The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Annex: the key actions taken in the Economic Recovery Programme

The following list sets out the key current measures in the Economic Recovery Programme and progress in their delivery. The list reflects measures that have been announced as a specific response to the downturn as well as decisions already in place for activity that will be critical to Scotland's recovery. As a whole, the list presents a co-ordinated range of measures being taken by the Scottish Government, in co-operation with local government, agencies and other partners, to addressing all aspects of recovery. It is by no means an exhaustive list of all that is taking place, but highlights the most important recent actions.

As it is an evolving programme, new actions will be included over time as existing measures are completed. At the same time, we are aiming to review the impact of these measures once they have been implemented and consider future measures in light of the impact evidence.

Supporting jobs and our communities

• We are using our capital spending programmes to provide a short-term stimulus to jobs and growth. The Budget for 2009-10 accelerates £293 million of capital spending into 2009-10, on top of £53 million in 2008-09. In total, this accelerated investment will support nearly 6,350 jobs in the Scottish economy over the next year.
• Local Authorities are investing £90 million to accelerate a range of capital spending programmes spread across Scotland. These include new and refurbished schools, social work facilities, new recreational facilities and a range of key infrastructure projects necessary to support the economy and community development.
• We are investing £29 million to deliver road improvements and enhanced park-and-ride facilities to cut congestion.
• We are continuing to take a comprehensive series of housing measures to support the house-building industry and help home-owners and first-time buyers.
• We are boosting the supply of affordable housing by bringing forward £120 million of our planned spending from 2010-11 for the Affordable Housing Investment Programme, in conjunction with local government, to help support the house-building industry. A record £644 million will be invested in affordable housing over the next 12 months and a record-breaking 8,100 homes are set to be approved this year.
• In association with local government, we are investing £50 million to help kick-start a new generation of council house-building, which is expected to support 3,000 jobs. This is the first central government funding to encourage Local Authorities to build new housing in 30 years. Almost £17 million has already been allocated to 14 councils which will deliver over 970 homes.
• 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 homeownership.
• We are working with the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to increase the resources available to Registered Social Landlords who purchase housing stock from Scottish Homes. We will allow them to invest Right-to-Buy receipts into accelerated spending programmes to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, build new housing, support tenants and undertake other activities to boost local economic activity.
• We established a Repossessions Group to advise Ministers on whether further strengthening of the legislative protection for home-owners at risk of repossession is required, and on any other non-legislative steps the Scottish Government and others might take. The Group has now reported and welcome agreed to take forward all of the Group's recommendations, including legislative change, as soon as possible. These latest steps proposals build on action already taken to improve access to legal aid and other forms of advice, and raise awareness of the support available through the National Debtline.
• We are providing £35 million to the Home Owners Support Fund over 2008-10 to assist home-owners in financial difficulty. On 16 March, we introduced two new schemes - a revised Mortgage-to-Rent scheme and the new Mortgage-to-Shared-Equity scheme. We aim to help around 600 households over 2008-10 through the Fund.
