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Editor's note
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 Dawn of a new era
Mandy Rhodes
As we emerge from the hangover of Christmas past and enter the new decade, Scotland needs to wake up to the reality of the need for a very different public sector landscape. Whatever you are wishing for in 2010, cuts of almost £5bn are probably not on the preferred list but unfortunately, change isn’t going to be an option; it will be a necessity. Based on the Chancellor’s recently announced pre-Budget report, savings of £36bn will need to be made at a UK level just to service a yawning public sector deficit. But even this multi-billion-pound scenario could be grotesquely... |
Interview
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Focus
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Classroom politics
Mandy Rhodes - 21 December 2009
In his first interview as Education Secretary, Mike Russell spells out his approach
The efficiency with which a man comes in the dead of night to the Scottish Parliament and changes the titles on the Scottish Government’s ministerial office doors is only matched by the speed with which the new Education Secretary has managed to broker a spirit of reconciliation between Scotland’s local authorities and his beleaguered department. A fortnight ago, Scotland’s education system, once viewed as the jewel in the country’s crown, was fast being seen as the SNP Government’s Achilles’ heel. A series of negative educational headlines including the lack of progress on the Curriculum for Excellence, the numbers of qualified teachers unable to get work, falling standards on international league tables and the lack of a school buildings’ programme, culminated in predictions, just two weeks ago, of the end of the historic Concordat as the then Education Secretary,... |
The delivery line
Cera Murtagh - 21 December 2009
 As the debate opens up how should Scottish education be delivered?
When it comes to Scottish education certain doctrines run deep. The ‘best education system in the world’ has tended to be treated as sacrosanct, beyond the boundaries of debate. But as successive statistics threaten to knock Scotland off its pedestal while resource cuts raise alarm, that ground is shifting. After... |
Insight
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Care and protection
- 21 December 2009
 In the third of her series on childhood, Stella Perrott questions what child protection should mean
Numerically, abuse and neglect is not a major hazard for children in Scotland. Of an estimated 913,500 children under 16, 12,300 children will be referred to social work services each year with concerns about abuse and neglect. This amounts to about 1.3 per cent of... |
Portfolios
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| Local Government |
Counselling the Concordat
Lynne Whitelaw 21 December 2009
President of COSLA, Councillor Pat Watters, speaks to Holyrood about the future of the local government... |
Paying fair
Lynne Whitelaw 21 December 2009
Ian Livingstone, chairman of the Scottish Local Authorities’ Remuneration Committee on what’s next for councillor pay and... |
| Education |
Slainte
Cera Murtagh 21 December 2009
As demand for Gaelic medium education rises, Edinburgh parents are taking action
“Gaelic is on the edge, and... |
Opposition tactics
Cera Murtagh 21 December 2009
Now is the time for Labour to develop strong education policies for the next election, says Des McNulty
It didn’t... |
| Health |
Leading lady
Katie Mackintosh 21 December 2009
Minister for Public Health and Sport Shona Robison on minimum pricing, tobacco control and securing FPC for the future
As Scotland’s... |
Talking sense
Katie Mackintosh 21 December 2009
Examining the politics behind the minimum pricing debate The current uproar around the SNP Government’s attempts to introduce a minimum pricing plan... |
| Business |
Checks and balances
Will Peakin 21 December 2009
Will changes in the way financial institutions are supervised and regulated prepare us for the next crisis?
At the mention of... |
Deal or no deal
Will Peakin 21 December 2009
Whatever the immediate implications of the Copenhagen talks, the nature of business will change irreversibly
Procedural chaos and a deep rift over... |
| Justice |
Stressful situations
Rory Cahill 21 December 2009
Few would deny that the police have a stressful job. But are rates of absence really increasing due to stress, and if so, what... |
A new approach
Rory Cahill 21 December 2009
With our prisons bursting at the seams and funding cuts looming, the new Chief Inspector of Prisons has... |
Columnists
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Also in this issue
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Diary
Tweet of the week
RT@ePolitix: RT@ widdecombepp Ann has finished the experkment and decided not to use Twitter. She’d like to thank everyone for following her.... |
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John Curtice |
| Facing the future |
| Making predictions for the coming year is a routine task for the commentator at this time of the year. When doing so,... |
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Spotted - Issue 225
21 December 2009
The Greens answer to Malcolm Tucker, James MacKenzie and Telegraph hack Simon Johnson deep in a conspiratorial conversation in David Bann’s …John Park rushing through Waverley Station on a rainy Wednesday afternoon… Susan Boyle in the... |
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Letters
Making progress
In reference to Henry McLeish’s column ‘Finding the Time’ in the last issue, there are a number of comments I... |
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Rab McNeil |
| Blog off |
| TO blog or not to blog, that is the question. Cautious, arguably sensible people have resisted the temptation. It puts... |
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Letter of the week
Policing questions
The apparent willingness of the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police “to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy” over shared services doesn’t appear to... |
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Cathy Jamieson stands down from shadow cabinet
