Briefing paper: Levelling up high speed broadband

Levelling up access to high speed broadband in Scotland is vital for rural communities currently left behind. Our new briefing paper looks at the roll-out so far and potential for faster progress on this vital infrastructure.

Internet connectivity has become essential for modern life and business is virtually impossible without it. It is critical for productivity and regional equality, and supports education as well as access to public services. 

Areas of rural Scotland yet to access high speed broadband are at risk of increasing outward migration accentuating the already ageing population.

The UK Government has stated its intention to deliver infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. The two recent financial commitments from the UK Gigabit scheme partnering with the Scottish Government R100 scheme to extend the reach are welcome.

This paper looks at the physical provision of infrastructure not issues related to access as a result of poverty.

The Scottish and UK Governments must complete faster rollout to all rural communities as part of the levelling up agenda and to support economic recovery from Covid-19. 

Image credit: Sharing thumbnail image - photo by Compare Fibre free from Unsplash on 29.10.2021

Research: What do business and investment leaders bring to Team Scotland?

Faster growth in diversity at the top level is needed if Scotland is going to benefit from a wider spectrum of thought leadership to maximise the country’s ability to overcome challenges such as increasing productivity, innovation and improving risk management.

Research from the David Hume Institute looking into the education and diversity background of over 220 business and investment leaders shows that there is little diversity - and less than other sectors analysed in the Institute’s previous work.  

The analysis found that: 

• There are still more leaders called John than there are female leaders (7% John and 5% female)

• One in four (26%) have held positions at four services companies (Accenture, EY, McKinsey, PwC)

• 2 out of 3 (65%) of investment company leaders attended an elite university with 1 in 5 of these attending Oxford or Cambridge.  This compares to 49% of Angel Investment leaders who attended an elite university.

• 9% of investment company leaders are female - falling behind the UK average (13%)

• 20% of angel investor leaders are female - higher gender diversity than others in the business sector

• 31% of the top business leaders also hold positions on other boards, showing a narrow pool of decision makers has significant influence beyond their own companies.  

The David Hume Institute’s research clearly shows limited diversity of Scotland’s top business and investment leaders. Scotland needs its business leaders to not only champion diversity across their organisations, they need to be open to more immediate change at the most senior levels to reap the benefits of more diverse thinking now.

Every business leader must choose to prioritise diversity of thought as we recover from the pandemic if Scotland’s businesses are to increase productivity and resilience to future risks.  For Scotland to be in the Champions League for business and investment we need a more diverse squad available for selection.

Briefing paper: Multi-year budgeting in Scotland

A new agreement on multi-year budgeting between the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament will help long term thinking and support a more open conversation about spending plans and investment choices.  

Over the last year the David Hume Institute’s Action Project considered the actions needed to move faster towards a more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair country.

Multi-year planning helps effective investment and productivity, and can be particularly useful on longer term projects, many of which are linked to climate action. 

Despite repeated calls over many years to publish multi-year spending plans, it has proved difficult for Scottish Government to achieve this.  As public finances become even tighter post pandemic, this will remain a challenge.

Public and third sector organisations want more certainty about funding to allow them to plan for more than one year at a time. Draft multi-year budgets will help public services plan more efficiently as we emerge from the pandemic.

The Institute’s paper proposes a way forward for the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government and Audit Scotland to make multi-year budgeting the established norm in Scotland.   

Report: A Scotland of Better Places

A new report by Professor Duncan Maclennan, commissioned by the David Hume Institute, examines how the country can move forward to A Scotland of Better Places.

The report is part of the Institute’s Action Project investigating the actions needed for Scotland to move faster towards being a country that is more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair.

A Scotland of Better Places examines actions needed for places to deliver faster social, environmental and economic benefits. 

Covid shone a light on the places in which we live, work, study, play and grow.  The events of the last year have dramatically changed many people’s relationships with the places in their lives.  

Our places will play a central role in Scotland’s recovery. They are inter-connected, inter-dependent and impact on every aspect of our lives.