• On 31 March, we expanded the open-market shared equity scheme for first-time buyers nationwide. With an increased budget of £60 million for 2009-10 we are looking to assist around 1,500 first-time buyers into home ownership and support local housing markets by helping many families who are currently struggling to sell their homes.
• We are helping to maintain our communities as supportive environments for economic recovery by creating a £60 million Town Centre Regeneration Fund. The Fund will support local agencies to regenerate and grow their town centres. It was opened to applications on 30 April, with the deadline for the first round of applications on 5 June. First offers of grant are expected around the end of July.
• We are intensifying our support for rural businesses and communities during the downturn.
• We are accelerating funding for key economic development projects in coastal and rural areas through the European Fisheries Fund and the Scotland Rural Development Programme ( SRDP). In the former, we have now allocated £14 million to support Scottish fisheries and aquaculture, including £5.3 million for the development of Peterhead Harbour. In the first year of the SRDP, the Rural Priorities element has approved over 1,800 projects and allocated over £124 million of funding. A further £10 million will be available for capital investment through the August 2009 funding round to aid economic recovery.
• We have made sure that agricultural support to crofters and farmers was paid as soon as permissible by law and we are influencing EU regulations to meet the needs of fishing and farming.
• Through the Scottish Timber Transport Scheme, we are investing £12 million to support projects to lessen the impact of timber traffic on communities and rural roads and secure supplies to the timber-processing sector.
• We are bringing forward spending on our 2007-13 European Structural Funds Programmes. To date, we have announced almost £335 million of support for 472 projects nationwide. As part of this, £14.4 million has been allocated from the European Social Fund ( ESF) in the Highlands and Islands and £112.6 million in Lowlands and Uplands Scotland. As part of this Structural Funds are providing some £55 million for Community Planning Partnerships to support employability projects across Scotland.
• We are working to improve the provision, and reduce the cost of, infrastructure developments. Through the Scottish Futures Trust, we are fast-tracking the Hub Initiative, which will deliver improved local community-based infrastructure for the delivery of local health services across Scotland, as well as supporting Local Authorities' school investment programmes. We are providing £2.8 million to take forward the Hub Initiative in a range of 'pathfinder' areas of the country.
• We are intensifying our reforms to the planning system. An effective, modernised planning system will bring real benefits to Scotland's people, its businesses and the environment.
• Eight sets of secondary legislation completed their Parliamentary passage in February, and the regulatory package will come into force in phases up to August 2009.
• A new consolidated Scottish Planning Policy was issued for consultation on 1 April 2009 and will be finalised by the end of this year.
• A new notification direction, empowering councils to determine planning applications and minimise delays in the planning system, came into effect on 1 April 2009.
• Ministers are also extending permitted development rights for householder developments to free up time for professional planners to concentrate on more significant and complex developments.
• We are working with stakeholders to improve planning decision performance to assist economic recovery, including how fees and resources for planning can be utilised in support.
• We have put in place an e-Planning initiative to allow for faster, more effective online submission of planning proposals, which will save planning authorities and users over £60 million over the next 10 years.

