Tag: report

A Tale of a Divided Britain

  • New polling for the UPP Foundation sheds light on the public’s domestic priorities following the election
  • People who live in Scotland among the most positive about their local area
  • Access to NHS, cost of housing, and declining high streets are seen as the biggest challenges
  • People are positive about the role universities can play in their area, but awareness is limited, and almost a third of people in Scotland have never visited their local university
  • By over a 4.1 ratio, people from Scotland would prefer that graduates return to their local area after graduation – by far the most in the UK

New polling for the UPP Foundation, the registered charity founded by University Partnerships Programme (UPP), carried out by Public First, shows a stark divide between the various communities in Britain as to how they feel their local areas have fared over their time living there.

At a time when much political attention is being given to how to ‘level up’ areas of the country that have fared less well in recent years, the polling shows a great divide between how different parts of their country see their everyday lives.

A divided Britain – and the view from Scotland

There are sharp differences in how people view their community by the type of area they live in, by their age, and by their financial circumstances.

  • Across Britain, while 30% of people who live in cities say that their local area has improved (39% the same, 25% worse), this figure decreases to 22% of those who live in large towns, and only 17% for those who live in small towns – almost half of the figure for those who live in cities.
  • Across Britain, younger people are the most positive. 31% of those aged 18-24 believe their local area has improved (38% think it is the same, 21% has got worse), but only 26% of 35-44 year olds, and 14% of 55-64 year olds – fewer than half as many seeing improvement as the 18-24s.
  • Scottish residents are among the more positive, with 25% of residents thinking their area has improved during the time they have been living there – and only 18% say it has got worse. (Nationally, respondents in London, Scotland, and Wales are most likely to feel that their local areas had improved in recent years, and those in the East of England, East Midlands, and the South East are the most likely to believe there has been decline.

Priorities for improving their local area

With the new government making bold statements about regional infrastructure, transport links such as HS2, and relocating major civic institutions such as the House of Lords to ‘level up’ across the country, this polling also sheds light on the public’s real priorities for improvement in their area.

When asked about their various priorities for improving their local area, people across Scotland thought that:

  • 56% of people thought that high streets in decline was one of the most important issues in Scotland – the second highest in the UK after the North East
  • 44% of voters stated that access to local NHS services was a key priority
  • 48% said the cost of housing was one of the most important issues

These are going to be important issues to many voters – and their new MPs – in the coming years.

Effectiveness of civic institutions in improving local areas

Although voters across Scotland are familiar with the local civic and other institutions active in their local area, they have typically low levels of satisfaction with how well they are performing to improve a local area.

  • Local MPs / MSPs  – 22% of respondents think they’re doing a good job for their local area
  • Local government / council – 21%
  • Local businesses – 30%
  • Local cultural institutions (museums, galleries etc) – 39%
  • Local universities – 44%
  • Local sports clubs and teams – 34%
  • Local hospitals – 37%
  • Local charities – 37%

The role of universities in improving local areas

Universities have been increasingly focussed on the role they can play in their local area in recent years. Despite the expansion of higher education, the public’s overall awareness of the 19 universities across Scotland – who between them educate over 240,000 undergraduates a year is relatively low, but people are optimistic about their potential.

  • Almost a third of people (31%) have never visited their local university in Scotland
  • 44% of people in Scotland think that the universities are doing a good job to improve the local area
  • 65% of respondents in Scotland want universities to play a greater role in their local economy, and 53% of the public agree that universities can and should be involved in the delivery of government services in a local area.

One of the issues often raised in policy debates is whether it is better that graduates return to their home communities after studying, or whether it is better if they migrate to the UK’s larger cities. This research shows that by an over a 4:1 majority – 50% to 12% – people in Scotland would prefer graduates to return to their local area after studying.

The polling was conducted as part of a project looking at the role of universities, as part of their civic responsibilities, to help address the government’s levelling-up agenda. A final report will be published in the Spring.

