Agenda item

Briefing paper by Director, Resilient Communities. (Copy to follow.)

2.1     There had been circulated copies of a report by the Director - Resilient Communities which provided elected members with an update on key areas of economic development delivery in the Scottish Borders. The report identified the major policies and strategies that were driving regional economic development and detailed key pieces of work. The Local Employability Partnership (LEP) was established in September 2021 to help drive the employability agenda and to foster a strong collaborative approach to delivery.  One of the key areas of work was the delivery of the No One Left Behind (NOLB) funding programme which had a greater focus in 2023/24 on Child Poverty.  At the end of the first half of 2023/24 the Council’s Employability Service had a working caseload of 419 clients across the region with a range of barriers to employment. Scottish Borders Council and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) agreed to form a strategic partnership for delivery of the Business Gateway service in November 2020, with the transfer of services completed in April 2021.  The report provided an update on delivery through the second quarter of the current financial year and indicated strong enquiry numbers and confirmed a continued general increase in Business Gateway activities.  All of the key partners in the South of Scotland, including Scottish Borders Council were collaborating on the development of a single Responsible Tourism Strategy for the South of Scotland.  The development of the new strategy was progressing well following consultation events led by the South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA) over the summer, and it was proposed to launch the strategy at the SSDA Tourism Conference on 20 March 2024.  Following assessment of the latest round of funding applications in November, twelve projects in the Scottish Borders had been awarded approximately £1.45m of UK Government Shared Prosperity (SPF) Funding, and the Scottish Government Community Led Local Development (CLLD) Programme was fully committed after the approval of a series of successful applications by the Local Action Group.  As part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, the Business Infrastructure Programme (Scotland) was a £13.7m capital programme for the South of Scotland, for building industrial units and the servicing of land at five sites across the South of Scotland, including £3m of Borderlands funding for the Scottish Borders and a contribution of £632k from Scottish Borders Council for investment in Coldstream and Hawick in the Scottish Borders.  Following recent business case approval by the Scottish and UK Governments and the Borderlands Partnership Board, the Coldstream project had started and site work would commence early next year.  The Chief Officer – Economic Development, Ms Sam Smith, presented the report and highlighted that reference in the report to the first half of the year, should refer to throughout 2022/23. 

2.2      The Chairman welcomed Ms Lesley Forsyth and Ms Tracey Graham of SOSE to the meeting to provide an update on the work that had been undertaken on the Scotland Starts Here project. Ms Forsyth explained that work to develop a website to act as a place to tell the story of the South of Scotland and to attract National and International investment.   The website had been designed to be visually engaging, with embedded videos amongst other features.  Maps, outlining the location of the region’s key infrastructure, would also be available on the site.   The key economic sectors of the area, including case studies, news and resources would also be present.  Ms Smith highlighted that the website had the potential to provide a shop window for the region, and that work was ongoing to ensure that appropriate signposting to Council departments was in place.  In response to a question regarding information on the workforce of the area, it was confirmed that information on the available labour force would be included on the site.  The Director – Resilient Communities confirmed that a report evaluating the outcomes of shared prosperity investments would be presented in due course.  In response to a question regarding collaborative work with national partners, Ms Graham confirmed that discussions had been held with the Department for Trade and Industry and Scottish Development International.   The importance of providing effective transport infrastructure to the region was highlighted.  The Chairman thanked attendees for their presentation and highlighted that 6 Thistle Awards had been won by businesses from the area.     

DECISION

AGREED to:-

(a)     note the information that was provided regarding the current economic development landscape affecting the Scottish Borders; and

(b)     note where future delivery updates would be reported back to Executive.