The report is based on conversations with over 600 people in webinars. The conversations revealed a broad range of ideas that individuals, communities and organisations are ready to share and enact with governments.

There is not a single magic action to make all of Scotland’s Places thrive. Over the years there have been many policies, strategies and initiatives, often top down and not involving local people.

This is an opportunity to build forward better from Covid-19 and recognise the connections within and between places.  There are major long-term changes required, and much agreement about what needs to change and how to change it. Bold policy choices could remake the sub-national governance and government of Scotland to match modern place challenges.

Professor Maclennan suggests “Using reformed financial and tax structures, listening to communities and individuals, (and especially younger and poorer Scots) in the democratic processes that will make Scotland a more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair country.”

The report is part of the David Hume Institute’s Action Project which engaged more than 4,500 people from across Scotland, bringing together a broad range of perspectives on how Scotland can build forward better from the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Research: What do the Scottish Parliament's new players bring to Team Scotland?

The David Hume Institute measures diversity of Scotland's top leaders, including the Scottish Parliament. The challenges the pandemic has brought mean we need to ensure diversity across decision makers to help recovery because diversity of thought improves organisation performance.

As the representative of people in Scotland, MSPs have a key role to play in helping the public see that leaders can come from all walks of life.

The speed of progress towards education diversity in Parliament is increasing. Now 1 in 5 or 20% of MSPs attended a fee paying school, compared to 1 in 4 (24%) in the last session. By comparison fee-paying pupils make up just 6% of the general population.

Unless the rate of change increases it will be the 2056 election before Parliament reflects the education background of the wider population. 

The 2021 Scottish Parliament elections have rightly been praised for giving Scotland the most diverse Parliament in its history. With greater representation of people of colour, disability, LGBT+ community, young MSPs and female representation, intentional moves by political parties to increase diversity of candidates is leading to a Parliament that more accurately represents its population.

The research also analysed work experience and careers before politics. The 2021 intake of MSPs had a wide range of employment experience before entering the Scottish Parliament. This adds to the range of life experience and skills to draw on when representing people: for constituency case work, contributing to the committees and the chamber. 19% also have previous experience representing people through being local councillors.

Read the full analysis to find out more about the 2021 changes in the Scottish Parliament. The election feels like a milestone in progress towards Scotland becoming a more equal society but there is still a long way to go for the parliament to be representative of the Scottish population and to realise the benefits of greater diversity.

What's Your Action?

The David Hume Institute launched WhatsYourAction.scot after listening to over 4,500 people across Scotland in the largest inter-generational polling and research exercise in the last 5 years.

The research, which included nationwide polling and group conversations, showed people in Scotland are taking action to be kinder, care for the environment and being more conscious about how and where they spend their money, among a host of other actions.

Across Scotland, we started conversations; with people in different places, from different backgrounds and with different experiences and levels of engagement with policymaking. We asked questions, and listened. We wanted to hear different perspectives about what we can all do and hear people’s priorities for action. 

We found so much enthusiasm and energy for tackling Scotland’s persistent problems. The response was loud and clear: we can all do something; every journey starts with a single step -  the time for action is now.

People across Scotland shared their actions:

Image from the WhatsYourAction.Scot website which closed in January 2025

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Research

In 2020, the David Hume Institute held conversations with people around Scotland.  Over 4,500 people contributed to the research from all ages and backgrounds.  As well as trusted partner organisations in local communities we worked with the Children’s Parliament, The Scottish Youth Parliament and U3A to ensure we reached a diverse range of participants.

Three priorities came up consistently in the research and people saw the priorities as interlinked;

• Be actively kind, considerate and connected in all aspects of your life

• Take more and faster action to support the nature and the environment, including through tackling climate change

• Make conscious choices with money

People saw the three key priority actions differently for individuals, communities and businesses.

For individuals

Be actively kind, considerate and connected in all aspects of your life

• Covid has taught us all we need to make time for being kind. Change starts today.

