Published:

Scottish Economy

Election podcast #6 with special guest Divergent Influencers

Our sixth election podcast looks at some of the key policy issues that have arisen in the campaign this week – with a brief discussion on key points within the manifestos, including learning disabilities, child poverty, and some insights into what to look out for in the coming week.

We were also joined by Divergent Influencers, who work with the Association for Real Change (ARC Scotland) to promote the improvement of transitions to adulthood for young people with additional support needs (ASN). The support given to those with ASN as they reach adulthood is crucial to their life chances, as they transition from the education system to adult health and social care services and, more broadly, life as an adult. We spoke in-depth about this with Divergent Influencers in a previous podcast.

Contributors

Adam McGeoch, FAI

Mairi Spowage, FAI

Emma Congreve, FAI

Divergent Influencers

Timestamps

(00:38) Economic data and analysis we’ve published this week

(07:12) Learning Disabilities in the parties’ manifestos

(11:32) A discussion with Divergent Influencers

(22:01) Child poverty in the manifestos

(25:56) Upcoming analysis

Authors

Adam is an Economist Fellow at the FAI who works closely with FAI partners and specialises in business analysis. Adam's research typically involves an assessment of business strategies and policies on economic, societal and environmental impacts. Adam also leads the FAI's quarterly Scottish Business Monitor.

Find out more about Adam.

Picture of Mairi Spowage, director of the Fraser of Allander Institute

Mairi is the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government and has over a decade of experience working in different areas of statistics and analysis.

Emma Congreve is a Principal Knowledge Exchange Fellow and Deputy Director at the Fraser of Allander Institute. Emma's work at the Institute is focussed on policy analysis, covering a wide range of areas of social and economic policy.  Emma is an experienced economist and has previously held roles as a senior economist at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and as an economic adviser within the Scottish Government.