Business News Round Up (15/08/2024)
Scottish deficit increases by 2% – but revenue rises
Scotland’s deficit has increased by more than £4.5bn in the past year, data shows, reaching more than double the proportion of the UK GDP figure. The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures show a net fiscal deficit of £22.68bn in 2023-24, compared to just over £18bn the previous year. As a percentage of the country’s GDP, the deficit has increased from 8.4% to 10.4%, compared to the UK deficit which fell from 5% to 4.5% in the same period. Total revenue increased in Scotland from £86.9bn to £88.5bn. Government expenditure per person in Scotland is £2,417 higher than the rest of the UK, with £20,418 spent on average for every single person north of the border. Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the deficit is “not a reflection on the finances or policies of the Scottish Government – it is a reflection of UK Government choices”.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scottish-deficit-increases-2-revenue-33460442
Data skills gap leading to productivity shortfalls
Data skills gaps are expounding into productivity gaps across industries, with workers on average losing 25 days of productivity a year due to inefficient completion of data tasks. This is according to a new report from Multiverse Skills, which found that employees on average spend 14.31 hours a week on data tasks, equivalent to 36% of their total working week. Data skills are continually more and more vital as digital transformation takes hold across industries, but employees are lacking even the most basic of digital skills. According to the report, over half of workers (57%) have no or only basic Excel skills. Over half (53%) lack the ability to make data analysis more efficient or use automation processes (49%). More advanced skills are also lacking – 55% have no skills in Tableau, and 86% have no skills in Python.
https://www.digit.fyi/data-skills-gap-leading-to-productivity-shortfalls/
Government R&D spending ‘vital to rectify UK private R&D investment stagnation’
Government needs to ramp up R&D investment to help rectify a reduction in total spend on research and development, says the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB). New data released by the ONS has revealed, indicatively, that the total spend on (R&D) across the UK reduced from 2.81% of GDP in 2021 to 2.77% of GDP in 2022. The level of investment dropped by 0.11%, an £80 million reduction in real terms between 2021 and 2022. NCUB is calling on the UK Government to ramp up R&D investment to help rectify this issue and to help spark business spending. The call comes NCUB shared analysis which suggests that government R&D spending leverages almost twice as much business investment as previously thought.
£10 million Bank investment helps Highland Broadband tackle digital inequality
The Scottish National Investment Bank (“The Bank”) has invested a further £10 million in Highland Broadband. The follow-on investment is enabling the company, which services customers in communities across Scotland, to tackle digital inequality by expanding its delivery of ultrafast broadband coverage. Highland Broadband, which is part of Lothian Broadband Networks Limited, estimates that around half a million premises across Scotland are still without access to gigabit-capable networks and it plans to connect as many of those as possible over the next few years. The Bank’s latest investment will help the company make significant progress, providing connectivity to over 100,000 premises. The Bank initially provided cornerstone funding of £20 million to Highland Broadband in 2021 and a further £20 million in 2023, which helped it install gigabit-capable networks to areas of East Lothian, Stirlingshire, Fife and the Highlands north of Inverness.