Achieving a sustainable future: regeneration strategy

Annex B

Roles and Responsibilities

The following sections outline the different organisations that are responsible for delivering regeneration outcomes. This list is not exhaustive and is likely to shift depending on local circumstances and the nature and scale of the regeneration activity being undertaken.

In addition to the organisations outlined below, organisations such as SEPA, Scottish Water, Health Boards, and Transport Scotland will also have a key influencing effect on the success of regeneration.

Scottish Government

Key roles:

• Creating a vision and setting strategic direction
• Enabler and funder
• Supporting successful delivery
• Facilitating learning
• Coordinating policy

The Scottish Government has a key role in setting the vision and strategic direction for regeneration in Scotland, providing an overarching framework for delivery and putting in place the right conditions to implement our vision, evaluating and driving forward change to make a lasting difference.

It is important to learn lessons from the past, in order to inform future delivery. Whilst learning lessons from experience and sharing practice should be part of delivery at all levels, the Scottish Government will also facilitate knowledge transfer where this can help improve the delivery of services. This role includes ensuring that local delivery organisations are putting the right solutions in place and that they have the right skills, capacity and knowledge to deliver.

The Scottish Government also has responsibility for ensuring that national Government policies are coordinated, pulling together the different strands of related policies at national level so that regeneration does not stand alone but is instead an integral consideration across a wider range of connected strategies and policies.

Local Authorities

Key roles:

• The lead statutory role in Community Planning, ensuring relevant local partners are engaged in delivering joint priorities at a local level and that communities are actively engaged with the Community Planning process
• In the context of Community Planning, playing a key role in the preparation, delivery and monitoring of the Single Outcome Agreement for their locality
• Delivering coordinated and effective local services in line with priority local outcomes and needs
• Taking account of economic opportunity and need in design and delivery of policies
• Drawing together the right partnerships at local level and ensuring that communities are engaged and involved.
• Taking account of national policies and strategies and implementing these at a local level.

Local authorities have responsibility for delivering local economic development and local regeneration. In addition to their role as major employers and procurers of services, local authorities lead on the delivery of critical functions, such as housing, planning, licensing, education, and local transportation infrastructure. The effective, joined-up delivery of these services can have a major positive impact on the operation of the local economy.

Local Authorities also play an important role in supporting the local business base through the delivery of Business Gateway with it's emphasis on both helping businesses to start up, remain sustainable and grow. This is complemented by the potential to lead entrepreneurship activity in schools and in partnership with local colleges.

It is for local authorities to develop the right working relationships to deliver regeneration and to ensure that local communities are involved in decision making and delivery. Local authorities are well placed to create relationships at a macro level, for example by working across local authority boundaries in order to develop a regional economic approach and to share practice and learning.

It is for local authorities to ensure that the resources they have available are directed by the genuine needs of local people. Local authorities have a key role in identifying suitable local funding for regeneration activity and in ensuring transparency of funding for other local delivery organisations.

"Regeneration in the current context of developing policy must reflect…a delivery model which connects communities and does not treat deprived neighbourhoods in isolation".

Discussion paper response

Local authorities are well placed to link economic opportunity and need. It is important that an overall view is taken of the opportunities that exist, where there is room for growth, and how these opportunities can be effectively exploited to respond to local conditions in an effective way.

Local authorities are also best placed to ensure that cultural provision is an integrated part of local regeneration activity.

Health Boards

Key roles:

• Developing strategies which promote health as much as ones which tackle ill health.
• Help people identify and focus on the assets and strengths within themselves and their communities and supporting them to use these assets to make sustainable improvements in their lives
• Undertaking a preventative role, particularly in relation to early years interventions.

The NHS has a role to play with other agencies to help communities take more control of their own affairs including health, rather than what the NHS or other agencies can do to, or for communities to improve their health. The NHS therefore needs to help people find alternatives to seeking healthcare as a solution to social problems as well as providing appropriate service for medical needs. Health Boards also play a key role in undertaking preventative action, particularly in relation to early years support.

Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs)

"The spatial priorities for regeneration should be decided by each local CPP… [they] are in the best position to prioritise regeneration areas and these can then be developed into regeneration outcomes in the Single Outcome Agreements".

Discussion paper response

Key roles:

• To develop effective local partnership approaches to identify and deliver priority local outcomes, set out in the Single Outcome Agreement
• To ensure that the right organisations and people are involved in shaping decisions and delivery, including community representatives.
• To ensure that regeneration outcomes are embedded in the Single Outcome Agreement approach.

Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs) are central to ensuring that the right people and communities are involved in decisions about the public services that affect them and that the right connections, including regional and national connections, are in place to deliver positive local outcomes. The Scottish Government looks to CPPs work across and disrespect the boundaries between public services to deliver the right positive outcomes for their locality.

It is important that regeneration outcomes are embedded within the CPP approach. CPPs can work with others to share information to help improve the delivery of regeneration outcomes across the whole of Scotland.

Community Anchor Organisations

"Successful regeneration begins at ground level and by empowering communities to make changes for themselves".

Discussion paper response

There are already a large number of successful locally controlled organisations that play a key role in regeneration. These include:

• the 170+ members of Development Trusts Association Scotland
• Community Councils
• the Community Based Housing Association movement
• Social enterprises
• a growing community food movement
• community health projects

These organisations have strong links to their local communities and usually stimulate high levels of voluntary activity. They are well placed to spot the talent and opportunities in their areas and have the energy and creativity to nurture and exploit those.

