News.Scotland.Org

May 16: As an after effect of growing competition posed by London based media groups the newspapers in Scotland are struggling to survive. An investigative study conducted by BBC Scotland has found that there is a decline in the circulation rate of Scotland’s newspaper. The Daily Mail has more circulation than the Herald and Scotsman combined together. Generally newspaper sales is on a decline throughout the world but it is considered as higher in Scotland as there are over 17 daily newspapers in Scotland that are battling for attention.

According to industrial figures major newspapers like the Sun, the Times and the Daily Mail have gained impressive circulation by wooing the readers with their low cover prices and freebies such as CDs and DVDs. Today the Sun has more circulation than the once-mighty Daily Record as the biggest-selling Scottish daily newspaper. The Daily Mail circulates more copies than The Herald and The Scotsman combined.

While responding to this issue Andrew Neil, the former publisher of The Scotsman said: “The decline in newspaper circulation is beyond any doubt. It is gaining momentum and will be fatal for the whole industry.”

Industrial figures show that for the past 20 years the Record has declined by 48.6%. The Herald has fallen by 46.4% and The Scotsman has fallen by 41.5%. The Courier in Dundee has seen 41.1% decline. The Journal and Press retains their name as the best performing Scottish quality daily with a decline of 26.5%.

The shift of focus of the readers to the web based media is also attributed as the reason for the decline in the circulation of newspapers.

Scotland, May 7: The Health Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government in its report said that the misuse of alcohol in Scotland amounts to £2.25bn per year. The amount is more than double when compared with previous statistics. The study considered cost to business, police, court service and the NHS.

On the other hand the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) whose members operate 1500 pubs in Scotland have questioned the reliability of the figures. The Scottish government has allocated £120m for the next three years to restrict the raising problem of alcohol abuse.

According to the report the costs include the £405m spend by the NHS, £170m spend by social work service and £385m spend by the fire service and criminal justice. The wider economic costs were estimated at £820m and the human and social costs were estimated at £470m.

The lower productivity at work and the day off due to hangover is costing £150m for the NHS and the A&E services costs £32.3m.The misuse of alcohol costs £288m for the police as alcohol is believed to be the reason behind 40 per cent of the crimes. Premature death due to regular alcohol consumption costs £328m for Scotland.

While commenting on this Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison said: “The statistics give a clear picture about the huge impact created by alcohol misuse in crucial sectors like the police, courts, the NHS and social services. It has an adverse effect on our economy. Not only the alcohol misuse affecting our services and health but also slows down the potential as a nation.”

Proper awareness to control the over use of alcohol is what needed to check the adverse effects posed by it.

Scotland, Apr 29: Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have met to resolve the strike that had led to the closure of Grangemouth oil refinery. The meeting took place at the House of Commons and it lasted for about 20 minutes.

The 2 days long strike has disrupted the fuel supply and led to the halt of UK’s North Sea oil production. Mr Salmond assured that there will be no shortage of fuels in Scotland as a result of this closure.

Business Secretary John Hutton will visit the oil refinery on Tuesday, Finance and Business Minister John Swinney will also visit Grangemouth refinery. Earlier about 1,200 Unite union members walked out of the central Scotland Ineos plant on Sunday in a dispute over pensions. The founder of Ineos plant, Jim Ratcliffe was heckled by workers when he visited the site on Monday.

The Forties oil pipeline delivers about 30 per cent of the UK’s oil output from the North Sea was closed as a result of this issue. Oil prices reached a new high of about $120 a barrel.

As an attempt to tackle the issue of oil shortage 65,000 tonnes of fuel were imported, as Ineos oil refinery is considered as the main oil fuel supplier in Scotland. Even though the workers called off their strike on Tuesday morning it will take few days for the operation to get normal.

The employees and the company authorities held negotiations last week at the conciliation service Acas but it failed to bring any amicable settlement.

Scotland, Apr 4: The Western Isles based community wind farm project has gained a whooping amount of £900,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. Three new turbines are proposed to be constructed which will have the capable of gaining an income of £150,000 from the sale of electricity.

The increased funding will be utilized for new projects and for creating more jobs. The Ore Valley Housing Association (OVHA) in Fife is funded with £200,000 to conduct the viability study for the proposed wind farm near Cardneden.

