Infrastructure Investment Plan 2015: progress report 2018-2019

Regeneration

Overview

Regeneration policy delivers inclusive growth by supporting interventions that 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.

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 include:

• The SPRUCE fund (Scottish Partnership for Regeneration in Urban Centres), provides investment in the form of loans to deliver regeneration and energy efficiency schemes across Scotland. Those loans are now being repaid with the receipts being recycled and used to deliver further regeneration projects.
• The Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) delivered in partnership with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and local government, supports locally developed regeneration projects that involve local communities and helps tackle inequality and support inclusive growth in disadvantaged and fragile rural areas.
• The Vacant and Derelict Land Fund aims to tackle long-term vacant and derelict land bringing it back into productive use in order to stimulate economic growth and job creation, with a focus on temporary and permanent greening, whilst supporting communities to flourish and tackle inequalities.
• The Empowering Communities Fund comprising a programme of funds and projects that support disadvantaged communities to tackle poverty and inequality on their own terms, and to support community empowerment more broadly. The fund reflects our commitment to investing in communities so that they can develop the resources and resilience to decide their own priorities, needs and aspirations; and, to develop their own social, economic and environmental solutions in response.
• Funding is used to support hundreds of community organisations through programmes such as the People and Communities Fund, Strengthening Communities Programme, Community Choices Fund, the Community Ownership Support Service and Aspiring Communities Fund.
• In 2019-20, we will bring forward a streamlined fund to provide a simpler more flexible process for communities.

Progress

• SPRUCE, Scotland's Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) investment loan fund is now recycling loans, which have, being repaid into further regeneration projects. In addition to the initial £50 million of capital, further contributions of £20 million in Financial Transactions have been provided by the Scottish Government to support investments. During 2018-19, the fund received £25 million from the Building Scotland Fund taking the total contributions to £95 million. A total of 12 projects have now received investment of over £85 million, supporting estimated development costs of over £240 million and creating 5,300 jobs.
• The Scottish Government continues to support Clyde Gateway URC with more than £155 million of support provided up until March 2019 and further £6.1 million expected to be provided in 2019-20.
• Since 2014, 119 projects from the disadvantaged areas across Scotland have been recommended for support of from the RCGF.
• 24 projects were supported totalling £26 million in 2018-19.
• A further 18 projects have been recommended for funding of more than £20 million in 2019-20.
• Over £110 million provided from the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund to March 2019 to tackle long term vacant and derelict land in five local authority areas with a further £11.44 million available in 2019-20.
• A new £50 million Town Centre Fund for 2019-20, which has been developed in partnership with COSLA, was launched on 1 March 2019. It will enable local authorities to stimulate and support place based economic investments, which encourage town centres to diversify and flourish, creating footfall through local improvements and partnerships. This builds on previous investment of £10 million against the themes of the Town Centre Action Plan through the Town Centre Housing Fund, Town Centre Communities Capital Fund, Town Centre Empty Homes Fund and the Town Centre Action plan demonstration phase.