Richard Brabner, Director of UPP Foundation said: “Our post-election polling points to a divided Britain and underlines the need for the government to double down on its focus on towns to help ‘level up the country’. But although Scotland has its own government for many areas, the Westminster Parliament and Scottish MPs, and MSPs, will need to think about how to improve Scotland as well as other areas in Britain.

“Organisations embedded in their communities will be key to revitalising areas across Scotland. Local institutions and civil society should be supported by government to deliver this agenda.

“Taking the higher education sector as an example, it is clear that there’s a real appetite amongst universities to support  ‘left behind’ places in their regions, and the public is extremely positive about the role universities could play too.

“However, with a third of people having never visited their local university in Scotland, there is much for our sector to do to engage all parts of our society.

“To grow trust and support, universities should be particularly focussed on demonstrating their public value to areas which do not benefit from having a university on their doorstep.”

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Parents more concerned about their children online

More parents than ever feel children’s online use now carries more risks than benefits, according to Ofcom’s latest research into children’s media and online lives.

Ofcom’s Children’s Media Use and Attitudes report 2019 is based on around 3,500 interviews with children and parents. Children’s Media Lives is a qualitative report looking at how children aged eight to 18 think about and use digital media.

Parents and carers are becoming more likely to trust their children with greater digital independence at a younger age. But far fewer believe the benefits of their child being online outweigh the risks than five years ago. And around two million parents now feel the internet does their children more harm than good.

This comes as children are now more likely to see hateful content online. Half of 12-15s who go online had seen hateful content in the last year, up from a third in 2016.

Parents are increasingly concerned about their child seeing something online which might encourage them to harm themselves. Similarly, two gaming-related problems are increasingly concerning parents: the pressure on their child to make in-game purchases of things like ‘loot boxes’, a virtual item containing rewards; and the possibility of their child being bullied via online games.

However, parents are now more likely than in 2018 to speak to their children about staying safe online, and are nearly twice as likely to go online themselves for support and information about keeping their children safe.

Influencers, online activism and girl gamers

Looking at what today’s children are doing online, Ofcom uncovered three big trends over the past year.

18% of 12-15 year olds use social media to support causes and organisations by sharing or commenting on posts, up from 12% in 2018.

  • The ‘Greta effect’. There is increased online social activism among children. Almost a fifth of 12-15s use social media to express support for causes and organisations by sharing or commenting on posts. One in 10 signed petitions on social media.
  • Rise of the ‘vlogger next door’. While high-profile YouTube stars remain popular, children are now increasingly drawn to so-called ‘micro’ or ‘nano’ influencers. These often have fewer followers, but might be local to a child’s area or share a niche interest.
  • Girl gamers on the increase. Almost half of girls aged five to 15 now play games online – up from 39% in 2018. The proportion of boy gamers is unchanged at 71%, but boys spend twice as long playing online each week as girls.

The proportion of 12-15 year olds who have a social media profile on Facebook (69%), Snapchat (68%), Instagram (66%), WhatsApp (62%), YouTube (47%), Pinterest (13%), TikTok (13%) and Twitch (5%).

Social Media use more fragmented

Older children are using a wider range of social media platforms than ever before. WhatsApp in particular has grown in popularity among 12-15 year-olds since last year, despite having a minimum age limit of 16.

WhatsApp is now used by almost two thirds of older children – up from 43% in 2018. For the first time, it rivals Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram as one of the top social media platforms for older children.

Newer platforms are also becoming more popular. Around one in seven older children use TikTok, which enables users to create and upload lip-sync, comedy and talent videos, while one in 20 older children uses Twitch, a live streaming platform for gamers.

Children’s viewing habits are changing radically too. Almost twice as many children watch streaming content than they did five years ago.

In 2019, fewer children watched traditional broadcast TV than streaming content, with a quarter not watching it at all.

But YouTube is as popular as ever, remaining children’s firm favourite for video ahead of Netflix, Amazon Prime, the BBC and ITV.

The age of digital independence

50% of 10 year-olds own a smartphone in 2019, up from 30% in 2015.

