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.

“What’s your action?” sets out what we heard from people across Scotland. It is our simple invitation to others to engage with the conversation as well as sharing the practical actions people are taking to build a more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and fair country.

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. It’s not too late to be involved, you can submit your priorities at WhatsYourAction.scot

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.  

Read the briefing here

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

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?

Report: Scotland's Productivity Challenge

Scottish productivity has all but stalled in the last fifteen years and a turnaround is required if future living standards are to improve. This report makes recommendations for government, policymakers, business and trade unions, based on the conclusions of new research and case studies. It details five evidence-based stories of what has worked in comparable places and draws lessons from their experiences. In each case a ruthless focus on evidence, building consensus across the political divide, and developing strong and credible institutions were all necessary to turn things around.

Britain's Decision: Facts and Impartial Analysis for the EU Referendum

The book is edited by Ray Perman, former Director of the David Hume Institute and Charlie Jeffery, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Centre on Constitutional Change. It also contains chapters from Professors Michael Keating, Laura Cram, David Bell, Nicola McEwen and Aileen McHarg, among others. It also has a contribution from Andrew Wilson & Kevin Pringle, making the case to remain and from Brian Monteith, putting the case for Brexit.

The David Hume Institute has teamed up with The Hunter Foundation and the Centre on Constitutional Change to produce a free ebook to answer voters’ questions before the EU referendum on June 23. Britain’s Decision – Facts and Impartial Analysis, involves scholars socialising in European affairs from leading universities. They have identified 19 key questions that underpin the debate and they offer objective, independent analysis of these issues. The book is also available as a free download from www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk and The Hunter Foundation

Elitist Scotland?

Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn Chair, Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission

This report looks at the social background of the people who run Scotland, following up an earlier study carried out by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission looking at this issue for Great Britain as a whole. In partnership with the David Hume Institute and with the support of postgraduate researchers at the University of Edinburgh, we have examined the background of almost 850 leaders in politics, business, the media and other areas of public life in Scotland.

Alan Peacock dissenting…

In the year of the 30th anniversary of the David Hume Institute, it is a deep disappointment to be celebrating without the company of its founder, Sir Alan Peacock, who died last year at the age of 92. On the evidence of the friends and former colleagues who have contributed essays in his memory to new book about his life and work, he would have added culture and humour as well as intellectual stimulation to the occasion.

In the paper he wrote in 1983 proposing the foundation of a new institute he acknowledged that there was no shortage of such bodies already – both inside and outside universities. The gap in the market, he believed, was for an institute which would be independent of government funding, located outside London so that it could take a distinctively non-metropolitan view and unafraid to challenge established thinking.

In proposing that the new institute have ‘a firm intellectual foundation in the study of the links between economics and the law,’ he was not seeking to limit its scope. Indeed, as this book makes clear, his own interests were extraordinarily wide. He was a difficult man to categorise. He started his adult life as a Liberal, but quickly lost sympathy with the Liberal Party. He was an adviser to Labour ministers, but scathing about those who were unwilling to modify their views in the light of the evidence.

He was chosen by Mrs Margaret Thatcher to chair a committee looking at the financing of the BBC, but came back with an answer she neither expected nor wanted. Coming up with the ‘wrong answer’ was something of a Peacock specialism. He characterised the criticism of the cost of one study he undertook as ‘the survey would have been cheap at the price if it had come to the right conclusion.’ He refused to be a ‘gun for hire.’

He chose to name the institute after David Hume because he hoped it would live up to the principles of the great Enlightenment philosopher in ‘proportioning its beliefs to the evidence.’ Thirty years later we aspire still to live up to that principle and also to the standards of Alan Peacock.

The book, Alan Peacock dissenting… contains essays on Alan Peacock’s life and his work as an economist in government, on the constitution, civil justice, the arts, heritage and broadcasting and his role as an academic leader and mentor.

An electronic version can be downloaded free of charge here.

A Kindle version is available from Amazon.

A Second Chamber for the Scottish Parliament?

Hector L. MacQueen

This paper is a revised and updated version of an earlier one prompted by an interview with the then Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Sir David Steel (now Lord Steel), published in The Scotsman on Boxing Day 2002. He indicated that he had, “in the light of experience”, come to favour having a form of second chamber in the Scottish Parliament.

Constructing Future Scotland: Rethinking Infrastructure Policies.

Professor Duncan Maclennan.

Scotland has a good record in the way it procures big infrastructure projects – but that does not mean it can’t be improved. The long approval, planning and procurement cycle can mean that projects get bunched – leading to feast and famine and making it difficult for companies to plan and build up a skilled workforce.

Internationalising Business

Professor Alf Young

Scotland are likely to miss the export target, but could learn lessons from the international success of Scotch Whisky.

The Scottish Government has virtually no chance of meeting its target to increase exports by 50% by 2017, given the rate of progress to date, the weakening in 2013 and 2014 of Scotch Whisky exports already reported by the industry and the multiplying adverse and unpredictable headwinds blowing through the global economy.

