Scottish Society

Legal Responsibilities

8 • Can be found guilty of crimes

12 • Make a will• Be subject to ASBO

13 • Become employed• Join a social networking site

14 • go into a bar accompanied by adults as long as the

owner doesn’t object, but you can’t drink alcohol there. • vote and stand in an election for the Scottish Youth

Parliament.

16 • get married• leave home without your parents’ consent. • buy alcohol to drink in a restaurant only with a meal• drive a moped• get a full-time job• be sent to a young offenders' institution. • be prosecuted in the Justice of the Peace, Sheriff or High Court• join the armed forces• earn the National Minimum Wage for 16 and 17 year olds.• and must pay full fare on buses and trains (unless you have a

travel concession pass).

18• buy alcohol in licensed premises and consume alcohol in

a bar• hold a licence to drive a medium-sized goods vehicle• buy or possess fireworks• place a bet• be asked to serve as juror in both civil and criminal cases• buy cigarettes• get a tattoo• generally get the National Minimum Wage• vote and stand in an election for your local council, MP

( UK Parliament) and MSP (Scottish Parliament)

• Crime in Scotland is declining. Since 2008/09 the number of crimes committed in Scotland has decreased by 22% and the risk of being a victim of crime has decreased by 3.5% and victims are most likely to live in deprived areas.

• Out of the reported crimes, 71% of all crimes were found to be property crime – for example, damaging households/cars or theft such as burglaries.

Crime in Scotland

• In a report it was found that the public now trust the police and justice force a lot more to effectively deal with crimes.

• Racist behaviour and crimes are of very low number in Scotland, being one of the least committed crimes.

Scottish Prison System

• There are a total of 16 prisons in Scotland, and they all hold different categories of prisoners, depending on the severity of the crimes committed.

• There are 4 categories of prisons, A,B,C,D and another category for young offenders.

• One of the current challenge in Scottish prisons is that they are overcrowded and the population of prisoners is always increasing. Another problem is the smuggling and use of drugs in prisons, aided by corrupt guards.

• A special black market is present in prisons, where items that are usually not too expensive can reach prices of over £500.

• Not only is suicide a large problem in prison but especially in the women’s prison Cornton Vale, where 2/3 of the prisoners are on suicide watch.

Education

The Scottish education system is free for all students who go to state schools

In Scotland, we have Primary and Secondary education. Before Primary education, young children have the option to attend nursery where they start the curriculum for excellence.

• School is mandatory from age 5 to 16. After 16 you have the choice to leave school or to stay and further your education.

• The curriculum for excellence has been changed recently. From students sitting Standard Grade to the new levels which are known as National 4 and 5. The students learning at N4 level sit an exam which their teachers have made. The N5 sit an exam that SQA have made.

Students study Higher level subjects and/or Advanced Higher level subjects which you need to get into University.

The Higher and Advanced Higher levels have also been changed due to the new curriculum for excellence.

• You also need to have some higher grades to get into college depending on the course

• University education is free for all Scottish citizens, as is college education. Compared to the rest of the UK where university costs an average of £9000 a year and this is set to rise.

National Health Service (NHS)

• The NHS aims to improve the health of everybody living in Scotland and taking health inequalities by providing free healthcare.

• They provide expert advice to help provide the highest quality healthcare environment and equipment for those who need it.

• From day to day they monitor hazards and exposures affecting people's health and provide guidance on tackling infections.

• They co-ordinate health protection activity across Scotland and also provide advice for travellers to the far reaches of the globe.

• The NHS needs people to donate blood in order to provide their national blood transfusion service. You can donate blood after you turn 17. You can be an organ donor and donate bone marrow as well. Without their national blood transfusion service, the NHS wouldn’t be able to function.

• In 2013 the birth rate was 11.3 births per 1,000 of the population

• From 2006-2010, the death rate for both genders is 10.6 per 1,000 or the population

The Scottish Parliament

• The Act of Union in 1707 got rid of the separate Scottish and English parliaments bringing together the two separate governments into one unified government in Westminster, London.

• In 1997 an overwhelming majority of 74% voted in favour of the establishment of a new Scottish Parliament.

• Following the Scotland Act in 1998, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament officially convened on the 1st of July, 1999.

• The Scottish Parliament allows the Scottish Government to act on devolved matters which are all the issues Scotland can exercise for themselves.

Devolution

Devolved matters are currently as follows:• Agriculture, forestry and

fisheries

• Health and Social Services

• Housing

• Education and training

• Environment

• Law and order

• Local Government

• Sports and Arts

• Tourism and Economic Development

• And many other aspects of transport.

The Voting System

• In Scotland members of the Scottish parliament are elected through the Additional Members Systems

• This combines the First Past The Post which is when there is a threshold (the post) and the party who gets the most amount of votes over the post win the election, this system is used in UK general elections. Each seat won represents a constituency which is a large area in the country, in Scotland there are 73.

• There is then a second vote which allows additional seats to be won in each region, a larger area than a constituency. In Scotland there are 56 regions.

• This means that in total there are currently 129 seats in parliament.

The Scottish Parliament

SNPConservatives

Labour

GreensIndependent

Liberal Democrats

In the 2011 Scottish Elections the Scottish National Party (SNP) won 69 seats out of 129. This was surprising because the current voting system is designed to have two parties form a coalition and not an overwhelming majority government. The SNP are in favour of Scottish independence and organised the referendum which will take place this year in September.

MSPsAs a result of the Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2011 Alex Salmond from the SNP is the current First Minister

The Cabinet is made up of the First Minister and other Scottish Ministers who meet weekly to discuss devolved matters and make important decisions for Scotland.

Accents in Scotland

• Scottish people define their identity partly through their accent, which is fairly strong and recognisable.

• There are many dialects within the different regions of Scotland, including: Doric, Shetland, Glaswegian and Ayrshire.

• People still define themselves collectively as Scots as opposed to British, even though we are part of the United Kingdom

• Some strong regional identities include: Glasgow, Outer Hebrides, Scottish Borders, and the north east of Scotland (including Aberdeen).

Data from Scottish Census 2011

• 62% of the total population stated their identity was ‘Scottish Only’

• Within that: 71% was in the ‘10-14 years old’ category, and 57% was in the ‘30-34 years old’ category.

• 34% of all minority ethnic groups felt they had some Scottish identity

• ‘No Religion’ was the most common answer for all age bands up to ‘45-50 years old’, and from ‘50-54 years old’ upwards the most common was ‘Church of Scotland’

• Within the ‘White: Scottish’ category: 37% of the population belong in the ‘Church of Scotland’ category, 37% in ‘No Religion’, and 15% in ‘Roman Catholic’

Poverty In Scotland• The current definition of poverty is living in households

with less than 60% of the average household income.

• Today in Scotland there are about 1 million people living in poverty. This is about 20% including 220,000 children.

• Since the 2008 recession unemployment amongst under 25s has doubled which is a huge contributing factor to poverty.

• The number of those working in part time jobs but want full time jobs has also risen cutting their income considerably.

• A baby boy born in the most deprived 10 per cent of areas will have a life expectancy of 68 which is 8 years below the national average and 14 years below boys born in the most affluent areas.

Main Causes of Poverty In Scotland

• Low Income

• Where a person lives and grows up

• Work and Unemployment

• Health Inequalities

Government Response

• Poverty is a very important issue in the referendum.

• The current government response is: Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland - Our Approach - 2014 – 2017This is a government policy which aims to focus key areas of poverty. It will strive to maximise household resources to improve children’s wellbeing and life chances and well designed sustainable places.

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