The work is already generating tangible results: for example, by the end of this April, we were processing 86% of all written submission planning appeals within 12 weeks - compared with just 4% in April 2008.

• We are using the Government's own purchasing and payment arrangements to help businesses wherever possible.
• We are opening up opportunities for more small and medium-sized Scottish businesses to win government contracts through a new online contracts portal, Public Contracts Scotland. ¹⁰ Over 21,000 suppliers have already registered.
• We are committed to paying the Scottish Government's business suppliers within 10 working days and are urging the rest of the public sector in Scotland to do likewise. Already 93% of transactions are paid within 10 working days.
• We are taking forward national contracts for the bulk purchasing of electricity across the public sector which are expected to result in annual savings of up to £10 million from October 2009.
• Key public sector bodies are reducing costs to businesses to help them in the downturn. For example:
• Scottish Water has announced that it will help house-builders by delaying the point at which connection charges are payable at sites across the country. At present, developers pay their connection charges at the early stages of their site development and long before any houses are sold. However, from 1 July 2009, developers will not be asked for payment until they require their first connection.
• Since November 2008, over 3,300 businesses have benefited from application fees waivers by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, with total savings to businesses of £1.24 million.
• VisitScotland has frozen prices on core products such as Quality Assurance products and a range of marketing services for businesses.
• Through the Public Services Reform Bill, we are identifying across the Scottish public sector the scope for removing regulatory burdens on business and will act to take forward simplification once the legislation has been passed.
• We are reducing the cost burden on businesses: the Small Business Bonus Scheme has been expanded by increasing the level of relief available by 25% from April 2009. This will help the owners of more than 64,000 business properties and save the average small business around £1,400. We are also allowing businesses to spread 60% of this year's annual increase over three years.
• We are reducing the tax burden on individuals: we have made available a further £70 million to allow Local Authorities to freeze the council tax again in 2009-10 and all councils have now agreed to the freeze. This will mean Scottish families sharing in a £420 million tax saving over three years.
• To ensure that recovery supports a low-carbon Scottish economy and more energy-efficient communities, we are taking a range of measures in support of energy efficiency for households and businesses. For example:
• We increased spending on the Central Heating Programme by £10 million in 2008-09, which resulted in the highest ever number of systems being installed in private homes by the Programme (14,430). In April, the Central Heating and Warm Deal programmes were replaced by a new holistic Energy Assistance Package. The package is a one-stop shop offering advice on energy tariffs, welfare benefits, tax credits and energy efficiency, and grants to improve energy efficiency.
• We have announced proposals for an ambitious area-based home insulation scheme, supported by £15 million of new Government funding plus £15 million from other sources. The first stage of the scheme has the potential to offer energy advice and assistance to some 90,000 homes and support nearly 900 jobs in the process. On 1 May we invited Local Authorities to put forward proposals for areas which might participate, either in 2009-10 or 2010-11. Marketing will begin in summer 2009-10 with measures being installed in the selected areas from the autumn.
• We have invested £2 million in our small business loans scheme to help more small businesses with interest-free loans to cut fuel bills. From December 2008, private landlords and agriculture and transport businesses have been able to get interest-free loans from £1,000 to £100,000 for energy efficiency measures or installation of small-scale renewables.
• We are taking action to leverage increased spend in Scotland on domestic energy efficiency improvements through the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target initiative.
• In Autumn 2008, we launched our GoGreener campaign. The first phase of the campaign focused on energy efficiency actions designed to save households £340 every year. The second phase on food waste, launched in February, highlights the actions Scots can take to reduce food waste and make household budgets go further.
• We are investing £3.5 million in the Scottish Biomass Heat Scheme to support SMEs in reducing their operating costs through the use of renewable heat.
• We are focused on supporting the most vulnerable individuals through the downturn. Through Achieving Our Potential, our anti-poverty framework, we are investing £7.5 million over the next two years in a range of measures, including help for individuals to maximise their income.
• We are strengthening the legal and advisory services to individuals facing financial and other difficulties in the downturn.
• We are providing an extra £3 million which the Scottish Legal Aid Board is using to: provide grants to improve access to legal advice and representation on matters related to the economic downturn; and recruit additional solicitors to provide such services in areas where there is inadequate provision.
• We are providing Citizens Advice Scotland with an additional £1.1 million to increase the availability of face-to-face advice on debt, welfare rights and housing and employment issues through their network of Citizens Advice Bureaux. It will provide an average of six extra hours of access each week. An additional 22,000 new clients should be advised.
• We are working closely with a wide range of stakeholders through the Debt Action Forum to look at ways of helping people in Scotland who find themselves struggling with debt. The Forum plans to report in June.
• We are acting to minimise economic disadvantage and discrimination in our communities. 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 through support for community action.
• We are investing £23 million over three years to address the needs of communities facing discrimination and disadvantage, helping to create greater community cohesion and improve participation in social and economic life.

