Scotland's creative industries are an international success story, having produced some of the world's best creative talent and some of the world's best-selling creative content. Scotland also hosts the world's largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which brings together performers and audiences from across Scotland, the UK and the world. The creative industries in Scotland have been tremendously successful, and they will no doubt continue to be so. For the potential of these industries to be maximised, however, it is essential that industry views are taken into account by both the UK and Scottish governments in order to create the right policy framework for supporting creative enterprises and benefitting the Scottish economy and Scotland's reputation as a centre of creative talent. Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee recently held an inquiry into the economic impact of the creative industries in Scotland, looking at the film, TV and video games industries, and produced a report in March 2015. Their work focused on devolved areas of responsibility but also considered the impact of reserved matters such as tax reliefs, immigration and broadcasting. The Scottish Government responded to the report in May 2015, accepting a number of their recommendations and committing to take action on them. We launched our inquiry into the creative industries in Scotland to focus on some of the reserved policy areas highlighted by the Scottish Parliament's Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee and to look at how the interests of the creative industries in Scotland are represented at a UK-level.

A succinct and accessible account of the nature and impact of industrialisation in Scotland.

This splendid portrait of medieval and early modern Scotland through to the Union and its aftermath has no current rival in chronological range, thematic scope and richness of detail. Ian Whyte pays due attention to the wide regional variations within Scotland itself and to the distinctive elements of her economy and society; but he also highlights the many parallels between the Scottish experience and that of her neighbours, especially England. The result sets the development of Scotland within its British context and beyond, in a book that will interest and delight far more than Scottish specialists alone.

Scotland Mineral & Mining Sector Investment and Business Guide - Strategic and Practical Information

Defence and aerospace industries in Scotland generate nearly £2.31 billion in sales and together with the MoD support almost 50,000 jobs and a record number of apprentices. As well as a recognised expertise in naval ship building, Scotland also has a strong defence electronics industry and a strong aerospace industry based around Prestwick. This report examines the delay in the signing of the contract for two new aircraft carriers: the Committee is concerned that similar delays during the construction phase could lead to job losses and damage the ship-building skills base the UK needs to support if it wishes to retain sovereign capability in key areas. The Committee also comments on the Government's decision to treat the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) vessels as commercial rather than naval vessels, making them subject to EU competition law. There is confusion over the status of these vessels. The report also looks at the supply of skilled, semi-skilled and graduate workers, the Modern Apprenticeship programme, and the funding for adult apprentices. It is vital for Scottish industry to look at upskilling throughout the workforce, including mature workers who were not able to access apprenticeships as school leavers. The issue of constitutional change also affects the future sustainability of the Scottish defence industry. In the long term it is unclear what naval requirement an independent Scotland would have and whether this would make up for the potential loss of UK MoD orders. Government and industry need to work effectively together to ensure that Scotland's engineering and manufacturing base continues to be world class.

Michael Meighan takes us on a journey into a time when Scotland, despite its small size, produced the best of everything, from stone to steel and rubber tyres to motor cars

The Committee urges the Government to make the future of the sector a priority in the face of emerging barriers for growth. This is a golden age of opportunity the Committee says for the industry and proper support for small companies accessing global audiences is vital, it is potentially a world leader for the UK. It warns that overseas government subsidies, cheaper labour markets and skills shortages have created an uneven international playing field and more encouragement for development and growth is needed. The possibility of a games industry tax relief should be kept under review and a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of a games tax relief should be carried out, along with an examination of countries whose industries flourish without such support. A shortage of adequately qualified graduates to sustain the industry is also a real concern, skills like maths and computer science being needed and the brain drain of graduates to countries offering better incentives. The creation and retention of intellectual property is seen as a priority issue for the UK video games industry and the Government's review of intellectual property taxation will be monitored. The failure of the creative industries Minister to lobby the Treasury directly on games tax relief is both surprising and disappointing and the Committee asks the Government to explain how the industry's voice will be heard properly in future.

2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. Scotland Starting Business (Incorporating) in....Guide

This is an illustrated study of the interdependence of the landscape, the wildlife and the people of Scotland. It begins with Scotland's violent birth, and retells tales of the early hunters who followed the retreating ice and the first farmers who cleared the land and began farming. The authors go on to discuss the implicit conflicts in the use of land today, and the state of the environment and the other forces which have transformed the landscape and wildlife today.

The economic and social problems of modern Scotland are at the centre of current debate about regional economic growth, social improvement and environmental rehabilitation. In this book, as relevant today as when it was first published in 1975, Anthony Slaven argues that the extent and causes of these problems are frequently underestimated, thus making development policies less than fully effective. The major economic and social weaknesses of the west of Scotland are shown to be rooted in the regions former strengths. The author demonstrates how, although the region and its people have resisted change, a thriving and self reliant nineteenth-century economy , based on local resources and manpower, has given way in the present century to vanishing skills and products, unemployment and social deprivation. Since 1945 economic and social planning has helped to improve the situation, although many difficulties remain. Seen in the historical perspective provided by this revealing study, the present industrial problems of the west of Scotland, and their remedies, become clearer. Mr Slaven argues that the older industries deserve more help, for without this, he believes, the ineffectiveness of development policies is likely to be perpetuated. This book was first published in 1975.