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Chamber and committees

Question reference: S5W-22410

  • Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
  • Date lodged: 28 March 2019
  • Current status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 April 2019

Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the two pilot projects for community wealth building will be established.


Answer

In line with the commitment made in the 2017 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government is currently involved in development of two projects, one in Glasgow and one in Ayrshire.

In Glasgow, we are working with the Glasgow Procurement Collaboration Group – a group of “anchor” institutions with a significant employment and purchasing impact footprints in the city economy and beyond. This group, led by Strathclyde University, includes Glasgow City Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, City of Glasgow College, and Glasgow Clyde College. The project focuses on opportunities to use procurement practice and detailed procurement data provided by the Scottish Government to help increase spending by these anchor institutions which will directly affect small and medium enterprises in the city.

Secondly, on 8 April the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity announced £103 million of Scottish Government investment in the Ayrshire Growth Deal. As part of this, the Scottish Government will be investing up to £3 million in a Community Wealth Building Fund for Ayrshire. This fund will be made available regionally, with activity co-designed between the Scottish Government and the new Ayrshire Regional Economic Partnership. The programme will seek to deliver inclusive growth and galvanise the regional economy through initiatives which could include:

  • Development of local skills pipelines to “anchor” employers;
  • Development of local SME supplier base with “anchor” employers;
  • Increased local procurement spend;
  • Increased support for local entrepreneurship;
  • Potential Community Asset Transfers;
  • Levering of private sector funding to support community business and entrepreneurship.

We will work closely over the coming months with the Ayrshire Regional Economic Partnership to co-design this innovative programme, and we expect to be able to agree and provide details of this when the final Ayrshire Growth Deal document is completed later in 2019.