• Be connected.  Commit to making time to stop and chat – help build community one conversation at a time.

• Seek out ways to get to know people with different backgrounds. Create opportunities to expand your bubble.

Take more and faster action to support nature and the environment, including through tackling climate change

• Take action to improve the natural environment such as pick up litter on your street, volunteer with a local environmental group or take part in national initiatives such as the Great British Beach Clean.

• Take responsibility for finding out your impact on the world (e.g. use a free tool like Pawprint), and take action to reduce that impact.

Make conscious choices with money

• Be a conscious consumer. Wherever you can, use your spending power to support businesses that make a positive impact.  

• Ask how others are using your money. Assess how your money e.g. savings or a pension, are invested to make an ethical impact. 

• If you have spare savings, could it be doing more than sitting in a bank?  Consider investing in the things or places you care about e.g. new local investment angel groups.

For communities

Be actively kind, considerate and connected in all aspects of your life

• Be welcoming and open to new people. Groups are critical to helping people connect and build relationships. 

• For groups that have a formal role in communities, ensure decision makers have been trained to be inclusive e.g. anti-racist education, unconscious bias training in order to fulfil their responsibilities.

• Join in initiatives to help raise awareness of the power of being connected e.g. the big lunch, play streets, window wanderland

• Invest in youth work to realise its power to support young people and communities.

• Build support around young people so it’s there as and when they need it e.g. through youth work.

Take more and faster action to support nature and the environment, including through tackling climate change

• Encourage more people to volunteer and work together to make sure that everyone has access to nature on their doorstep. Make sure playgrounds and parks are accessible for disabled children.

• Use the momentum of national campaigns (such as Scotland’s Young People’s Forest) to help. 

• Use the learning from other communities that have taken collective action on the environment (e.g.  community energy projects, green spaces) to bring more and faster progress in your local area.

Make conscious choices with money

• Seek out ways to work with other organisations to support and improve your local community.  

• Use initiatives such as ‘shop local’ campaigns and projects to improve the local economy.  Collaborative efforts maximise impact and build a thriving local ecosystem.

For business

Be actively kind, considerate and connected in all aspects of your life

• Adults said: Embed working conditions that treat staff with fairness, dignity and respect. 

• Children said: “Make sure everyone is paid enough money to be happy, healthy and safe, and make sure that there aren’t big differences in how much different people get paid”.

• Deliver systematic improvements through fair pay, equality of opportunity, transparency and responsible working practices.

• Encourage staff to treat customers and each other with kindness, in all aspects of their lives.

• Review recruitment and employment processes. Are they a barrier for some people? If so, change them.

Take more and faster action to support nature and the environment, including through tackling climate change

• Take action to reduce environmental impact across your whole supply chain. For example: retailers and manufacturers use less packaging, especially single use plastic and make it possible to recycle more.

• Publish a plan for reducing the environmental impact created by your business. Be transparent about your progress towards that plan.

• Manage any land and buildings to minimise climate impact (e.g. energy efficiency, etc).

Make conscious choices with money

• Prioritise living wage and conditions that support fair work. 

• Evaluate the social and environmental impact of your business and supply chain – including pensions. 

• Maximise positive impact through your purchasing power. Help customers make more conscious choices by showing this impact. 

• Be an active part of your place e.g. local partnerships, training opportunities, and supporting those in need.

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The research conversations were also supported by a commissioned ScotPulse population survey to investigate what effect the Covid-19 pandemic had on people’s thoughts and willingness to take action in their own lives.

The ScotPulse survey found:

• 3 in 4 people (77%) were helping neighbours

• 7 in 10 people (71%) received help from their families and friends

• 7 in 10 people (68%) people gave to charity

• 1 in 10 people say they are going to start volunteering in the local community

• 1 in 12 people say they are going to get to know their neighbours better

• 1 in 20 intend to give more to charity

Research: Does Team Scotland have the right players?

