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Meeting of the Parliament 16 November 2011

16 Nov 2011 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

Regeneration Strategy

Johnstone, Alex Con North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

It is clear that, when they look back over history and at the trends that the member has highlighted, both the Conservative and Labour Parties will find it difficult to justify certain aspects of their record in government. However, at a time when we are trying to find ways of taking this issue forward, it is inappropriate to make it party political.

Nevertheless, I am glad that Duncan McNeil has raised the issue of preventative spending and early intervention because the Government obviously intends to move towards both and has made available a significant amount of resource to achieve its aims. However, evidence that the Finance Committee has taken over the past few months has highlighted the difficulties with such an approach. For a start, although there are people in Scotland’s public sector who understand the priority and will be able to target resources to achieve those objectives, others—some at senior level in our local authorities, health boards and other public bodies—got where they are today through managing their silos effectively. If members choose to look, they will find countless examples of people maintaining that silo mentality to this day.

If we are to get any benefit from preventative spending—and we all know what benefits it can bring—we will need more leadership from the Government. We should not simply allocate resources and hope that they work. Although bottom-up approaches are often successful in this area, sometimes the top-down approach is necessary to ensure that things work. I am not entirely sure, but I thought that I heard Michael McMahon say something similar in his speech. If he did, that is at least some common ground between us.

I applaud the Government’s willingness to engage with the private sector on this issue but, as the Finance Committee heard, it appears that people in the sector who might otherwise access funding through JESSICA or TIF are not as aware as they might be of the availability of funding and other such opportunities.

Once again, there is an opportunity for the Government to engage. The policy intention has been stated many times, and it has been stated by the minister once more today. It is of genuine concern to me that I talk to people who still do not get the message.

The generous six minutes that I was allocated has passed by some margin.

There is still much that I would like to raise with the minister and I look forward to the opportunity to do so in future. For the purposes of the debate, I accept the generosity of the minister’s opening remarks. I understand that this is not about allocating blame but about achieving results for some of Scotland’s most deprived communities. We will work with the Government and will vote for the motion at decision time tonight.

I move amendment S4M-01336.2, to insert at end:

“, and further acknowledges that, where difficult choices must be made, regeneration spending should be targeted where it will bring most benefit to the wider community.”

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Meeting of the Parliament 16 November 2011

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