When it comes to going online, children are most likely to use a tablet but mobiles are becoming increasingly popular and children are now as likely to use a mobile as they are a laptop.

This move to mobile is being driven by older children, for whom 10 is becoming the age of digital independence. Between age nine and 10, the proportion of children who own a smartphone doubles to 50% – giving them greater digital freedom as they prepare to move to secondary school. By the time they are 15, almost all children have one.

“Today’s children have never known life without the internet, but two million parents now feel the internet causes them more harm than good, said Yih-Choung Teh, Ofcom’s Strategy and Research Group Director.

“So it’s encouraging that parents, carers and teachers are now having more conversations than ever before with children about online safety. Education and stronger regulation will also help children to embrace their digital independence, while protecting them from the risks”.

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Inside Story: Report raises health concern over home air pollution

There is growing evidence that respiratory problems among children may be exacerbated by indoor air pollution in homes, schools and nurseries, according to a joint report by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians.

The report, informed by a RCPCH commissioned systematic review of 221 studies, presents evidence linking indoor air pollution to a range of childhood health problems including asthma, wheezing, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, and eczema.

Sources of indoor air pollution include smoking, damp, the burning of fossil fuels and wood, dust, chemicals from building materials and furnishings, aerosol sprays, and cleaning products.

The authors warn that indoor air quality tends to be poorer in low quality housing where ventilation may be inadequate or insufficient.

The report recommends that local authorities should have the power to require improvements where air quality fails to meet minimum standards in local authority schools and houses. This should be extended, according to the authors, beyond damp and mould (where powers already exist) to include other pollutants.

The report recommends:

  • Legally binding performance standards for indoor air quality to include ventilation rates, maximum concentration levels for specific pollutants, labelling of materials, and testing of appliances
  • Air quality tests when local authority construction is complete and before the building is signed off
  • Compliance tests after construction stages and assessment of buildings once occupied – this may require ring-fenced resources for local authorities to take enforcement action

The report recommends local authorities should follow the NICE guidelines for ‘Indoor air quality at home’. It warns “exposure to indoor air pollution from cookers, damp, cleaning products and fires can irritate the lungs and exacerbate asthma symptoms.”

It encourages people to ensure rooms are well ventilated by opening windows or using extractor fans, especially when cooking, drying clothes inside, or using sprays, solvents, and paints.

Professor Jonathan Grigg, Paediatric Respiratory Consultant from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said: “We’re finally paying attention to the quality of our outdoor air and this is long overdue.

“It’s harder to get population level data on the quality of indoor air but the evidence in this report paints a worrying picture. Children in the UK spend most of their time indoors, with just 68 minutes spent outside on an average day. Too many of our homes and schools are damp and poorly ventilated – this is adversely affecting the health of children.”

The report says local authorities should provide free indoor air testing for residents. It recommends a national fund to support improvements for low income residents who report issues with ventilation and air quality.

Professor Stephen Holgate, Special Advisor for the Royal College of Physicians said: “Poorer households have fewer choices about where to live and where to go to school. More than three million families live in poor quality housing in the UK.

“Most will not have enough money to make improvements and have no option but to make do with damp, under-ventilated environments. We need to offer support at local authority level – likewise with schools. If we ask our children to spend their childhood days in unhealthy spaces, then we’re storing up problems for future health.”

The report ‘The Inside Story: Health effects of indoor air quality on children and young people’ makes further recommendations:

  • A cross-governmental committee to co-ordinate working in health, environment, education and homes for indoor air quality
  • Advice for the public about the risks of, and how to prevent, poor indoor air quality
  • Investment in high quality research and evidence to support decision making.

The Inside Story: Health effects of indoor air quality on children and young people is jointly published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

It is funded by Allergy UK, Airtopia, Asthma UK, British Heart Foundation, British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Dyson, and the Greater London Authority.

