:00:00. > :00:16.Newsnight is coming up over on BBC Two.
:00:17. > :00:27.Good evening. The number of Scots in employment has reached an all-time
:00:28. > :00:30.high. It means levels of employment have returned to where they were
:00:31. > :00:36.before the financial crisis. Here's our business correspondent. A
:00:37. > :00:43.new business teeing off in Edinburgh. It sells wearable
:00:44. > :00:48.technology which allows golfers to see how they've performed on the
:00:49. > :00:53.course. As this market expands, so does the company and its workforce.
:00:54. > :00:59.We've gone from a team of three at the start of 2015 to 18 of ten at
:01:00. > :01:05.the end of the year and we are about to move to larger offices. We've
:01:06. > :01:09.launched a product. Success that firms like this hack is helping
:01:10. > :01:16.drive down the improvement rate and bringing more people the labour
:01:17. > :01:22.market. This latest rise in employment levels means Scotland
:01:23. > :01:28.passes another lines -- landmine. -- landmark.
:01:29. > :01:35.There has been a bit of a problem since the recession in that Scotland
:01:36. > :01:42.has created fewer full-time jobs, more part-time jobs and few were
:01:43. > :01:46.self-employment jobs. So, although the implement figures as a whole lot
:01:47. > :01:53.going up, the composition isn't as good as as it is in the rest of the
:01:54. > :01:58.UK. And problems remain. Falling oil prices mean thousands of jobs lost
:01:59. > :02:02.in the offshore oil industry and the trend continued today with a firm
:02:03. > :02:08.preparing to lay off more than 60 workers. For 19 years, Stuart Massey
:02:09. > :02:17.was an offshore driller and now he's out of work. It is difficult. There
:02:18. > :02:22.isn't anything about when we were in work and regular phone calls from
:02:23. > :02:27.agencies offers seeing that my offering trips here and there.
:02:28. > :02:34.That's dried up and offices -- offers that jobs fairs have dried
:02:35. > :02:37.up. So it's proving to be hard, but growth in the rest of the jobs
:02:38. > :02:41.market is more than making up for that.
:02:42. > :02:51.Relatives of flu -- three victims of the Glasgow bin lorry have taken the
:02:52. > :02:55.first formal step of bringing a private prosecution against the
:02:56. > :03:01.driver. Lawyers have delivered a bill of criminal letters to the Lord
:03:02. > :03:06.Advocate beginning the process of a private prosecution. The Lord
:03:07. > :03:10.Advocate has seven days to respond. A 40-year-old woman has been
:03:11. > :03:14.arrested and charged with the murder of a grandmother in Fife earlier
:03:15. > :03:20.this month. The 82-year-old was found dead in her flat at the
:03:21. > :03:22.beginning of January. A woman is preparing to appear in court
:03:23. > :03:31.tomorrow. There is a court to an end to the
:03:32. > :03:34.council tax freeze. In an official report, there's acknowledgement
:03:35. > :03:40.about who has been helped by the freeze. A local government
:03:41. > :03:44.correspondence reports. There has been a big freeze in town
:03:45. > :03:49.halls for nearly nine years but who is helped most by the frozen council
:03:50. > :03:56.tax? Are the poorest gaining from bills that aren't going up or losing
:03:57. > :04:03.app when councils face tight budgets and cut services? The government has
:04:04. > :04:09.today called for the freeze to end. We have a system of local taxation
:04:10. > :04:13.that is broken with huge increases in property values but no changes in
:04:14. > :04:22.the way they are taxed. Meanwhile, probably from 2017 onwards it would
:04:23. > :04:28.be a idea to give councils more power over their tax and spend. What
:04:29. > :04:36.happens next is now in play. The SNP will bring forward the postal is for
:04:37. > :04:39.the longer term of local government finance before the election and we
:04:40. > :04:47.will challenge other parties -- pieties to do the same. We know the
:04:48. > :04:50.Scottish Government is about 2/ half ?1 billion from local government
:04:51. > :04:57.budgets and the reason that is important is that it pays for
:04:58. > :05:03.schools and social care and services that contribute to tackling poverty.
:05:04. > :05:07.But inept council tax simple. Any council would lose out on government
:05:08. > :05:14.cash so any rises need to be big ones. Last week, an 18% rise was
:05:15. > :05:20.proposed and more may follow. Politicians say the policies need to
:05:21. > :05:23.be thought of over and options for change are likely to be a big part
:05:24. > :05:28.of the election debate in the weeks ahead.
:05:29. > :05:36.A parliamentary enquiry into the closure of the Forth Road Bridge is
:05:37. > :05:41.to begin. It was closed for up to three weeks. Transport Scotland told
:05:42. > :05:45.the infrastructure committee they couldn't predict what had happened.
:05:46. > :05:52.One of the Syrian refugee families who arrived in Scotland has broken
:05:53. > :05:54.to the BBC exclusive. Talking about their experience, they say if they
:05:55. > :06:01.hadn't fled their country they would been dead by now.
:06:02. > :06:07.The freedom to have fun without covering their ears to muffle the
:06:08. > :06:11.sounds of war. These scooters were given to the children by families
:06:12. > :06:16.living in a block of flats in Clydebank where they moved to just
:06:17. > :06:20.over a month ago. Women in Glasgow from seven different countries have
:06:21. > :06:26.got together to knit warm clothes for the Syrian arrivals. Is good to
:06:27. > :06:35.do it because you know you're really helping someone, keeping them warm,
:06:36. > :06:38.especially the children. He is helping the families settled in and
:06:39. > :06:45.has brought the hats. The eldest daughter is 12.
