses to participate in the census survey.
“The ‘social licence’ for the use of horses in sport is under increasing scrutiny and what happens to former racehorses after they retire from racing is identified as a particular concern. This is a significant step towards ensuring thoroughbreds enjoy a healthy and caring existence during their lifetimes and will provide the racing industry with the relevant data to guide future decisions”.
RoR is a thriving community which provides thoroughbred owners with access to education, advice, and an established series of events to support the ongoing healthy, happy lives of former racehorses. By registering horses with RoR’s free membership option, owners can help racing ensure future traceability through its annual check on their horse’s status.
Roly Owers OBE, CEO, World Horse Welfare, said: “This is an excellent initiative along the road of improving the traceability for all thoroughbreds.
“Full traceability lasts a lifetime as a horse bred for racing will always be a racehorse in the eyes of the public, and they rightly hold the industry responsible for them throughout their lives. There really is a collective responsibility to make this work towards the much needed goal of full traceability, both for the sake of the horses and the reputation of the industry.”
The 2023 Thoroughbred Census can be completed online HERE , as well as at key equine events throughout the rest of the year, before closing on 31 December 2023.
Completion of the census is not compulsory, but owners are strongly encouraged to join the community and participate. Full results will be reported during the first quarter of 2024.
Suitable for mums (or grans) who live in the area with their little ones, aged 6 months up to 3 years.
We will cover topics such as weaning, introducing first foods or new foods, introducing allergens, and advice on fussy eaters. Little ones will also get the chance to try all sorts of delicious and nutritious foods.
This will be a four-week closed group so booking is essential. We also ask that you can come to all 4 sessions.