This is one of the findings of a study on internationalising Scotland’s industry written by Alf Young, Visiting Professor, International Public Policy Institute, University of Strathclyde. The paper was commissioned by the David Hume Institute, sponsored by the Scotch Whisky Association, although the views expressed are Professor Young’s.

Scotland ‘one year on’: the legacy of the Independence Referendum

Professor John Curtice, School of Government and Public Policy, University of Strathclyde

This paper analyses the aftermath of the referendum and considers what the implications might be for Scotland’s political and constitutional future. It focuses on three issues:

1. What should we make of the post-referendum proposals for more devolution?

2. What are the implications of the SNP’s electoral success?

3. What should we make of attempts to change the voting rights of Scottish MPs?

This International Public Policy Institute / David Hume Institute Discussion Paper was published as an input to a joint IPPI / DHI event entitled ‘One year on’: where stands Scotland now?

Inequality: What can the Scottish Government do?

David Bell and David Eiser

Inequality is now an issue of global interest. It is widely believed that inequality is increasing and that it is both a bad thing in itself and presents an obstacle to economic growth. This topic also played a key role in the election campaign. The Scottish Government has argued that additional fiscal powers will present it with the opportunity to slow down, or perhaps reverse, recent trends in inequality. This lecture explored the potential for the Scottish Government to influence patterns of inequality in Scotland, drawing on the worldwide debates on this issue. It presented new evidence on trends in inequality in Scotland and also placed Scotland’s policy options within the context of the differing approaches to dealing with inequality that are emerging.

Inequality in Scotland: New Perspectives

David Bell, David Eiser, Michael McGoldrick, Division of Economics, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling

This research commissioned by the David Hume Institute presents new evidence on inequality in Scotland. It uses data from the last three decades to identify key economic and social trends that have influenced inequality.

Scotland’s Currency Options

HOP 101. Scotland’s Currency Options

Jeremy Peat

A paper setting out the options for Scotland with regard to currency in the event of a “yes” vote in the September 2014 referendum.

Scotland’s Decision – 16 Questions to to think about for the referendum on 18 September

Charlie Jeffery, Ray Perman 2014

Should Scotland be an independent country? Choosing an answer to that question, as Scotland’s electors will on 18 September 2014, is a choice of huge significance. So how will we come to a decision? Many voters know more or less by instinct. Plenty of us are convinced that being independent is right and good for our country and not being independent is wrong. Plenty of others believe the opposite: that what is right and good is staying as part of the UK.

But there are more still – probably the biggest single group – who don’t have such conviction either way and are puzzling their way through what voting Yes or No might mean for them and their families. This book is for them. We have taken sixteen questions, which seem to us to be central to the referendum debate, and asked impartial experts to look at them. We do not aim to provide definitive answers – and we certainly do not intend to tell anyone how to vote – but rather to enable readers to better judge the claims that are made by either side.

Belgian social federalism: Quo Vadis ?

Research Paper 3/ 2013 Belgian social federalism: Quo Vadis ?

Bea Cantillon

ESRC Conversation 2 – “Delivering Social Security: Options in Scotland’s Constitutional Debate” On 18 February 2013 the DHI held a seminar for the second of the four ‘conversations’ on topics related to constitutional change in Scotland. This second topic relates to how we guarantee welfare through social security and other measures and is one of the most disputed issues in Scottish and UK politics. Papers have been prepared by Professor David Bell, University of Stirling, Professor Bea Cantillon, University of Antwerp, Professor Derek Birrell, University of Ulster, Dr. Nicola McEwen, University of Edinburgh, Professor Ailsa McKay, Glasgow Caledonian University and Jeremy Purvis of the Devo-Plus Group.

The Current Legal and Institutional Arrangements for the Enforcement of Competition Law in the UK, and the Options and Issues Arising from Devolution

Research Paper 16. The Current Legal and Institutional Arrangements for the Enforcement of Competition Law in the UK, and the Options and Issues Arising from Devolution

David Saunders

ESRC Conversation 4 – “Competition Policy and Regulation: in the context of Constitutional Change in Scotland”

On the 16 May 2013 the Institute held the fourth and final ESRC-supported ‘conversation’ – this time on competition policy and regulation (of utilities, transport, etc.). Professor Martin Cave, Visiting Professor at Imperial College Business School was our lead speaker and along with Jon Stern provided an over-arching background paper.

We again commissioned a number of papers from the following authors: Professor Martin Cave (Visiting Professor at the Imperial College Business School and Vice Chair of the Competition Commission) Professor David Simpson (former DHI Trustee and former board member of WICS); Iain Osborne (remarkably experienced senior regulator – across five different sectors, and at EU, UK and devolved levels); Luis Correia da Silva (Managing Director OXERA); Dirk Janssen (the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets); Jon Stern (City University and co-author with Martin Cave); and David Saunders (Chief Executive of the UK Competition Commission).