Strengthening education and skills

• We have introduced a new strategic framework - ScotAction - to support individuals and businesses to secure the skills needed to weather the economic downturn and grow as the economic climate improves.
• We have extended and intensified our support for those in work.
• We have invested a further £16 million in our Modern Apprenticeship programme to fund an additional 7,800 places in 2009-10. Of these, 1,000 have been allocated to Glasgow City.
• Through ScotAction we have introduced a comprehensive scheme to encourage employers to take on redundant apprentices and enable them to complete their training. From July, employers will be able to access up to £2,000 for each redundant apprentice they recruit.
• The Scottish Government will support Scottish and Southern Energy in a Home Energy Apprenticeship Pilot Programme to develop an all-age apprenticeship for Energy Advisers that will develop the skills of individuals that will allow them to engage confidently with the people of Scotland on the issue of reducing emissions.
• We are funding the development and introduction of new Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks to support key sectors, for example, through 50 Creative apprenticeships and a new Life Science apprenticeship.
• We have strengthened our PACE initiative to ensure the delivery of a high level of responsiveness to businesses and individuals facing redundancy.
• We launched a national dedicated helpline, revamped website and improved information resources in February to make PACE services more accessible to individuals and employers. We ran a media campaign across Scotland to raise awareness of PACE amongst small employers and individuals.
• A £1.4 million project - including European Social Fund support - will help an additional 4,600 individuals through a variety of support including individual career planning interviews, individual employability and career planning group sessions.
• We held a PACE Summit on 9 February 2009 to share best practice and consider how the service can be further improved.
• We are establishing a high-level national strategic PACE Partnership to continue to make the service more flexible and effective as more people and companies suffer the impact of the recession.
• The Scottish Funding Council is providing an additional £7 million to Scotland's 43 publicly-funded colleges to allow them to respond quickly and flexibly to local redundancies and provide support to PACE.
• We have strengthened support for individuals to work.
• We have launched pilots in 25 sites - in Jobcentres and careers offices - to test the delivery of an integrated employment and skills service between Jobcentre Plus and Skills Development Scotland. This will enable those who have recently become unemployed to access a skills check alongside careers advice with onward referral to skills training where appropriate. Since the pilot was launched in February, over 1,000 people have been referred by Jobcentre Plus to Skills Development Scotland services.
• We are adapting the eligibility rules of our national training programmes and refining financial support for learners to ensure that people affected by the economic downturn are able to develop their skills.
• We changed the eligibility rules of our Training for Work vocational training programme to enable people to access it as soon as they have notice of redundancy. In April this year, we made further changes to enable unemployed individuals to access it after three months of unemployment (rather than six months, as it had been previously).
• We have improved the financial support for individuals to learn in all circumstances.
• From July 2009, an additional 250,000 people will be eligible to access funding through Individual Learning Accounts as we have increased the income assessment threshold eligibility from £18,000 to £22,000 and extended the range of training providers and courses for which people can use Individual Learning Accounts funding.
• From September, we are piloting the extension of financial support to post-graduate students studying part-time by providing between £500 and £1,700 a year to help with fees. Scotland is the only country in the UK to provide substantial funding for taught post-graduate study and extending this to part-time provision will help deliver more high level skills to our workforce.
• We have increased support to individuals to undertake vocational learning by promoting the increased funding available through Career Development Loans.
• The Scottish Funding Council has realigned university funding into a General Fund and a Horizon Fund. The new Horizon Fund will provide new opportunities and incentives for universities on the key areas of: employability and skills intervention; access and progression; world-class research; knowledge transfer and innovation; differentiation, diversity and specialism; sector wide capacity; and collaboration. The Network of Excellence in Creative Media Education is an early example of the projects which will be supported: £5.8 million is being invested through the Fund in targeted post-graduate training, industry-standard facilities and co-ordination of the Screen and Media Academies in Scotland.
• The Scottish Funding Council is reviewing its approach to college and university funding for teaching to ensure an appropriate emphasis on: the sectors which will grow as the economic recovery begins; and groups who are potentially most affected by the economic downturn. It is also considering whether there needs to be any revision to the geographical distribution of learning provision in light of the current economic situation. It is further encouraging colleges to give priority to the rising number of applications for places at college from young people leaving school or who have recently left school.
• Through 16+ Learning Choices, we are guaranteeing an offer of a place in learning to every young person in Scotland who wants it by December 2010. We will support every young person as they reach their compulsory school-leaving age - 60,000 young people each year. In support of this, we recently announced that we will be investing £16 million over the next two years in developing pilots of Activity Agreements - a better way of recognising and supporting young people's learning in a community or third sector setting. In addition, a further £19.7 million is being invested in the college sector in 2009-10 to help colleges deliver on the Scottish Government's commitment to provide continuing learning opportunities to young people.
• Our Early Years Framework recognises the vital role that high-quality childcare plays both in supporting parents and improving outcomes for children. We are promoting the uptake of childcare vouchers with employers and employees. The Scottish Government is continuing to promote the benefits of a single, accessible and progressive means of supporting parents with the cost of childcare.
• We are investing directly in the capacity and capability of the third sector to deliver effective services to vulnerable individuals, and create employment and employability opportunities across Scotland within sustainable business models.
• We are supporting the long-term development of the sector through a range of new funds which opened earlier this year: the Scottish Investment Fund (£30 million); the Third Sector Enterprise Fund (£12 million); and the Social Entrepreneurs Fund (£1 million).
• As a matter of urgency we are developing, in partnership with the third sector, proposals to mitigate the impacts of increased demand for services and cash flow difficulties arising from the recession. This will include design of a Resilience Fund for third sector organisations providing frontline services that have been affected by the recession.