Systemic change needed to address disadvantage in STEM subjects, says Holyrood committee

Disadvantages as a result of deprivation, gender and rurality need to be addressed to improve learning experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to a new Holyrood committee report. Continue reading Systemic change needed to address disadvantage in STEM subjects, says Holyrood committee

State of Hunger: new report reveals desperate struggle to survive

Commissioned by the Trussell Trust and conducted by Heriot-Watt University, State of Hunger 2019 is the most authoritative piece of independent research into hunger in the UK to date. It reveals the average weekly income of people at food banks is only £50 after paying rent, and almost one in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food.

  • 94% of people at food banks are destitute
  • Almost three-quarters of people at food banks live in households affected by ill-health or disability
  • 22% of people at food banks are single parents – compared to 5% in the UK population
  • More than three-quarters of people referred to food banks were in arrears

The first annual report of a three-year long research project, it shows definitively for the first time the three drivers hitting people simultaneously and leaving no protection from hunger and poverty. These drivers are problems with the benefits system, ill health and challenging life experiences, and a lack of local support.

The most common source of income for people at food banks is the benefits system. Problems with benefits are widespread, affecting two-thirds of people at food banks in the last year. Key benefits problems highlighted by the research are: a reduction in the value of benefit payments, being turned down for disability benefits, being sanctioned, and delays in payments like the five week wait for Universal Credit.

Statistical modelling shows the positive impact an increase in the value of benefits could have, estimating that a £1 increase in the weekly value of main benefits could lead to 84 fewer food parcels a year in a typical local authority.

The majority of people referred to food banks also experienced a challenging life event, such as an eviction or household breakdown, in the year prior to using the food bank. Such events may increase living costs and make it harder to maintain paid work or to successfully claim benefits.

Particular groups of people are more likely to need a food bank. One risk factor is being a single mother – 22% of people at food banks are single parents, the majority of which are women.

Almost three-quarters of people at food banks have a health issue, or live with someone who does. More than half of people at food banks live in households affected by a mental health problem, with anxiety and depression the most common.

A quarter of people live in households where someone has a long-term physical condition; one in six has a physical disability; and one in 10 has a learning disability, or live with someone who does. Ill health often increases living costs and may be a barrier to doing paid work.

Amanda explained to researchers that £130 of her £138 fortnightly benefit payment for a health condition goes to paying arrears, leaving her with only £8:

“If I don’t pay my bills, then I’ll get the house taken off me. After paying arrears, I’ve got £8 a fortnight and that’s to pay for gas, electric, water. So it’s just impossible, it really is. I go to bed at night wishing I never wake up in the morning.”

The study also found that the vast majority of people at food banks have either exhausted support from family or friends, were socially isolated, or had family and friends who were not in a financial position to help.

Chief Executive Emma Revie said: “People are being locked into extreme poverty and pushed to the doors of food banks. Hunger in the UK isn’t about food – it’s about people not having enough money. People are trying to get by on £50 a week and that’s just not enough for the essentials, let alone a decent standard of living.

“Any of us could be hit by a health issue or job loss – the difference is what happens when that hits. We created a benefits system because we’re a country that believes in making sure financial support is there for each other if it’s needed. The question that naturally arises, then, is why the incomes of people at food banks are so low, despite being supported by that benefits system?

“Many of us are being left without enough money to cover the most basic costs. We cannot let this continue in our country. This can change – our benefits system could be the key to unlocking people from poverty if our government steps up and makes the changes needed. How we treat each other when life is hard speaks volumes about us as a nation. We can do better than this.”

The Trussell Trust is calling for three key changes as a priority to protect people from hunger:

  1. As an urgent priority, end the five week wait for Universal Credit
  2. Benefit payments must cover the true cost of living
  3. Funding for councils to provide local crisis support should be ring-fenced and increased

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Scots are using less water due to fears for the environment

The majority of Scots are reducing how much water they use at home amid environmental concerns, according to new research by Water Plus.

  • More than half (56%) of Scots say they’re using less water at home than they did 12 months ago
  • Two-thirds (67%) cite environmental concerns as their main motivation for cutting back
  • But just two in five (39%) have done similar at work, with water-efficiency bottom of organisations’ sustainability priorities across both the public sector and the private sector, according to employees.

