Hansard

I will add injury time.

Regeneration of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas and strengthening of our communities are key priorities for the Scottish Government. We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and support for the places and people who need it. Our vision is of a Scotland in which our most disadvantaged communities are supported and where all places are sustainable and promote wellbeing. The Scottish Government’s regeneration strategy, which I will publish shortly, will set out the Government’s plans for delivering that vision in partnership with our stakeholders.

Since 2007, this Government has invested significant amounts of money in regeneration—I will talk more about some of that investment in a moment. Together with our public, private and third-sector partners, and alongside communities themselves, we have achieved some notable successes, but over the years our collective efforts have not been enough. Too many of Scotland’s people still live in communities that are suffering the effects of deprivation, high unemployment and disadvantage, where too many people are not in work and have low educational attainment, where crime and fear of crime are too high, where the physical environment is poor and where people still die far younger than their fellow Scots.

The regeneration strategy will reinvigorate efforts to change that. I make it clear that the strategy will not offer a silver bullet—there are no silver bullets—but we will re-energise our regeneration policy and focus on the priority areas that the evidence tells us are vital to success.

Those priorities include a focus on tackling area-based deprivation by reforming the way in which mainstream resources are used and by working together more effectively; a stronger focus on community-led regeneration as a way of delivering the change that local people want; and a commitment to ensuring that the right type of funding and other support are in place at national and local levels to support Scotland’s communities to flourish. I will talk about each of those strategic priorities later.

I turn now to the investment so far. This Scottish Government has invested record levels of funding to improve the physical and economic fabric of our cities, towns and villages. In the face of unprecedented Westminster cuts, we have continued to provide support to the communities that need it most.

We have developed the £50 million JESSICA—joint European support for sustainable investment in city areas—fund in partnership with the European Investment Bank, and we have, since 2007, invested more than £90 million in Scotland’s urban regeneration companies, which has already secured more than 1,300 new jobs. A further £25 million investment is planned in 2012-13, with priority being given to Clyde Gateway in recognition of its key role in securing an economic legacy for the 2014 Commonwealth games.

We have supported 89 town centres with £60 million of funding from our town centre regeneration fund, and we have invested more than £40 million to tackle the issue of vacant and derelict land in some of our most deprived communities. We have made a commitment to establish four enterprise areas in Scotland to support economic growth, and we have brought forward tax increment financing pilot projects in partnership with the Scottish Futures Trust as a way of unlocking private sector investment in local areas.

We have invested about £700,000 in the past three years in the Development Trusts Association Scotland to support communities in owning assets. In addition, our investments in skills development, employability, housing, transport, renewables and other infrastructure projects all help to ensure that disadvantaged communities can access new opportunities.

Despite those investments, however, there is much more to be done and many challenges to face. Earlier this year, I published a regeneration discussion paper—“Building a Sustainable Future”—that kick-started the debate about the future of regeneration in the current economic climate. More than 70 written responses were received, and a wide range of stakeholders engaged through a series of events. A number of key themes emerged from those discussions. They included the need for a clear vision for regeneration policy; clarification of the roles that different organisations have in delivering regeneration; support for a co-ordinated local and national approach to tackling area-based deprivation; the importance of community-led regeneration; the need for continued funding; and support for town centres as a central part of community life. I expect those themes to feature in today’s debate and I assure members that the themes have shaped the development of the regeneration strategy and are at the heart of the Government’s approach to future regeneration.

I mentioned the three key priority areas that will form the strategy and I will speak about each in turn. First, there will be a renewed approach to tackling area-based disadvantage. Respondents to the regeneration discussion paper recognised that addressing the deeply ingrained economic, physical and social issues that some of Scotland’s communities face requires a sustained and co-ordinated approach across the public sector and its partners.

I recognise and support the good work that is being progressed at local level: a key aspect of the regeneration strategy will be to build on that localised approach, which will include working with public-sector partners to raise the profile of efforts throughout the country to tackle area-based disadvantage, and to promote and encourage best practice and culture change in the public sector in order to join up mainstream resources and services to tackle area-based disadvantage.

The strategy will also involve working with local authorities to identify barriers to delivery and opportunities to strengthen skills and capacity. We will lead the way in developing better partnership working between the public and private sectors and in improving collaboration between public-sector agencies.

Secondly, there will be a stronger focus on community-led regeneration. Strong, engaged and empowered communities are vital to Scotland’s success. The regeneration strategy will place support for community-led regeneration at the heart of the approach, because we recognise that the changes that are required to make all communities sustainable will be achieved in the long run only through a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach.

Through the regeneration strategy, we are committed to supporting community-led regeneration in order, first, to grow the number and strength of locally controlled enterprising community organisations that act as anchors for regeneration; secondly, to support locally based organisations to take on ownership of viable assets; and thirdly, to help people to organise and respond to the challenges in areas where capacity is low. Community-led regeneration is about local people identifying for themselves the issues and opportunities in their areas, deciding what to do about them, and being responsible for delivering the action that will make a difference.

We are starting from a strong position. An impressive range of activities is already taking place across urban and rural communities, led by organisations such as development trusts and community-based housing associations. The regeneration strategy will build on that strength through a range of new and existing support from both the Scottish Government and partner organisations including the Big Lottery Fund Scotland. We are at the early stages of developing proposals for the community empowerment and renewal bill. Through a wide-ranging dialogue, we are exploring how legislation can help communities to own certain public-sector assets, to have their voices heard on local decisions and to tackle vacant and derelict properties in those communities. We expect to consult on proposals next spring.