Investing in innovation and the industries of the future

• We are investing in major infrastructure projects to support the growth of our key sectors. As part of the 2009-10 Budget, Scottish Enterprise is accelerating £30 million of investment in key projects that will deliver wider benefits to the Scottish economy including the Edinburgh Bio-Quarter, the SECC in Glasgow and Fife Energy Park.
• We are working to improve the availability of, and access to, investment funding for businesses.
• We are working to establish a Scottish Investment Bank, initially through bringing together Scottish Enterprise's existing investment funds, creating a combined spending power of £150 million.
• In 2009-10, Scottish Enterprise has responded to continued strong demand by early-stage technology companies for risk capital investment. In total, £25.5 million has been allocated across the three funds (Scottish Seed Fund, Scottish Co-investment Fund and Scottish Venture Fund) to help these companies to progress through start up, growth and expansion.
• Scottish Enterprise has increased and improved the assistance available to help companies become 'Investor Ready'. Over the past seven months, demand has shown a significant increase with 43 companies completing the programme and 156 in the pipeline. Similarly, through its Funder Readiness Programme, Highlands and Islands Enterprise provides support to growth businesses seeking to prepare a funding proposal, such as assistance with the cost of engaging professionals to prepare and present information.
• Across the public sector, we are providing an integrated and more tailored range of advisory services to businesses to help them cope with the downturn.
• We have launched a central online resource for businesses and households - 'Help through the Downturn' - to direct individuals to the right source of advice and support quickly. ¹¹
• Scottish Enterprise is working with over 10,000 companies to help them compete in the current climate, grow and safeguard jobs. A key element of its activity has been the 'Now's The Time To Ask' campaign. Following a major media campaign - generating over 4,100 direct enquiries - there have been over 1,500 attendees at events held all over Scotland, on issues relating to innovation, finance, business efficiency, management and leadership, and finance.
• Scottish Enterprise completed 'Downturn Reviews' with its portfolio of 2,000 account-managed companies and follow-up action plans are now under way. This has led to increased demand for support across all areas, especially in key areas such as strategy development, investment readiness, internationalisation and innovation support.
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise has introduced account management for high-growth businesses in the Highlands and Islands, working intensively with over 100 businesses to date and over the coming year, expanding that number to approximately 250.
• The first phase of Highlands and Islands Enterprise's economic recovery plan saw over 360 businesses calling its advice line, with 148 being referred for further one-to-one advice. It has also run 14 business clinics throughout the Highlands and Islands.
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise has run the first three in a series of four 'virtual' business masterclasses, with hundreds of online participants from Scotland and further afield. These masterclasses focus on issues identified by the business community as being of particular relevance to them in the current economic climate.
• In addition to the tailored business advice, we are ensuring that there is an extensive range of i nnovation advice services available to businesses across the country.
• Following on from their 'Now's The Time To Ask' campaign, Scottish Enterprise has organised a series of 'Winning Through Innovation' events, seven of which have already been held across Scotland with over 750 delegates attending. This is now being followed up by a series of new Product Development Workshops and Innovation Masterclasses. In addition, a new innovation service for companies is being tested through innovation surgeries with specialist innovation advisors.
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise is developing the innovation system throughout the Highlands and Islands by using its partnership with MIT to raise awareness of innovation, helping businesses identify innovative opportunities and providing advice on how to implement them.
• Scottish Enterprise is investing an additional £3 million over three years in the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service to support a doubling of the number of company reviews carried out. As part of this, 11 new advisers are joining the Service.
• The Scottish Funding Council has launched an innovation scheme which offers higher education institutions up to £5,000 in the form of a voucher to meet up to 50% of the costs of new collaborations with Scottish SMEs. The focus of the scheme is across all sectors and university disciplines and will help SMEs draw upon the world-class research and expertise within Scotland's universities.
• In February, we launched BusinessClub Scotland, a new initiative designed to ensure Scottish businesses get maximum benefit from major events being held in Scotland.
• Scottish Development International ( SDI) has increased and improved the services it now offers. SDI has been 'up-skilling' the Scottish company base to achieve more revenue from international markets - especially in future growth industries. Significant improvements have been made to the ways in which SDI can help Scottish businesses earn from overseas markets and more resources have been invested to increase the range of SDI products and services available to companies across Scotland. For example:
• The 'Sell Now Pay Later' support available at the end of 2008-09 has enabled companies to attend overseas exhibitions while deferring payment of exhibition costs by up to six months.
• Use of International Mentoring is increasing through an increasing uptake of 'Export Manager for Hire', 'Graduates for Business' and access to the network of Globalscots. As part of this, the GlobalScot International Conference in November 2009 will bring together 200 senior international business people to meet and network with over 200 representatives from Scotland's business community.
