Glasgow is the worst performing part of Scotland, which itself is a long way from being the “best small country in the world”, according to the Federation of Small Businesses' third annual “Index of Success”.
The index, written by economist at the University of Glasgow John
McLaren, measures Scotland’s progress as a nation, based on wealth,
equality, health and future potential, relative to the nations of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
It shows that Scotland is down one place from last year compared to the
10 small countries in the study and is now in last place, despite being
above average on three of the four indicators. This is largely because
Scotland retains its stubbornly low life expectancy, well below the
OECD average.
For the first time, the study also includes an Index of the Scottish
regions, benchmarking the success of each of Scotland’s 32 local
authorities. Taking into account indicators of mortality, employment
and educational attainment, Glasgow is the worst performing local
authority area in Scotland. It is followed by West Dunbartonshire, North Lanarkshire, Dundee City and Inverclyde.
The best performing local authority area according to the study is East Dunbartonshire, followed by East Renfrewshire and Aberdeenshire.
FSB Scotland policy convener Andy Willox said that the new Index showed
that the modest progress made by Scotland last year was not maintained
relative to the rest of the OECD. “We are already far down the table of
comparator countries, and on every count we are travelling in the wrong
direction.”
“Coming as it does so soon after the election of an SNP Government,
this year’s Index shows the new First Minister Alex Salmond will have
his work cut out for him if he is to match reality with his aspiration
of making Scotland, healthier, wealthier and fairer.
“But like the Scottish Executive, our councils have recently gone
through a period of renewal, and it is clear that, while some of them
seem to be delivering for their constituents, many have so much more to
do. That Glasgow is the worst performing part of Scotland on all but
one of the indicators is deeply troubling.”
“The SNP has come into government with a lot of energy and ideas on how
to make a tangible difference to the lives of ordinary Scots, and we
hope some of the improvements they intend to bring about will have had
time to filter through into next year’s Index of Success.”
See the Index of Success in full
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