Eric Sands: Could switch of time zone stop daylight robbery?

AS PEOPLE across the country prepare to put their clocks back this weekend, they will no doubt be looking forward to an extra hour in bed and a few more hours of daylight before the winter months.

If current research is to be believed however, it could be that in future the country is able to enjoy even more daylight, with the possibility of Scotland switching to Central European Time.

The change, according to experts, would see people have more leisure time, have better health and quality of life and could even boost leisure and tourism industries.

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Daylight saving time would shift clocks forward in Scotland by one hour. It would see the sun rising one hour later in the morning but set one hour later in the evening.

Moves are already afoot to change the country's time zone. In June, Conservative MP Rebecca Harrison put forward a Private Member's Bill to adopt SDST (Single Double Summertime) and Prime Minister David Cameron is also a strong supporter. SDST would bring the clocks forward by two hours in the summer.

Research conducted by Dr Mayer Hillman, of the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) at the University of Westminster, gives strong argument for the Scots to adopt the Central European Time.

The majority of Europe has Central European Time, being one hour ahead in our winter time and two hours in the summer, but so far the UK has decided against adopting it.

Given the potential benefits however, could this be the appropriate time for Scotland to go on its own and have the Central European Time?

The theory is that advancing the clocks by an hour (to GMT+1 in the winter and GMT+2 in the summer) would be beneficial for Scotland because of the limited number of daylight hours it receives in the winter.

People in normal employment working from 9am-5pm would enjoy around 300 additional hours of daylight as a result of the change, and school children would also see a substantial increase in daylight hours.

PSI Director, Malcolm Rigg, said: "The case against the clock change in Scotland was never very strong and has weakened over time as a consequence of social and economic change and, even more so, of our better understanding of the benefits of daylight."

The economic benefits of an increase in tourism aided by the change in time today received backing from VisitScotland.

Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: "We certainly welcome the debate on daylight saving and what potential changes could mean for Scottish tourism, whether it is switching to European Central time or proposals to move clocks forward in February rather than March."

A study conducted by Cambridge University in 2007 found that Central European Time would also reduce energy demand and cut fuel bills, particularly throughout the winter.

There is also support for the change from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. They believe that extra evening daylight protects vulnerable road users like children, the elderly, cyclists and motorcyclists as there are more accidents in the afternoon rush hour than in the morning.

And the move also has support from prominent historian Sir Alistair Horne who has called for the whole of the UK to adopt the same time zone as the rest of Central Europe.

The National Farmers Union of Scotland remains sceptical but backs independent analysis of the matter and they also support Ms Harrison's Private Member's Bill.

Scott Walker, policy director at NFU Scotland, said: "At NFU Scotland we do not believe that sufficient justification has yet been given to make a change to the current arrangements.

"To move the discussion forward we do support the Private Member's Bill suggested for Westminster, which would propose in-depth analysis of the impact of any change."

Many people will no doubt grumble that such a change will mean darker mornings, and any plans to make Scotland a separate time zone to the rest of the UK would no doubt face a massive political backlash.

For those workers who spend winter in seeming perpetual darkness however, a shift to give them more daylight probably cannot come fast enough.

A HELPING HAND?

Changing the timezone in Scotland could have several benefits, including:

Increased opportunities for outdoor leisure and social activities in the evenings.

Improving the health and quality of life of the great majority of the population.

Widening opportunities for people fearful of being out after dark, especially the elderly, to go out in the evenings.

Enabling parents to extend the hours they allow their children to be out of doors.

Boosting the leisure and tourism industries through increased revenue and job regeneration.

The University of Cambridge conducted a study in 2007 which found that there was a two per cent increase in electricity consumption between 2001 and 2006 during GMT.