Increasingly, these organisations take an enterprising and assets based approach to their work. This is the kind of activity we want to support through this strategy.

Third Sector

Key roles:

• To deliver key projects and services designed to enhance the well-being of our communities
• To strengthen communities resilience and support community engagement in the design and delivery of public services.

The third sector - comprising social enterprises, voluntary organisations and community organisations - makes a direct impact on communities, the wellbeing of citizens and the improvement of public services. As the needs of the disadvantaged are at the heart of the third sector's work, the sector plays a key role in supporting regeneration outcomes. The third sector often reaches individuals and communities that the public and private sectors do not always effectively engage with.

The third sector strengthens community resilience and sense of well being, and supports community engagement in the design and delivery of public services. It is the primary source of volunteering which not only helps deliver services that make communities stronger and supports vulnerable people, but builds skills and self-development that can improve employability prospects.

Registered Social Landlords

" RSLs have a key role to play in both physical and social regeneration and through their wider action role and being based within local communities play a very significant role in delivering successful outcomes."

Discussion paper response

Key roles:

• To act as landlords and housing developers, maintaining stability and quality of both their service and the physical environment locally.
• To use their role in the community to deliver positive economic, social and environmental changes for the people they house.

RSLs make a significant contribution to local regeneration through their wider role activity. RSLs have strong links to the communities they serve. This makes them well placed to identify local opportunities and needs and deliver outcomes for local people. RSLs have a particular ability to reach hard to reach groups and individuals. RSLs possess significant assets in terms of land, building and the skills and experience of their management committee members and staff.

Many RSLs also undertake a broader role as a community anchor, working to build capacity within other community groups and third sector organisations involved in local regeneration activity.

Scottish Enterprise

Key roles:

• Driving forward economic growth
• Developing key sectors and stimulating growth opportunities
• Working in partnership to link areas of need with economic opportunities

Scottish Enterprise ( SE) works with businesses across Scotland to stimulate economic growth. The right conditions need to be in place in all of Scotland's communities to achieve this. It is vital that the benefits of growth are shared equitably and that economic opportunity is effectively linked with need.

SE has the potential to make a significant contribution to regeneration through its ability to stimulate and identify growth opportunities. In addition, SE is an active partner in major regeneration initiatives, including Scotland's Urban Regeneration Companies ( URCs), providing its expertise and input where appropriate to contribute to success.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Key roles:

• Driving forward economic growth
• Strengthening local communities

Highlands and Islands Enterprise's ( HIE) purpose is to generate sustainable economic growth in every part of the Highlands and Islands. HIE plays a key role in delivering regeneration in rural areas.

HIE supports the growth of businesses and social enterprises particularly through its account management approach. It contributes to the development of growth sectors, including life sciences, business services marine renewables and financial services in order to support wider economic growth and deliver opportunities for local communities. HIE also supports projects that have a region-wide significance and underpin long-term economic growth such as investment in digital connectivity , the University of the Highlands and Islands, the low-carbon economy and the Digital Highlands and Islands action plan.

These activities complement HIE's work in promoting community-led asset-based development, to help grow stronger, more dynamic and sustainable communities, particularly in fragile areas

Scottish Futures Trust

Key roles:

• Develop and deliver new and innovative funding models for infrastructure
• Deliver improved value for money from investment in public sector infrastructure

The Scottish Futures Trust ( SFT) is active in all sectors and has responsibility to deliver value for money across all public infrastructure investment. SFT operates at arms length from the Scottish Government, but works closely with public sector bodies to seek and deliver improved value for taxpayers. SFT's Business Plan for 2011-12 sets out key work to be undertaken by them on a £9 billion portfolio of projects.

A number of the SFT's initiatives, in particular Tax Incremental Financing ( TIF) and capital build projects associated with the Non-Profit Distributing ( NPD) model, have a direct impact on regeneration, with the potential to deliver regeneration outcomes through wider economic growth.

Other Delivery Agents: Special Purpose Vehicles

Key roles:

• To deliver transformational regeneration
• To work in partnership with the public and private sector to deliver sustainable change.
• To identify and access new and existing sources of funding, being innovative in their approach
• To trail-blaze new approaches to funding and delivery

Urban Regeneration Companies ( URCs) and other Special Purpose Vehicles ( SPVs) are a valuable tool to deliver sustainable transformational change, often in areas with significant market failure and with deep-seated physical, economic and social problems. URCs and other SPVs play an important role in bringing together public and private sector partners around a shared set of outcomes, to deliver a range of projects.

They also have a key role in developing new approaches to funding and delivery, with a responsibility to share practice with others in order to improve outcomes across Scotland.

Private Sector

"There is a need to adopt a cultural change whereby regeneration is addressed through proper partnerships between the public and private sectors. The skills and experience of the private sector, particularly given the change to an investment approach, should be utilised at an early stage in the process and evaluated. Appropriate risk should be shared and managed between the public and private investors."

Discussion Paper Response

Key roles:

• To invest in development
• To maintain quality of design and development
• To act as role model and leader
• To be a partner in shaping decisions and driving forward solutions

Private sector investment in regeneration projects often holds the key to unlocking developing and delivering change on the scale that is required. Involvement of the private sector in delivering regeneration is crucial, both in relation to provision of finance (through banks and other providers) and in directly delivering projects (including housing and business infrastructure). Private sector partners are also increasingly taking on a key role in developing new and innovative funding models. Private sector partners can bring a high degree of expertise to regeneration projects.