On the train to Brussels yesterday, I decided to play around with some of the GVA/head data for the UK, which examines the relative prosperity of different parts of the country.
In particular, I was interested in the ten poorest parts of the UK in 2001 and their relative performance since then.
As you can see from the graph, two areas in Scotland - the Western Isles and Caithness/ Sutherland/Ross and Cromarty - have increased their GVA/head significantly during the period whereas similar peripheral rural areas in Wales - Anglesey and Conwy/Denbighshire - have remained in the doldrums.
At this moment, I haven't got any time to look into this phenomenon in detail but will ask some of my research team to do so over the next week or so.
It would be fascinating to understand why some peripheral areas, such as those in Scotland, are growing whilst similar rural areas such as Anglesey remain stagnant. Hopefully, policymakers would also be interested in such results, especially as there is little evidence of any geographical focus within any of the economic strategies developed by WAG.
