From Scottish Housing News yesterday: ‘Scottish Help to Buy figures ‘highlight potential for disparity’ with rest of UK. News of the success of the Scottish Government’s Help to Buy shared equity scheme has been welcomed by Homes for Scotland (HFS) but the trade body has emphasised the importance of maintaining a level playing field across the border. New figures published yesterday revealed that more than 30,000 households have been helped to buy their home through Scottish Government support schemes since 2007. The details show that, over the last three years, more than 7,000 households have been able to purchase a new build home with just a 5% deposit. They also reveal that the number of First Time Buyers using the scheme has increased to over 80% and that the number of purchasers who had previously been living with parents or relatives had risen to 45%.’
https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com

From  Insider, yesterday: "The rate of growth in the Scottish economy has overtaken that of the UK, according to official statistics. Figures published on Wednesday show that in the fourth quarter of last year, Scotland’s GDP rose by 0.3%. It is above the GDP growth for the UK over the same period, which was 0.2%. The value of Scotland’s GDP is estimated at £178.6 billion, or £32,800 per person, including oil and gas extraction in Scottish waters. Analysis suggests the most influential industry sector in Scotland last year was in manufacturing, with output increasing by 3.2% in total. On average, over the three years from 2015 to 2017, Scottish GDP has grown by 0.8% a year. The growth in 2018 (1.3%) is higher than the recent average growth rate, indicating an improvement in the economy."
https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com

Now, reported in the Independence City Courier today: ‘Scotland has surpassed its targets for planting more trees across the country, official figures show. According to Scottish Government statistics, 11,200 hectares of new planting was undertaken in Scotland last year – above the current annual target of 10,000 hectares. The number of trees planted in Scotland also represents a total of 84% of all new planting across the UK.’
https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com

"I have written a fair few NGO reports in my time; some of them on economic policy. I have some idea just how hard this is to do. You need to be precise, but not too technical; passionate, but overwhelming; coherent without being verbose; and most of all you need to have a vision. That combination is rare. To be original as well is an even harder objective to achieve. But I think Common Weal in Scotland has achieved all that in their new report, entitled 'An investment-Led Economic Development Framework For An Independent Scotland', which can be downloaded here."
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk