Agenda item

Presentation by Research and Policy Officer.

The final presentation of the evening was by Erin Murray, Research and Policy Officer, Scottish Borders Council (SBC).  Ms Murray began her presentation by showing the 2015 Population Statistics for all Wards in the Scottish Borders.  The statistics identified that in the Scottish Borders there were more women than men and slightly more pensioners than within Scotland as a whole, which raised questions for sustainability in the future and growth of the economy.    Within the Teviot and Liddesdale area, Ms Murray advised that there were less children than in the rest of the Scottish Borders, and also differences within the area; for example, Denholm’s population had 32% pensioners and 13.6% children, whereas in Burnfoot North the percentage was 7.4% and 32.2% respectively.  

Ms Murray explained the five themes identified within the Strategic Assessment as being Economy and Income; Education and Learning; Public Services; Community and Environment; and Health and Wellbeing.   There were 16 National Outcome Descriptions relating to these themes which identified that people in the Scottish Borders tended to live longer, healthier lives, safer from crime disorder and danger.  They also had strong, resilient communities and valued their natural environment. 

Ms Murray referred to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).  This Index used 28 indicators across seven domains – Employment, Income, Education, Health, Access, Crime and Housing.  Of the 143 areas in the Scottish Borders, that were used to measure the SIMD, 1.4% were in the most deprived 10% of Scotland.   Within the Teviot and Liddesdale area Burnfoot Central was within the 10% most deprived of Scotland and Burnfoot North, Burnfoot South, Burnfoot West and Wellogate were areas within the 20% most deprived of all Scotland. Showing that the Teviot and Liddesdale area had a greater concentration of people living in areas experiencing multiple deprivation. It was noted that the SIMD was a tool to help understand areas but did not show aspects of community cohesion or identity.

Ms Murray went on to summarise other findings from the Assessment:  Between 2010 and 2015 economic turnover had increased by £313m, a 10.9% increase above the 1.3% increase for Scotland.  Scottish Borders had also more small to medium sized enterprises and those contributed to turnover relative to Scotland.  The average weekly footfall in Hawick was the lowest in the Scottish Borders.  However, since 2016 this had increased.  With regard to workplace based wages, these were consistently lower than residence based wages.  Regarding Curriculum for Excellence, in 2015/16 the Scottish Borders had higher levels of achievement in reading, writing, listening, talking and numeracy.  Ms Murray also advised that the proportion of school leavers going to an initial positive destination (higher education) had increased, from 88% in 2005/06 to 95.3% in 2014/15; this trend reflected the changes nationally.   With regard to health and wellbeing, life expectancy in the Scottish Borders was higher than the rest of Scotland. The findings also identified that Type 2 Diabetes was more prevalent in the Scottish Borders.  Ms Murray further advised that the Scottish Borders consistently had a higher proportion of people rating their neighbourhood as a Very Good or Fairly Good place to live.   With regard to community safety, the Scottish Borders was a safe place to live with low levels of crime and anti-social behaviour and a low number of fire casualties compared to Scotland.  However, more people were killed or seriously injured resulting from road traffic accidents compared to the Scottish average. 

Ms Murray concluded by advising that her presentation had included a small extract from the Strategic Assessment, the full Strategic Assessment was available on the Council’s website at www.scotborders.gov.uk/downloads/download/211/strategic_assessment  The presentation would also be published with the Minute of the meeting on SBC’s website.   The Chairman thanked Ms Murray for the comprehensive presentation. 

DECISION

NOTED the presentation.