Scottish Government

Competitive Scottish Cities?
Placing Scotland's cities in the UK and European context

Connectivity

2.31 Air travel in the UK is dominated by the London Airports. These accounted for 59.3% of all passenger traffic in 2003. However, recent investment by low cost air carriers has a period of unprecedented growth for the UK's regional airports. Outside London, passenger numbers were up 70.7% between 1996 and 2003. The greatest growth in terms of passenger numbers has been at some of the smaller airports - Liverpool up 412%, Dundee up 285% and Prestwick up 255% between 1996 and 2003, although it should be noted that these increases are from a very small base.

Figure 2.16: Percentage share terminal passengers 2003

Source: Civil Aviation Authority. Data for Glasgow based on Prestwick and Glasgow International Airports combined

Figure 2.17: Percentage change in the number of terminal passengers at selected airports 1996-2003

Source: Civil Aviation Authority. Data for Glasgow based on Prestwick and Glasgow Airports combined

2.32 The Scottish cities are connected to one another by train, however the frequency and directness of the service varies by route. The longest journey is 3hrs 44mins between Inverness and Dundee. Edinburgh and Glasgow are the Scottish cities best served by train services with a regular service to London and direct services to many destinations throughout Great Britain. The lack of frequent direct trains to London and other leading cities in England from other Scottish cities mean that journey times to cities across the border are long. This contributes to a reliance on air travel.

Table 2.12: Journey time: fastest train midweek morning autumn 2004

Source: National Rail Timetable

Recorded Crime

2.33 This data comes with a health warning as recorded crime data can only ever show part of the picture; many crimes go unrecorded and reporting and recording practice varies. Recent changes in the way English and Welsh crime data are recorded means that time-series data is limited.

2.34 Scottish cities are becoming safer. Violent crime and crimes of dishonesty are falling almost across the board, although Edinburgh saw a 1.9% increase in crimes of dishonesty between 1997 and 2003. Total recorded crime figures vary: Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow all experienced a fall in total recorded crime figures between 1997 and 2003, while the other council areas experienced increases. Recorded crime was up 10.5% in Edinburgh, with most of this increase accounted for by a rise in 'fire-raising and vandalism' and 'other' crimes. In Highland and Stirling the number of recorded crimes were up by a fifth, although from a relatively low base and crimes per head of population are still notably lower here than in Scotland as a whole.

Figure 2.18: Number of non-sexual violent crimes recorded per 1,000 population

Figure 2.19: Number of crimes of dishonesty recorded per 1,000 population

Source: Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series

2.35 Despite the recent improvements Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee all have recorded crime rates above the Scottish average.

Figure 2.20 Number of fire-raising, vandalism etc. population	Figure 2.21 Total number of recorded crimes crimes recorded per 1,000 populationper 1,000
Source: Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series

2.36 Recorded crime data for English cities is not directly comparable with the Scottish data due to differences in recording and categorisation methodologies.

RECIPIENTS OF INCOME SUPPORT AND INCOME BASED JSA

2.37 Income-based benefits data have been used here to identify those residents who are living on a very low income. Many of those in receipt of income-based benefits are pensioners. Income Support (IS) and Income Based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA) are paid to claimants to bring their income up to 'the applicable amount' ⁴.

2.38 Poverty remains concentrated in urban areas. In 2003, 21% of those living in Scotland who were in receipt of income based benefits were residents of Glasgow, whilst only 11.4% of Scotland's population live in the city.

2.39 The proportion of households in receipt of income-based benefits varies across Scotland's cities. In 2003 35.6% of Glasgow's households were in receipt of income-based benefits ⁵ compared to just 17.8% of households in Edinburgh and 17.9% in Inverness.

2.40 Across Scotland as a whole the number of IS and IBJSA recipients increased by 0.6% between 2001 and 2003. Larger increases were experienced in Aberdeen and Inverness where the number of claimants were up 3.4% and 4.1% respectively. In Glasgow the number of recipients fell by 0.9% and in Edinburgh it remained constant. Dundee experienced the largest decrease in the number of IS and IB JSA recipients, down 1.4%.

Table 2.13: IS and IB JSA recipients 2001 and 2003

Source: DWP SCROL/Census 2001

2.41 In terms of the proportion of households in receipt of IS and IBJSA several of the Scottish Cities perform well, with a lower proportion of households in receipt of benefits than in many of the English Core Cities. Edinburgh, Stirling and Inverness have claimant rates below the Scottish average. However, Glasgow continues to have a high proportion of households in receipt of benefits.

Figure 2.22 Percentage of households in receipt of IS and IB JSA 2003

Source: DWP SCROL/Census 2001