Category: news

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce said firms from all sectors had reduced their expectations for the last three months of the year

Scottish economic growth is slowing as firms await the government’s proposals for spending cuts, a survey has found.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce said all sectors had reduced expectations for the final quarter of 2010 due to uncertainty over the Spending Review.

The poll of nearly 250 firms suggested optimism in manufacturing, construction and retail were at the lowest levels since the first quarter of 2009.

The UK government announces the results of its Spending Review next week.

In his June Budget, Chancellor George Osborne said other departments would face budget cuts averaging 25%, but the full details will be announced on 20 October.

Garry Clark, head of policy and public affairs at the SCC, said: “As business looks towards next week’s comprehensive spending review, it is clear that Scotland’s economic recovery is going through a very difficult phase.

“Even in manufacturing, which has performed more strongly in recent quarters, confidence, orders and expectations are falling, and export orders have eased.

“We can only hope that next week’s announcement, coupled with the forthcoming Scottish government budget, brings certainty and allows business to get on with planning for future growth.”

Mr Clark warned that even when the detail of the cuts become clear, future dips in optimism were likely for the year ahead.

“There can be little doubt that ongoing uncertainty over the pace and impact of public sector cuts is sapping business confidence,” he said.

“The optimism and sense of improving trading conditions evident in the first half of 2010 have been replaced with more concerns as to weakening trends in turnover and profitability over the next year.

“Constant talk of public sector cuts is undoubtedly damaging business confidence, and it is now time to look beyond the cuts and towards building plans for future growth.”

The SCC survey was conducted in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of Allander Institute.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

SNP leader Alex Salmond is currently at the Commonwealth Games, in Delhi.

The SNP is considering an extended council tax freeze, as part of its core message to voters for the Holyrood elections in May.

Party strategists believe the issue could offer a clear dividing line between the SNP and Labour.

The move will come as the SNP’s four-day annual conference opens in Perth.

The party is seeking a historic second term in power at Holyrood, after it won power for the first time in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections.

The SNP has funded a council tax freeze each year since entering government and, in an appeal to voters on a new policy debate website, the party wants to continue discussion on the issue.

The Nationalists say they will protect family budgets, while Labour would put up the tax.

The conference will also focus on the SNP’s achievements in power, including cutting NHS waiting times to a “record low”, building or refurbishing more than 300 schools and putting more than 1,000 extra police on the streets.

But the SNP government has also come under opposition fire for dropping key pledges, including seeking to introduce local income tax and bringing forward an independence referendum bill.

The Perth conference will open with a video message from First Minister Alex Salmond, currently at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Education Secretary Mike Russell will also deliver a keynote speech to delegates.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

As many as one in nine primary schools is running with half its places unfilled

Ministers are taking steps to strengthen rules designed to protect Scottish schools from closure.

The move comes in advance of expected announcements indicating hundreds of schools are under threat because of the squeeze on public spending.

The education secretary plans fresh mandatory guidance to ensure all viable alternatives to closure are examined.

Local government body Cosla said it had seen no evidence any council had failed to comply with legislation.

The plans will be unveiled by Mike Russell at the SNP conference, which begins on Wednesday.

He will tell delegates that the SNP government has done more than any previous administration after the Schools (Consultation) Act was passed last year.

The legislation means councils must properly consult before shutting a school and closure can only go ahead if the alternative is educationally better than the existing arrangements.

Leaders of the Rural Schools Network believe guidance attached to the legislation is so vague that schools are not obviously more secure.

But Mr Russell will tell the conference: “More still needs to be done, especially for rural schools. One of the chief concerns of many rural communities is that they feel their ideas for viable alternatives to closure are not given a fair hearing. We must address this frustration.

“Where an alternative to closure meets the educational needs of the children, the parents, the teachers and – in these financially difficult times – the council, we will ensure it is fully explored.”

Fresh mandatory guidance will be developed making it clear to councils that they must consider all viable alternatives to closure and accept any credible plan a community brings forward to save a rural school.

“If a council fails to do so, I will not hesitate to call those plans in and halt those closures until all practical alternatives have been fully examined,” Mr Russell will tell delegates.

Cosla education spokeswoman Isabel Hutton said: “Ministers cannot call in decisions if a local authority follows the correct procedures so today’s announcement smacks to us of the Scottish government moving the goalposts.”

The Rural Schools Network is reserving judgement until it can scrutinise the new guidance. In the meantime it has raised concerns for the future of schools under review in Argyll and Bute, Highland, Shetland, South Lanarkshire, Perthshire and the Western Isles.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The world’s shortest youth becomes a man

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

An attempt to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground will begin at midnight on Wednesday (0300 GMT), Mining Minister Laurence Golborne says.

A test of the rescue capsule has been carried out successfully, descending almost the whole way down the 622m (680yd) shaft, engineers say.

Earlier, the top 90m was reinforced with metal casing to prevent crumbling.

The miners have been trapped since a collapse in the mine on 5 August, but were reached by a drill on Saturday.

The “Plan B” drill that reached the miners left the San Jose mine, near the town of Copiapo, to a rousing reception on Monday.

The drill was driven away surrounded by crowds of photographers and cheers by hundreds of people across the site.

Shortly afterwards, officials briefed the media on the latest developments in the bid to bring the miners to the surface.

Chief engineer Andre Sougarret said a formal test of the shaft had been successful, with the specially constructed Phoenix rescue capsule barely registering a scratch as it travelled up and down the tunnel.

The top 90m have been lined with metal to prevent the crumbling surface rocks from breaking away during the rescue.

But experts say the rest of the escape shaft is dug through solid rock and will not break up.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The sale of Liverpool football club has moved a step closer after the club’s current American owners lost a key legal battle.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The 7 July London bombings inquest has heard how counter-terrorism police spotted the attackers on CCTV after four days of exhaustive work.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

An attempt to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground will begin at midnight on Wednesday (0300 GMT), Mining Minister Laurence Golborne says.

A test of the rescue capsule has been carried out successfully, descending almost the whole way down the 622m (680yd) shaft, engineers say.

Earlier, the top 90m was reinforced with metal casing to prevent crumbling.

The miners have been trapped since a collapse in the mine on 5 August, but were reached by a drill on Saturday.

The “Plan B” drill that reached the miners left the San Jose mine, near the town of Copiapo, to a rousing reception on Monday.

The drill was driven away surrounded by crowds of photographers and cheers by hundreds of people across the site.

Shortly afterwards, officials briefed the media on the latest developments in the bid to bring the miners to the surface.

Chief engineer Andre Sougarret said a formal test of the shaft had been successful, with the specially constructed Phoenix rescue capsule barely registering a scratch as it travelled up and down the tunnel.

The top 90m have been lined with metal to prevent the crumbling surface rocks from breaking away during the rescue.

But experts say the rest of the escape shaft is dug through solid rock and will not break up.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The 7 July London bombings inquest has heard how counter-terrorism police spotted the attackers on CCTV after four days of exhaustive work.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

An attempt to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground will begin at midnight on Wednesday (0300 GMT), Mining Minister Laurence Golborne says.

A test of the rescue capsule has been carried out successfully, descending almost the whole way down the 622m (680yd) shaft, engineers say.

Earlier, the top 90m was reinforced with metal casing to prevent crumbling.

The miners have been trapped since a collapse in the mine on 5 August, but were reached by a drill on Saturday.

The “Plan B” drill that reached the miners left the San Jose mine, near the town of Copiapo, to a rousing reception on Monday.

The drill was driven away surrounded by crowds of photographers and cheers by hundreds of people across the site.

Shortly afterwards, officials briefed the media on the latest developments in the bid to bring the miners to the surface.

Chief engineer Andre Sougarret said a formal test of the shaft had been successful, with the specially constructed Phoenix rescue capsule barely registering a scratch as it travelled up and down the tunnel.

The top 90m have been lined with metal to prevent the crumbling surface rocks from breaking away during the rescue.

But experts say the rest of the escape shaft is dug through solid rock and will not break up.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

For 69 days the friends and families of the 33 trapped miners made a temporary home for themselves at the San Jose Mine. As their vigil comes to an end, Rajesh Mirchandani reports from the town of Copiapo.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun is ruled out of action for six months with the Achilles injury uncovered while on international duty this month.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

For 69 days the friends and families of the 33 trapped miners made a temporary home for themselves at the San Jose Mine. As their vigil comes to an end, Rajesh Mirchandani reports from the town of Copiapo.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A girl has been seriously wounded falling down six flights of stairs at an east London school.

The pupil was hurt in the fall on Wednesday afternoon at Raine’s Foundation Secondary School in Tower Hamlets.

She was taken to hospital and remains in a serious condition.

Police were called and are investigating how the girl – believed to be in year seven – fell down the internal stairwell.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun is ruled out of action for six months with the Achilles injury uncovered while on international duty this month.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.