Hansard

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate.

I will focus my remarks on the need to regenerate the former coalfield communities in my constituency, not because other communities do not require regeneration activity but because the scale of the challenge demands the attention of a Government whose ambition is to provide opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish.

We know that deprivation in Scotland is disproportionately concentrated in the former coalfield areas. Analysis of the Scottish index of multiple deprivation showed that in the final year of the previous Labour Administration, 34 per cent of the data zones in the Ayrshire coalfield were among the worst 20 per cent in Scotland. That is the highest figure for any coalfield area in Scotland. The figure rose to 40 per cent for employment deprivation or worklessness among those actively seeking work and those who have become dependent on state benefits, and to 42 per cent for health deprivation.

Geographic access is a big problem in the Ayrshire coalfield area. Although coalfield communities traditionally grew up in small towns and villages around mines that were located outside the main urban areas, the coalfield settlements in Ayrshire are among the most rural in the United Kingdom. As Alex Johnstone said, there is an issue about trying to match up communities in need with communities in which there are opportunities. There is a disconnect there because we do not have adequate transport between such areas.

Many people have moved away to find work. Communities such as Muirkirk and New Cumnock have suffered significant depopulation, which has accelerated a spiral of decline.

The jobs base has not recovered from the closure of the pits, and new business formation has been lower than average. Despite the exodus of people, the latest available figures for 2007 showed that 3.1 working-age adults were resident in coalfield areas for every job located there. I think it is fair to say that that was a distinctly poor legacy for the incoming SNP Government in 2007 to inherit.

Despite those deep-rooted problems, progress has been made in recent years, with the Scottish Government playing a leading role. That has taken many forms, including continued funding of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which in turn has supported some 30 projects in Cumnock and Doon Valley in the past year. There have been significant improvements to Cumnock town centre through the town centre regeneration fund. The small business bonus scheme has been a major boost, safeguarding and creating local jobs. The Government provided the bridging funding that was vital in securing the commitment of Prince Charles—whom the cabinet secretary knows well—to the Dumfries House Trust. It has also supported, through the sustainable communities initiative, the associated Knockroon development—the creation of a new village, with all the necessary community facilities.

Importantly, the Scottish Government has not acted alone. The area has benefited greatly from a progressive SNP-run council, which has invested in, and is continuing to invest heavily in, new and refurbished schools in New Cumnock, Patna, Littlemill and Sorn; in the Cumnock conservation area regeneration scheme, along with Historic Scotland and other funding parties; and in new community centres in Auchinleck, Netherthird and New Cumnock.

Crucially, investment in physical infrastructure has been accompanied by support for community-led development, including for very large projects such as the Catrine environmental heritage project. The council has backed the Catrine Community Trust to the tune of £230,000, which helped it to secure a grant of £2 million from the Scottish rural development programme for a unique project incorporating heritage-led regeneration and the use of renewable energy to provide a sustainable income stream. The project involves the restoration of a scheduled monument—the River Ayr weir—reuse of redundant hydro turbines, and the development of an education and visitor information centre.

Smaller but no less important projects are springing up across the coalfield communities. Confidence is building and activity is growing. Such activity is proof positive that empowered communities can lead the regeneration process. However, it is particularly important that individuals and groups in our most disadvantaged and fragile communities who make that commitment have access to adequate and appropriate support.

I echo the calls in the briefings for the debate from organisations such as Planning Aid for Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations for community capacity building to be at the core of our new national regeneration strategy. I look forward to that emerging in the next few weeks and to the introduction of the community empowerment and renewal bill in the new year. I expect that we will make a step change in our regeneration efforts in the next few years.

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