Infrastructure investment plan 2015: 2016 progress report

Regeneration

Regeneration policy delivers inclusive growth, by supporting interventions which respond to local circumstances, addressing market failure and increasing opportunities to attract investment and jobs to disadvantaged and fragile areas, contributing to community and regional cohesion.

We invested £56 million towards regeneration activities in 2016-17, with a further £55 million to be invested in 2017-18.

The key elements of the Regeneration Strategy are:

• tackling area-based deprivation by reforming how mainstream resources are used and working together more effectively;
• a focus on community-led regeneration; and
• realising the economic potential of Scotland's communities through focused funding and other support mechanisms.

Key funding measures across 2016-17 and 2017-18 include:

• The Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres ( SPRUCE) fund which initially invested £50 million in loan form in regeneration and energy efficiency schemes across Scotland. Those loans are now being repaid, some ahead of time, with the receipts being recycled and used to deliver further regeneration projects. Ministers have made additional £15 million Financial Transactions monies available to SPRUCE in 2016-17 for projects that are led by the Private Sector and will deliver significant regeneration outcomes.
• The £25 million per annum Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, developed in partnership with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA), provides support to deliver large-scale improvements to deprived areas, focussing on projects that engage and involve local communities and can deliver sustainable physical, social and economic regeneration outcomes.
• £17.7 million to tackle vacant and derelict land through the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund, which is intended to stimulate economic growth and job creation, with a focus on temporary and permanent greening, whilst supporting communities to flourish and tackle inequalities.
• £40 million for the family of Empowering Communities Funds, reinforcing the Scottish Government's commitment to continued funding alignment. The bulk of this funding is used to support hundreds of community organisations through programmes such as the People and Communities Fund, Strengthening Communities Programme, the Community Ownership Support Service, and work with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.
• The £18.9 million Aspiring Communities Fund, running from Winter 2016 to December 2018, will support applications from eligible community bodies to accelerate the design and delivery of sustainable community-led initiatives to tackle poverty, inequality and exclusion.

Progress since 2008 includes:

• Over £483 million directly invested in regeneration including activity in 2017-18.
• The SPRUCE, Scotland's £50 million Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas ( JESSICA) investment loan fund, was launched on 12 December 2011. With the entire amount invested and early loans starting to be repaid, we are now recycling monies into further regeneration projects. An additional £15 million in Financial Transactions has been added to the fund which has contributed to the nine infrastructure projects supported to date. Recent estimates indicate SPRUCE will lever in an additional £158 million in private funding, creating 4,750 jobs.
• Over £230 million invested in Urban Regeneration Companies ( URCs). The following outputs have been delivered up to March 2016: over 140,000 square metres of new or refurbished business space; over 8,200 jobs created or retained and over 1,700 training places; over 228 hectares of vacant and derelict land remediated or developed; over 2200 houses and 2 primary schools built. In addition, over £500 million of direct and indirect private sector investment has been generated on the back of public sector investment.
• Since 2014, the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund has invested in 66 projects in disadvantaged areas across Scotland. These are anticipated to support or create more than 3000 jobs, refurbish/bring back in to use 75 buildings, including a number of historic buildings, create more than 55,000 sqm of business space and support numerous community facilities.
• Over £100 million provided from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund to tackle long term vacant and derelict land in five local authority areas.
• Town Centre Regeneration Fund: £60 million of funding provided to town centres across Scotland in 2009-10 to deliver a range of regeneration outcomes.
• In 2015-16 21 community organisations were supported to deliver innovative town centre initiatives across Scotland through the £1.7 million Town Centre Communities Capital Fund.
• The Town Centre First Principle developed in partnership with COSLA and local government, calls on central government, local authorities, communities and the wider public sector to put town centres at the heart of decision-making process.
• £2.75 million in 2015-16 through the Town Centre Housing Fund to support a range of demonstration projects to test how empty town centre properties can be brought back into use for affordable housing.