The majority of Scots (56%) have reduced the amount of water they consume at home over the last 12 months, according to research commissioned by the UK’s largest business and public sector water retailer, Water Plus.

The research, published in a new report, surveyed 500 people employed in the private and public sector across Scotland on their attitudes towards water use both at home and at work. Notably, of those who said they had reduced their domestic water use, more than two-thirds (67%) were most motivated to do so because of their concerns about the environment. That’s in comparison to just one in 10 (15%) who have done so primarily to reduce their bills.

But while Scots are increasingly doing things like showering instead of bathing and only using washing machines and dishwashers when full to reduce the amount of water they use at home, more could be done in Scottish workplaces, workers say.

Surveying workers from across the public and private sectors, the study found just two in five (39%) people had acted to reduce their water use at work in the last 12 months, with almost two-thirds (64%) suggesting that their employer could do more to encourage them to be more water-efficient – including highlighting information on water-saving targets and progress towards those.

Water not a priority

According to the research, water is the resource both public sector and private sector organisations are least likely to promote among workers as a way of reducing their environmental impact, behind resources including paper, plastic, glass, energy and food. The findings have been released to provide unique and up-to-date insight for those managing utilities for public bodies to consider their water management further and the opportunity to lower running costs.

Despite water-efficiency being a low priority in the workplace, some Scots are bucking the trend, with a quarter of workers (24%) taking more care of water use at work than at home.  Almost three quarters (70%) of those taking more care at work said the main reason they do so is because their employer encourages them to act more sustainably.

Andy Hughes, chief executive of Water Plus, said: “The findings paint a picture of the Scottish public becoming increasingly in tune with its environmental responsibilities, but not acting with the same sustainable vigour at work as it does at home.

“While we’re seeing a clear trend in people becoming more conscious about how much water they use, the research highlights the significant potential for employers in the public and private sectors to introduce new initiatives to cut consumption at work that could not only reduce bills but also enable them to become more environmentally sustainable. This is not about suggesting workers are wasteful in their water use at work but increasing awareness and encouraging them to take a responsible approach wherever they are.”

The regional outlook

In Scotland’s most heavily populated cities, including Glasgow (60%) and Edinburgh (52%), over half of those questioned have reduced their water consumption at home in the past year. By comparison, three-quarters (75%) of those surveyed in England have reduced their domestic consumption, with Manchester (90%) and Nottingham (89%) proving the most increasingly water-efficient cities.

Andy Hughes added: “As the ‘Blue Planet effect’ continues to influence people’s decision-making in the home, there’s an opportunity for businesses to inspire behaviour change that not only lowers their costs but also contributes to their corporate social responsibility goals.

“It’s evident when looking at issues such as plastic and paper use that there is a direct correlation between those who are encouraged to reduce their environmental impact and those who act – and this can be applied across the board, including for water.”

Water Plus’s new report Flowing in the Right Direction is available to download for free.

New report highlights the success of the Family Nurse Partnership

Over 7000 young mothers and their new-borns have received valuable support through an innovative programme led by specially trained nurses and midwives. Continue reading New report highlights the success of the Family Nurse Partnership

Give young people a voice and a role, say researchers

Youth work which helps young people play a part in Scotland’s economic prosperity has been unrecognised and underfunded, a new study has found.

Researchers also called for the younger generation to be given a greater voice in framing the policies which govern their role in society. Continue reading Give young people a voice and a role, say researchers

Scotland ‘risks a forgotten generation’

  • Report shows children in care treated like second class citizens
  • Calls on importance of independent advocacy to be respected
  • Offers immediate solutions to halt rights infringements

The charity Who Cares? Scotland has published first of their kind statistics, revealing that young people in care across Scotland are continually having to fight for basic rights every single day. These have today been published in a report entitled, “We Don’t Have to Wait.” Continue reading Scotland ‘risks a forgotten generation’