A public inquiry on the North Harris Scheme has been cancelled by the Scottish government in last September and the plans for the site at Monan were also delayed for a year on the grounds of objection raised by the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

While commenting on this Andrews Saunders, the OVHA chief executive said: “Even though we are small housing association the investment will make positive changes in many lives of people in Fife. This project will make use of the wind energy in an effective manner.”

In response to the grant the chairman of Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company, Lorne Macleod said: “The communities were upset over the delay in the project. Through the planning process the small scale schemes should be fast tracked.”

Earlier this week the agency has dropped its complaint considering the impact it creates on the unspoilt natural landscape of the area.

Scotland, Mar 13: Edinburgh airport has experienced a huge passenger inflow last month. Inclusion of new routes and services are considered as the main reason behind the surge in passenger traffic. A statistics has revealed that about 1.4 million passengers utilized Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports last month with 3.5% increase.

According to BAA Scotland, the airport operator, Edinburgh was Scotland’s busiest airport. The passenger inflow was also influenced by Six Nations Rugby Championship. International passenger traffic has risen by 13.7% at the same time domestic flights fell by 1.1%. International traffic at the Aberdeen airport has increased by 12.5%. Among the international routes Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Stavanger and Paris remain as the top priority.

While the Glasgow saw a decline in the traffic mainly due to cut in the number of charters. In the month of February Glasgow handles 510,602 passengers experiencing a decline of 1.8% as compared to the inflow previous year. While Glasgow airport’s prime destinations like Canada, UAE and the US witnessed a 7% increase.

“There has been no change in the number of direct flight services from Scotland. It is a glad news for Scotland’s business community, tourists and the tourism sector as millions of people are expected to reach Scotland. Normally February is a very quite month but this year saw huge passenger traffic,” said Donald Morrison, spokesman of BAA Scotland.

To encourage more travellers and an attempt to increase airport services, 40 new services are planned and most of them will be international services.

February, 4

The inflation villain is yet again making the Scottish people restless, adding more worries to their household budgets. Firstly it was the jump in the prices of cooking gas and fuel, and this time it’s the prices of grocery which has jumped 38 percent. This food-price inflation is creating a growing problem for consumers which need to be tackled sooner or later. One of the recent research found that there are few factors which plays a vital role in the jump for these groceries, it is noticed that a sudden jump in fuel price in the global market effects the rate of these items in a long run.

Among all the grocery items the major jump is seen in the prices of eggs which are reported to be 38 percent high in past two years. Then next stand breads which jumped by 33 percent, meanwhile milk prices have surged up by 21 percent, suggest the study. If we look into the core of this issue, we can find these are one of the basic necessity items, which majority of the families consumes on a daily basis. And such a high growth in the prices of such products definately makes the consumer worried to some extent. Another shocking fact is that, if we look at the average cost of a 100-item trolley of staple products we can find it has increased from £169.65 in Jan 2006 to £183.28 last week. That clearly shows the momentum of inflation which is creeping on.

If we look back, we can find that in the past years inflation has been hitting badly on many things including power, fuel, mortgage and also the grocery. Few supermarkets have tried to put a check on this rising prices, the chain of supermarket Asda informed that it is trying to make the burden of inflation a bit light on the consumer to some extent in comparison with other supermarkets.

With such an inflationary trend, the consumers have to be prepared for few more of such jolts in the household budgets in future.

Scotland, Feb 2: The real estate sector is undergoing a huge growth as the desire for a better quality life attracts people to the north of Scotland. The prices of the houses in the Highlands have undergone a rapid increase than any other areas in Scotland as according to the new statistics.

According to bank of Scotland the cost of a home in the region has experienced a three fold rise since 1997 by 221% as against Edinburgh that experience 201% growth during the same period. The survey has identified East Renfrewshire as the most expensive place in Scotland to buy a property. In the year 2007 the average price of a house in the Highlands was £173,081 it experienced a three fold increase as compared to the rates 10 years ago.