Published 8th October 2020

In 2015 the David Hume Institute published Elitist Scotland? in partnership with the Social Mobility Commission, examining the education diversity of the top decision makers in Scotland.

Five years on we repeated the analysis and increased the scope to investigate gender and ethnicity of the top 708 people in key leadership positions in Scotland. The analysis showed there has been progress in some sectors but others are still lagging behind.

In 2020 analysis of Scotland’s top leaders shows some sectors have made progress towards being more representative of the Scottish population. The Scottish Cabinet and local government Chief Executives are leading the way, however there is much more work to do to improve diversity, especially in the business and legal sector.

With private school students making up just 6% of the Scottish senior school population, Scotland’s top leaders continue to be disproportionately made up from the alumni of fee-paying schools.

In 2015 the percentage of those in leadership positions who were educated at a fee-paying school stood at 23% or nearly one in four. In the last five years this percentage has marginally decreased to 21.3%. 

Currently only 1% of those in leadership positions in Scotland are people of colour.  32% of those in this study are women, and only 2 in the 2020 analysis (0.3 %) are women of colour. No subjects were identified with a disability. 

If change continues at the current rate it will be at least 2065 before people in leadership positions in Scotland are representative of the population. 

Why is this important?

It is now well established that diversity of thought improves an organisation’s performance. The challenges Covid-19 brings mean we need to ensure diversity of thought across all decision making so Scotland is as strong as possible for whatever is the new normal.  

Scotland cannot afford for the pace of change in its top team to continue at the current rate.  More equal societies have higher productivity. And high productivity allows more investment to create more equal societies.

Scotland needs all of our current top leaders to actively champion diversity and proactively provide the opportunities to ensure faster progress. 

What happens now?

The David Hume Institute is committed to equality and diversity of thought - and we know that what gets measured gets done. We will continue to measure this data with the aim of highlighting progress and celebrating those that want to help deliver change at a faster pace.

Briefing paper: The Future Generations Act in Wales and beyond

In 2015 the Welsh Assembly Government passed the Well-being of Future Generations Act and appointed Sophie Howe as the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales in 2016.

The Commissioner is ‘the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales’. Her remit is outlined in the 2015 Act and embedded in Welsh law. It aims to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of the people of Wales and ensure that the decisions of today will benefit the future generations of Wales.

A cross party campaign has now been launched, led by Lord Bird, proposing a UK version of the Bill.  

Image credit: sharing thumbnail image by Cristofer Maximilian free licence from Unsplash 3.12.24

Briefing paper: Understanding the Danish Flexicurity Model

In September 2019, the Institute published a report “Who will do the jobs?” which examined the labour market in Scotland.  This report mentioned the recommendation from the Sustainable Growth Commission, that Scotland could learn from the approach Denmark has taken to its labour market.   This briefing examines the Danish labour market and their model of Flexicurity in more detail.

Introduction

Denmark combines high levels of social protection, low levels of unemployment and strong coordination between highly representative trade union and employer confederations.   

However, Denmark’s economic development has been very different from Scotland’s not least in the management of the labour market. Denmark’s modern labour market is the result of numerous policy interventions since the 1960s.  Significant institutional changes would likely be required for Scotland to attempt to replicate the Danish model, regardless of the constitutional position. 

Read the briefing here.

The David Hume Institute would like to thank the following people for their contribution to the production of this briefing:

Stephen Boyle

Martin McCluskey

Mark Mitchell

Image credit: sharing thumbnail image by Markus Winkler free from Unsplash 3.12.24

Report: Who will do the jobs in Scotland?

Current employment rates in Scotland are at a near-record high. However, Scotland’s population is ageing fast and there is a low birth rate.

By 2041, the pension-age population is projected to increase by 265,000, while the working-age population is only projected to rise by 38,000.

This report discusses the challenges facing Scotland with changes to migration patterns and a shortage of workers. What can we do to meet the labour supply challenges in Scotland. Who will do the jobs?