• We are investing in the future growth of our energy sector. In February, we announced a series of Energy Pledges to create new jobs, tackle climate change and save households and businesses money. Estimates suggest up to 16,000 jobs in energy-related opportunities in Scotland could be created over the next decade. We have now published a detailed action plan setting out the range of actions being taken - and to be taken - across energy generation, energy efficiency and transport. The Pledges are:
• we will support and accelerate the implementation of renewable energy, through our Renewables Action Plan, in a way which promotes large-scale, community-based, decentralised and sustainable generation;
• we will aim to build a commercially-viable, diverse renewable heat industry in Scotland to deliver benefits to the wider public, through the implementation of our Renewable Heat Action Plan;
• we will harness the renewable energy potential of Scotland's seas to support the emergence of new thriving marine renewable and offshore wind industries within Scotland;
• we will use the Saltire Prize, the world's largest innovation prize for marine renewables, to accelerate the development of marine renewable technologies and promote Scotland as the world leader in marine renewable energy;
• we will work with the oil and gas sector to maintain its competitiveness, facilitate the transfer of skills and knowledge to other sectors and utilise Scottish-based skills in world markets;
• we will enhance our capability to undertake energy and environmental foresight, and develop our preparedness to anticipate threats and take advantage of opportunities;
• we will support the development of sub-sea grids, alongside improvements in the onshore grids, and press the UK Government for fairer charging structures;
• we will support development and implementation of clean fossil technologies in Scotland, through collaboration with academia, industry and other interested parties;
• we will implement measures to improve Scotland's energy use through the Energy Efficiency Action Plan, which is a key part of the Scottish Government's Climate Change Bill;
• we will develop and deliver more sustainable transport to improve efficiency and reduce transport emissions in the longer term;
• we will promote the development, uptake and use of electric and other low carbon vehicles, in addition to using improvements in vehicle engineering which are already available; and
• we will work to develop international partnerships through the Saltire Prize and the Scottish European Green Energy Centre to make Scotland a leader in the development and deployment of green energy.
• We are working to improve the competitiveness of our financial services sector. A Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce has been established to co-ordinate efforts across Scotland to ensure employment is retained within the financial services industry.
• We are working with Scotland Food and Drink and other agencies to provide enhanced support to help businesses in the food and drink sector exploit export opportunities. For example, Scottish Enterprise is planning to invest approximately £4 million to support the Scottish Food and Health Innovation Centre, which will support companies introducing products into the health food market. In February 2009, a substantial package of support to help Scotland's food and drink industry increase its international profile was set out.
• We are supporting long-term growth in our marine and aquaculture sectors. We have introduced the Marine Bill with proposals for better management and streamlined decision making for marine resources. This will strengthen local involvement in marine issues and give developers greater clarity to support investment. In addition, on 21 May, we launched a renewed Strategic Framework for Scottish Aquaculture to support the continued development of Scottish aquaculture.
• We are working with key partners on the competitiveness of our life and health sciences industry. In June 2009, the Scottish Health Sciences Collaboration is being launched, involving the participation of four medical universities, cognate teaching Health Boards and Scottish Enterprise. This will facilitate cost-effective R&D and clinical development of products.
• We are focusing Creative Scotland's £5 million Innovation Fund on measures to support artists and creators through the economic downturn and reinforce the contribution that they can make to recovery. Creative Scotland is also working with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Local Authorities to offer co-ordinated advice to those who want to start or develop businesses in any of the creative or artistic fields.
• We have launched Homecoming 2009 as a major stimulus to the tourism industry. Over 300 events are taking place across Scotland this year from Burns Night to St. Andrew's Day. We have a target of an eightfold return on core investment generating an anticipated additional £40 million in tourism revenue. Our target of 100,000 additional international visitors is already expected to be exceeded.
• VisitScotland is further supporting the tourism industry through a number of key actions.
• VisitScotland is now structured around its four main customer groups and is better placed than ever to maximise the growth potential of Scottish tourism. It is working with partner agencies on a national tourist investment plan to maximise employment and align with the Scottish Government's £2.5 billion investment in transport infrastructure.
• In 2009, VisitScotland launched a £1 million marketing campaign, Perfect Day, which will reach a 36 million audience across the UK and aims to capitalise on the trend to stay at home this year.
• To support Scotland's tourism businesses in the downturn, VisitScotland has launched an enhanced marketing initiative, the VisitScotland Growth Fund. The fund is designed for groups to maximise the value of the marketing of their products and services.
• Tourism Intelligence Scotland ( TIS) is a partnership project involving Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, VisitScotland and an industry project leadership group. The TIS resource 'Knowing Our Markets…Scotland's Visitors' will be launched in May 2009 and disseminated to 10,000 businesses.

« Previous | Contents | Next »