Scotland's public services could face a major shake-up in health and education policies, increasing hospital and school provision after years of decline because of an unexpected baby boom across the nation.
Official figures released yesterday confirmed there were more births in Scotland last year than deaths, bringing the first rise in the nation's natural population for more than a decade.
The statistics dashed years of official doom-mongering that has prompted authorities - from NHS boards to councils - to plan for historic decline in numbers at everything from maternities to schools.
Now those same authorities are gearing up to cope with an increase in population thanks to a healthy birth rate and a continued influx of people from the rest of the UK and eastern Europe.
I wouldn't get too excited - yet - about this "new baby boom". The graph here shows that the 2006 figure of 55,690 births represents a welcome halt to the decline in birth numbers, even if it does not prove to be sustained in the longer term. But 55,690 is still well below the 65,000-70,000 achieved in the 1980s, as well as substantially below the 90,000 to 100,000 in the 1950s. In other words, the long term trend is still of decline.
I know that The Herald has to fill its newspaper but let us calm down, please.
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