Allister Hayman,
Regeneration & Renewal,
9 May 2008
Scotland's shake-up of local regeneration is mired in a dispute between the country's economic development agency and its town halls that could drag on for months, Regeneration & Renewal has learned.
The transfer of responsibility for local economic regeneration from Scottish Enterprise to local authorities - billed by finance secretary John Swinney last September as one of the most significant shake-ups of Scottish regeneration in decades - was due to have been completed by 1 April.
But the deadline passed without the resolution of three major stumbling blocks: the level of funding to cover the running costs of local regeneration projects that are to be transferred; details of the assets to be transferred from Scottish Enterprise to town halls; and the implication of the reform on European funding (R&R, 18 April, p11).
A senior source close to the negotiations said that these issues remained unresolved. "European funding is going to take some time to think through and that could take months," he said.
He said the issue of revenue funding was also unresolved. Councils felt the deal, by which £12.5 million for local projects is to be transferred to councils, was insufficient to cover the costs of running the projects.
A Scottish regeneration expert said the reform had not been thought through. "Scottish Enterprise want to keep their budget for the big projects and give the councils a pittance for theirs," he said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said it was not its role to "dictate" a resolution to the dispute.
