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Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities

KEY ISSUES AND ACTION POINTS

From the evidence base and the analysis we have been given by the Review Report, we have drawn 2 important policy conclusions:

• Our cities are at the centre of Scotland's economic growth and dynamism
• Whilst each city is unique and individual, each is at the centre of the region which surrounds it and has a key strategic role to play in the growth and dynamism of that region.

Collectively, our cities have an important strategic role in Scotland's economic and social development and individually, each has a key strategic role in their geographic area.

We will build that recognition into the development of national government policy. We need our cities to reflect this in their own policies and action to capitalise on the advantages each has and face the distinctive challenges each has to meet. Their difference demands the development of a customised plan to realise the opportunities they have, increase economic growth, create opportunities and secure sustainability.

To back this approach - close gaps in opportunity, improve the quality of life inside our cities and to support each in energising their resources - we will take additional and targeted action and make the resources available to support these.

• 90 million over the next 3 years to support growth and opportunities through the new City Growth Fund;
• Strategic city-region agreements - the City-Vision - to set the priorities for using the City Growth Fund, created in partnership with councils, community planning partnerships and other stakeholders and partners;
• City-Region individual plans - building on strengths and tackling distinctive challenges - ready by May 2003;
• 20 million over the next 3 years to tackle the extensive problem of vacant and derelict land in Glasgow, Dundee and North Lanarkshire. A partnership team will be established to advise and improve delivery mechanisms;
• Support for innovative service delivery vehicles such as Urban Regeneration Companies - where these come forward from a consultation we will initiate early in 2003;
• Support for innovative growth mechanisms - such as Business Improvement Districts - where a consultation in the New Year offers evidence to demonstrate need and value; and
• The City Growth Fund has responded to the debate during the review on whether local authorities should be allowed to recycle buoyancy in Non-Domestic Rates Income into local services. It will apply from April 2003. In addition it has been announced that the UK Government will consult on the options of returning buoyancy to local authorities in England and Wales. In addition to the City Growth Fund we will consider whether there is scope for implementing arrangements for returning buoyancy as a long-term measure.

The dialogue between the Scottish government and Scotland's cities will continue - alongside the dialogue between our cities and the regions in which they sit. We will develop a shared vision and one which recognises the role each of us plays and the responsibilities each has.

• Ministers will develop a dialogue with each of our cities in building the Vision, recognising the important role that the Executive plays both directly in its own actions, and indirectly through strategic guidance to NDPBs;
• The Review has involved extensive analysis - it is now right to move to action, built on local ownership of a City Vision and implementation plan. City councils, the Highland Council and Stirling Council are being invited to facilitate this process, through Community Planning Partnerships, and provide an initial assessment by end February, with full City Visions and implementation plans by the end of May 2003;
• For Aberdeen, the City Growth Fund of 11.5m over 3 years offers the prospect of helping tackle skills and transport issues. For the longer term, this will help build on measures to both extend prosperity from oil, and diversify away from a UK oil and gas focus;
• For Dundee, the City Growth Fund of 9.3m over 3 years can help the city grow its new biotechnology and software industries and build opportunities in its disadvantaged areas. 4m over 3 years to pursue land renewal will likewise help deal with the legacy of the past. Overall, improvements in working in partnership is required to realise these benefits;
• For Edinburgh, the City Growth Fund of 24.2m over 3 years could make a significant contribution to tackling the transport challenges facing Edinburgh in the short term, and perhaps skills and wider infrastructure issues in the longer term;
• For Glasgow, the City Growth Fund of 40.1m over 3 years will enable the realisation of the full wider benefits of the major improvements already underway, including through the M74 Extension, the schools PPP programme and the Housing Stock Transfer. Linked with the additional 16m for Glasgow and North Lanarkshire to address land renewal, these funds reaffirm the Executive's commitment to responding to the major challenges in Glasgow;
• For Inverness, the City Growth Fund of 3.1m will help establish the "Capital" of the Highlands, and help it respond to the economic, social and cultural challenges;
• Stirling, which has not been part of the analysis in the Cities Review, has recently gained City status. Many of the themes in this document will be relevant to Stirling. The City Growth Fund of 1.9m over 3 years will enable Stirling to evaluate and develop its response to the challenges of city status.

This statement raises many challenges for the cities, and for Ministers and the Executive. It has outlined the overall policy framework for our cities, and suggested the key challenges and issues which need to be addressed, both in the short and long term. The analysis report provides an invaluable evidence base and analytical framework for policy development and implementation in our cities.

The following new Executive initiatives will all have a part to play in taking forward this agenda.

We will:

• place community planning on a statutory basis through the Local Government in Scotland Bill and publish guidance for community planning partnerships by early 2003;
• publish the new lifelong learning strategy for Scotland early in 2003;
• publish conclusion to the Scottish Higher Education Review early in 2003;
• publish a Health White Paper early in 2003;
• publish Planning Advice Notes on open space and design and quality in new housing by end 2002 and spring 2003 respectively;
• publish the Framework for future policy towards Scotland's museums in March 2003;
• publish the Executive's response to the National Debate Education in 2003;
• build on the conclusions of the Cities Review in the development of the National Planning Framework for Scotland for publication by end of 2003.

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