:06:46. > :06:51.TRANSLATION: I would like to say to the Scottish people, thank you and I
:06:52. > :06:55.hope will be be a good example. I am held -- happy because they settled
:06:56. > :07:01.us with Scottish neighbours to learnt their language. The father
:07:02. > :07:07.has decided not to show his face in case it puts the family in Syria at
:07:08. > :07:13.risk. TRANSLATION: We have come from hell
:07:14. > :07:18.to Paradise. Clydebank is his Paradise in the context of war.
:07:19. > :07:24.TRANSLATION: Losing my friends in the war and destroying my house... I
:07:25. > :07:32.was looking from placed to place for shelter. After a while, they started
:07:33. > :07:38.bombing there also. What do you think would have
:07:39. > :07:44.happened to you if you had stayed? TRANSLATION: We would be dead. This
:07:45. > :07:49.is our new life which we can live freely.
:07:50. > :07:56.She has learned her first 100 words of English. In fact, she's working
:07:57. > :07:57.at the most important ones. It seems she's starting to integrate
:07:58. > :08:09.already. Angry MSPs have complained that
:08:10. > :08:15.hundreds of nurses could have been recruited with money squandered on a
:08:16. > :08:21.new IT system for NHS 24 which has so far failed to work. MSPs intent
:08:22. > :08:26.to find out whether there are similar IT problems elsewhere in
:08:27. > :08:30.government. As the name suggests, NHS 24 is on
:08:31. > :08:36.call around the clock to help patients. In 2011 it was decided
:08:37. > :08:41.that a new IT system would improve the service. Five years on, it's
:08:42. > :08:48.still not in place and the project's ?41.6 million over budget. The new
:08:49. > :08:53.Chief Executive said the original business case had been weak, the
:08:54. > :08:58.contract contained gaps and delays added to the price. The committee
:08:59. > :09:05.convener voiced anger at the cost. That would be about 1900 nurses that
:09:06. > :09:13.could be employed as a result of this overspend. Do not that
:09:14. > :09:17.unacceptable? I do. The organisation should apologise and ashamed it has
:09:18. > :09:23.found itself in this position. Is that correct? The organisation is
:09:24. > :09:30.not happy. The committee then turned to the predecessor. He said he felt
:09:31. > :09:37.let down by a senior colleague. Mr Turner signed off the contract but
:09:38. > :09:40.it later emerged eight key -- that key service specifications were left
:09:41. > :09:46.out because the printed version did not match the online contract which
:09:47. > :09:52.had been updated over months. Begat swine spotted. Why didn't it happen?
:09:53. > :09:59.That has tormented me since this came to light. The MSPs were told
:10:00. > :10:05.the IT system failed tests but should be up and running this year
:10:06. > :10:08.for patience although it might cost another ?7 million. Eventually, they
:10:09. > :10:14.were assured it would save the health service money.
:10:15. > :10:21.East Kilbride have set themselves up for a clash with Celtic after a 2-0
:10:22. > :10:27.victory in their fourth-round tie tonight.
:10:28. > :10:37.Full-time and joy is unconfined for it skilled wide players and
:10:38. > :10:43.supporters here. The non-league team have only been in existence for six
:10:44. > :10:49.years and they've earned a money spinning home tie against Celtic in
:10:50. > :10:55.the next round. The goals have Adam a small fortune, coming from Jack
:10:56. > :11:06.Smith just before half-time and Winter. The stadium is just too
:11:07. > :11:11.small for a time of this magnitude. It only holds 657 game against
:11:12. > :11:17.Celtic is likely to be switched to a much larger venue.
:11:18. > :11:24.Time to find out what the weather will be like tomorrow with
:11:25. > :11:26.Christopher. Good evening. A cold night but it is
:11:27. > :11:36.cloud dependent. In the north-west, some clear skies
:11:37. > :11:44.and potentially the aurora on display. Ice in western parts and
:11:45. > :11:48.freezing rain at time. A dry start further east and by the time the sun
:11:49. > :11:59.comes up some brightness as well but freezing patches. And East/ West
:12:00. > :12:03.split tomorrow. Hopefully reasonably bright in the morning with sunny
:12:04. > :12:10.intervals in the north-east of Aberdeen share and Shetland. On the
:12:11. > :12:14.West Coast the winds will increase. Elsewhere they are largely liked. On
:12:15. > :12:18.Thursday morning the cloudy wet weather will go East Woods. If you
:12:19. > :12:26.start drying bright it will be different later. It will slowly turn
:12:27. > :12:33.milder though. Across the UK, the wet weather stretches across western
:12:34. > :12:37.parts. Largely dry further east by cloudy. The wind will increase as
:12:38. > :12:43.the rain arrives, particularly on the coast and the rain will reach
:12:44. > :12:49.all parts in the evening and is a precursor to heavy rain overnight.
:12:50. > :12:54.An early rain Warner -- warning in force for that. Low pressure in
:12:55. > :12:58.charge so wet and windy as we head towards Friday. Really wet on Friday
:12:59. > :13:07.morning. But the rain was shift to the North Sea. Behind it, improving
:13:08. > :13:11.with sunshine across western parts. Quite windy but temperatures quite
:13:12. > :13:18.mild. A fuse showers in the north-west. For the start of the
:13:19. > :13:19.weekend, largely dry with one or two like showers. Pretty mild compared
:13:20. > :13:28.with of late. Thank you. Next update is tomorrow
:13:29. > :13:32.morning in Breakfast. Good night.