The Scottish Government

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Supporting jobs and our communities

Supporting those in work and those seeking to get into work is central for growth and long-term prosperity. That requires targeted action to help individuals as well as communities mitigate the impacts of the downturn. In this way, the Government will protect the progress made towards our longer-term Purpose of increasing sustainable economic growth.

To support individuals, we have placed priority on 'demand-side' action to maximise the employment opportunities available. In particular, the Scottish Government - in partnership with local government and our key agencies - has used capital spending programmes to inject an essential short-term stimulus into the economy, boosting jobs and economic activity at a time when demand has fallen sharply. This will be highly important for the Scottish construction sector, which has been badly affected by the impact of the credit crunch on private sector investment. By accelerating capital spending as much and as quickly as possible, we are working to maintain key skills in this sector and across the Scottish economy, keeping people in employment through the worst of the recession.

On the 'supply side', we have also taken important steps to reduce the costs and burdens faced by businesses and improve their competitiveness by lowering taxes and other public sector charges relating to business activity. More directly for individuals, we are helping people cope with the financial burdens and uncertainty caused by the downturn and its damaging impact on their motivation and ability to take part in the labour market, not least by improving the availability of legal and financial advice.

This is reflected in the recent measures taken as part of our action on economic recovery.

• We are reducing the tax and fees burden on businesses and households wherever possible to improve their resilience. In April, the Small Business Bonus Scheme was expanded, saving the average small business owner £1,400. At the same time, we are allowing businesses to spread 60% of this year's annual increase over three years. Our public bodies are supporting businesses as well: for example, Scottish Water has announced that it will help house-builders by delaying the point at which connection charges are payable across the country while the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has put in place an applications fee waiver. We are also helping households by providing the funding for an extension to the council tax freeze into 2009-10, giving Scottish families a saving of £420 million over three years.
• We are increasing the resources to help individuals with financial and legal advice to enable them to adjust to the challenges of the downturn. An extra £3 million has been provided to the Scottish Legal Aid Board for debt and financial matters and an additional £1.1 million to Citizens Advice Scotland to expand its advisory services.
• We are continuing to ensure our capital spending provides an important short-term stimulus to the economy. We have increased our investment in council house-building from £25 million to £50 million - the first central government funding to encourage Local Authorities to build new housing in 30 years - and announced record spending of £644 million this year on our Affordable Housing Investment Programme. Following the UK Budget we are allocating an extra £31 million in budget consequentials in 2009-10 to boost affordable housing supply, which will include: new funds to accelerate and sustain investment in new housing developments for affordable rent across the country; and funding to kick-start and unblock private developments in return for mid-market rent properties and low-cost home ownership. This is on top of the major acceleration of our spending programmes.

As well as our support for individuals, we recognise that strong, resilient and supportive communities, based on equality of opportunity for all groups, are essential for increasing sustainable economic growth. The Government Economic Strategy highlights this with its focus on developing infrastructure and place. That is why we have been working on a comprehensive change of the planning system to ensure the right developments can take place quicker. It is also why we are continuing to take actions to make our communities safer and stronger, creating environments that will enable all to make their full contribution to recovery: for example, we announced in June investment of an additional £4 million to fight serious crime, and in March, recorded our highest ever number of police officers.

Delivering equity and greater equality is another key priority which will drive economic growth. The effects of recession - including unemployment, loss of earnings and a sluggish housing market - can have significant consequences for people and communities across Scotland. As the Government Economic Strategy sets out, it is critical that that we continue to work towards greater social equity and ensure that disadvantaged groups and communities are connected to the mainstream economy, not least during a period of downturn. To realise their full economic potential, we need to support the most vulnerable individuals and households through their community and third sector groups. For example, we are investing £23 million over three years to address the needs of those affected by discrimination and prejudice and improve the life chances of those facing inequality and disadvantage.

Health spending also makes a key contribution to short and long-term economic growth. Good-quality and sustainable employment depends on good physical and mental health, which can deteriorate in the downturn. We are reviewing our Healthy Working Lives strategy to make sure that it is fit for purpose, promoting health and well-being in the workplace, providing support for those with health conditions to retain and return to work, and helping those out of work due to poor health move towards employment. Reducing inequalities in health across communities through Equally Well³ - which addresses underlying causes of poor health such as poverty and children's start in life - and through targeted programmes like Keep Well will further support the sharing of wealth and achievement of the Government Economic Strategy's cohesion and solidarity targets within the framework of the Programme for Economic Recovery.

Our new actions in support of communities include the following.

• We are investing directly in our communities to ensure that they remain supportive environments for individuals and businesses during the recession. A £60 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund was launched to create stronger communities and support local economies, with the first offers of grant to be made in the summer. In our rural communities, we are encouraging their development through a number of measures including support under the Scottish Rural Development Programme and the European Fisheries Fund and putting LEADER action plans in place across rural Scotland. To make our communities more energy-efficient, we have announced our plans for a new £30 million area-based home insulation scheme, that will give assistance to some 90,000 homes in its first stage.
• We are working to ensure our local communities are safer, stronger places and can fully support Scotland's ability to recover from the economic challenges. For example, we are investing £12 million of Proceeds of Crime investment through our Cashback for Communities scheme, giving young people positive alternatives to economic inactivity.
• We are making it easier for the right developments to go forward quickly by accelerating improvements to the planning process. The Government Economic Strategy highlighted the importance of effective government as a driver of growth. This has been reflected in the extensive package of measures introduced to modernise and streamline planning. One example of this is the recent launch of our ePlanning initiative.

The Scottish Government has been taking specific action to support jobs and communities through the downturn since summer 2008. From what we have heard in meetings across the country, the benefits of some of the measures are already being felt by communities, businesses and households. One important area where we took early and decisive action was our accelerated investment in affordable housing.

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