While commenting on this the manager of Highland Solicitors Property Centre, Sarah Woodcock said: “In the Highlands particularly around Inverness, we have seen an unbelievable growth with business opening flourishing in the area and lots of people are eager to settle in Inverness. High quality of life, modern lifestyle and opening to outdoors are some of the attracting features of Inverness. Some people are showing tendency to sell their property down south to settle in Highlands to get more for their money.”

Although the house price is high in the north of the border when compared to the other parts of the UK it is lower. As a contradiction to that five out of 10 least expensive areas in the UK were also in Scotland. House prices were expected to increase in Scotland in the year 2008.

January, 25

With the decline in the rate of the mortgage sanction in recent months, there are clear chances that the price of houses would drop down in coming months. The recent reports from the British Bankers Association suggested that it is the first time till last ten years the mortgage for buying property has fallen to such a low.

If we look at the record of BBA, the gross mortgage lending with remortgages were £15.1 billion last month, which was down by 22.2 percent on Dec 2006 and £1.4 billion lower than last November. This steep decline in the mortgage rates is hinting towards a fall in the prices of houses in near future.

Many economist and bankers suggests that if this downward trend continues, then it will affect the economy on long run. Another major reason for this change is said to be the credit crunch blocking the way for banks to raise money. The increased borrowing cost and lower disposable income is also making the mortgage percentage at a lower level. Also the market has changed a bit with lenders becoming a bit stringent on the part of their lending measures due to the credit crunch.

Now with such a situation in the market one has to see whether this present swing will continue for a long in the coming months. If that happens then it is for sure that the prices for houses will be at a record low and will be a big transformation and something to worry for the banks.

Scotland, Jan 5: According to the new figure the house prices in Scotland is far greater than the UK average. The average price of the property in Scotland is rated at £151,178 this marked an increase of 1.8 percent on the third quarter of 2007 as against the average quarterly rise of 1 per cent in the UK. As according to the National Building Society the annual change was calculated as 6.9 percent.

The average cost of property in London is rated at £303,739 and is considered as the costliest followed by outer metropolitan areas at £259,160, Northern Ireland at £224,816. Homes located in the north of England are considered as the cheapest at an average of £133,202 followed by Scotland at £151,178, Yorkshire and Humberside.

A Bank of England report revealed that the number of home loans has witnessed a three year low during the month of November. In total 83,000 new home loans were approved for people for the purpose of buying property in November, this was the lowest figure since January 2005. It is for the fifth consecutive month and the loan rates for the houses have fallen.

According to Vicky Redwood, an economist at Global Insight: “The decrease in the number of housing loans is a bad news the number of loan approvals have dropped from 89,000 to 83,000 in November it is the lowest level in the past three years. The Bank of England’s survey shows that the bankers expect to tighten the allocation of loans further in first quarter and it is expected to pave the way for further reduction in the approvals.”

While commenting on this the UK and European economist at Global Insight, Howard Archer said: “The reduction in the number of housing loans during November shed light on to the fact that housing market activity is on a descending mode this is because of the increase in the house prices and the tightening lending practices as a result of credit crunch.”

He also expressed his hope that the house prices will decrease at least by 3 percent during the year 2008.

January, 4

Get ready to pay more for your most needed household utility gas and electricity; well this was announced by Npower yesterday taking into count this upward trend in the market. It is learnt that the prices of gas will now go up by 17.2 percent and that of electricity by 12.7 percent. The reason behind this jump in prices is said to be with the increase in the prices of wholesale gas which has forced the prices to jump. This price hike is all set to affect about 90,000 households in Scotland. The power company also informed that the new price scheme will witness a jump of about 15 to 24 percent.

Npower, one of the biggest suppliers of energy in the UK serving about four million customers in Britain said the situation is so tight that price hike is necessary. Meanwhile Npower said that the other energy companies have introduced the regional gas prices before. Along with the increase in the wholesale price the higher distribution cost and transportation cost also have added to the need for price hike.

With the price hike in the beginning of the new year consumers have to adjust their household budget to meet this jump in the price. It was noticed that last year too there was price rise for these energy products and this year too one can get to see a multiple price rise. The instability in the wholesale market is making the gas and electricity price to march upward.

This uncertain trend in the market is making the consumers to suffer with sudden price hikes in the basic household utilities. Now it is a matter of concern whether this upward trend would continue to move further this year.