Author Archives: David Bell

The Conservative manifesto, published yesterday, proposes several changes to the social care and benefit systems for older people in England. These are: an increase from £23,250 to £100,000 in the capital that social care clients can retain. Once their capital … Continue reading →

This blog links to a paper, “Area-based policies and devolved governments”which discusses possible post-Brexit futures for policies that, under current EU rules, are linked to specific locations within the UK and are largely administered by the devolved governments.

My estimates of the implied probability of a “leave” outcome in the EU referendum using the bookies odds from Oddschecker.com have attracted much comment. Some critics seem to have a weak understanding of the nature of prediction markets. For example, … Continue reading →

As a result of the Scotland Act 2016, the Scottish Government will take over a range of disability benefits and the regulated social fund. Together these benefits cost around £2.5 billion in 2013-14. Total spending on benefits, tax credits and … Continue reading →

In last week’s budget, the Chancellor announced his intention to increase the personal allowance for income tax from £11,000 in 2016-17 to £11,500 in 2017-18. He also intends to increase the higher rate threshold from £43,000 in 2016-17 to £45,000 … Continue reading →

It is relatively easy to slip into the belief that the Scottish labour market has performed as well as the rest of the UK since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. Scotland’s unemployment rate, like that in the … Continue reading →

It is relatively easy to slip into the belief that the Scottish labour market has performed as well as the rest of the UK since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. Scotland’s unemployment rate, like that in the … Continue reading →

David Bell gave one of keynote presentations at the Understanding Society biannual conference at the University of Essex. His title was “Scotland’s Changing Fiscal Framework through the Prism of Understanding Society”. Click here to access his slides.

On 18th January 2015, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney, announced that he is revising the residential tax element of the land and building transaction tax (LBTT). Mr Swinney had  announced the rates for LBBT in his draft budget … Continue reading →