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Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities
INVERNESS
Recent experience
Inverness has experienced significant growth in recent years. Its population increased by a third over the last 30 years. Strong growth has been underpinned by its quality of life: excellent environment, good school education, and low crime. Its prospects are now better than they have ever been. It is firmly established as the principal administrative, medical, professional, leisure and retail centre for the Highlands and wider afield - at the heart of the Highlands city-region.
Key challenges
Making the step from large town to the "capital" of a key city region is a major challenge. Growth has been on a small base, driven by retail, public administration and business services. Inverness is re-invigorating its city centre with enhanced transport links within the city and beyond. The city faces challenges in raising its tourist offering, upskilling the workforce and attracting talent from elsewhere and raising its cultural offerings. Significant progress is being made to turn the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute into a full university. Inverness has achieved growth on the back of changing industrial structure - the boost of oil related growth has been superseded by expanding ICT, medical services etc. This reinvention of the economic base will need to continue, requiring a highly skilled and flexible workforce. The relatively shallow labour pool in the area, underpins the importance of the learning sector and the need to attract talent into the Highlands as well as maintaining existing population. The role of the city's cultural offering will be a key part of developing Inverness as a place to live and work.
Short-term priorities
Key requirements are:
- Diversifying the economic base and fostering new and growing industries, including by enhancing investment in transport connections and the availability of sites for business development;
- Establishing and gaining full university status for the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute;
- Building and attracting a diverse labour pool, attracting people to live and work in the area, as well as attracting visitors through the arts/cultural offering.
Longer-term directions
Inverness is a new city, undergoing change and development. It is more than ever the "capital" of the Highlands city-region. The focus on the fragile western and northern fringe, needs to be complemented with a focus on the success of the city area. In the longer term, the role of Inverness and the wider region will need to be complementary to promote prosperity in the city-region overall. Through the Highland Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Inverness is well placed to rise to this challenge.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND COMMITMENTS
- City Growth Fund will provide city with 3.1m over 3 years;
- Executive contributed initial development funding of 13m towards establishing a University of the Highlands and Islands; together with 33m lottery funding;
- Preparation of a long-term development and transport strategy for the area between Inverness and Nairn. This should be drawn up by Highland Council in association with key stakeholders such as Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the Scottish Executive's Road Network Management and Maintenance Division and Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd;
- The recent consultation on Air Transport in Scotland has reaffirmed the Executive's commitment to maintaining lifeline services and to supporting development of new routes where they would be beneficial;
- "Quality of Life" initiative provided Highland Council with 4.3m in 2002/03 to help improve the quality of people's everyday lives. Further 8m allocated in the Scottish Budget over 3 years.
DETAILED ACHIEVEMENTS AND COMMITMENTS
- 3,000 more vocational students at Inverness College from 1999;
- 1m to support nearly 500 trainees in Inverness and Nairn LEC area on Skillseekers, Modern Apprenticeships and Training for Work courses;
- Action Teams for Jobs set up in Inverness to increase employment rates amongst disadvantaged groups within high employment areas;
- Executive working with Inverness to improve transport;
- the Executive Public Transport Fund is supporting over 2.5m of improvements to Inverness' bus station, pedestrian environment and the commuter rail network to/from the city;
- Highland Council has been provided with 798,000 for investment in walking, cycling and safer streets projects over the 4 years to 2003/04;
- Two new grade separated junctions on A9, worth over 4m;
- Executive will explore future options for the rural rail network;
- 9m new terminal for Inverness Airport opened in 1999;
- Executive operating support for Inverness Airport was over 2.7m in 2001/02;
- Over 27,000 for CCTV systems to fight crime in known "hot spots" since 1999;
- Providing community safety partnership grants of nearly 140,000 to help Highland Council develop local solutions to local crime problems;
- Communities Scotland supported 220 units of affordable housing in Inverness to help regenerate disadvantaged communities and provide housing for those with particular needs since 1999;
- 25m Lottery Funding has been made to Inverness since 1999;
- Funding provision of sporting facilities through the New Opportunities Fund PE & Sport programme, worth over 3m.
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