Regional development within Scotland was identified by several political parties as an issue to address, ahead of the Scottish Parliament election. Now the electorate has had its say – and with a strengthening of regional economic partnerships now the likely target (as indicated in the SNP manifesto) – how might a regional development approach be fleshed out?
Local growth plans, my colleagues and I have argued, provide a useful vehicle to consider the content and form of future regional and city-regional policy in Scotland. Such plans present a 10-15 year view on regional change and what policy, conceived across the multi-level governance system, is required to support this. Plans have been proposed for parts of England, but not yet for areas within Scotland.
In terms of content, we know that across Scotland’s four city-regions the economic issues and challenges local policymakers confront are not the same. This means that what works to manage the growth dimensions in Edinburgh and Glasgow will differ from how growth can be supported in Aberdeen and Dundee. This points to the fact that policy must avoid one size fits all responses, with Edinburgh’s notable financial services sector, for example, requiring different responses from a place facing the prospect of a stark renewables transition.
With respect to form for a renewed regional policy, we would resist leaning on off the shelf solutions. There has been a lively media and advocacy commentary arguing that mayors should be established for certain city-region geographies in Scotland, similar to what has emerged in England. However, Scotland’s tripartite governance architecture presents a different context for a mayor to operate within. In this respect, any new mayoral roles would work in a context where negotiations with both the UK Government and Scottish Government are required. By focusing on the content, to start with, an informed consideration of governance shifts can then proceed.
The following steps would usefully support the production of a local growth plan.
First, existing fora such as economic leadership groups could draw together regional and city-regional stakeholders to start to sketch out a prioritisation framework for a local growth plan, and marshal the existing evidence base at the same time. The UK Government and Scottish Governments could both support these processes with capacity and/or resource.
Second, the UK Government and Scottish Governments could start on work to agree a framework to support regional development across Scotland, mindful that different capabilities exist across the four city-regions. Such a co-ordinated framework would then give localities a clear steer on what is required in terms of local governance and accountabilities if further autonomies or funding discretions are granted.
Third – and through steps one and two above – consideration could be given to a wider suite of decentralising moves, such as de-concentration, not just devolution. Given the Scottish government is close to localities in some senses, and wields a range of devolved powers, working out how it can work in a more regionally responsive manner is worth considering. Regional development policy in Scotland has been left to somewhat ad hoc and piecemeal initiatives over the last decade and a half, even if individual agreements and deals will typically be welcomed by local bodies. A local growth plan presents an opportunity to take a purposive, longer-term view on regional development needs, and provides a vehicle through which stakeholder support can be negotiated.
Additionally, a local growth plan with buy-in would help to move past a tendency for rapid churn in sub-national policymaking by establishing some form of consensus on what is needed. This points to a balance to be struck: a longer-term view would help to secure a policy agenda, yet a plan should not be so rigid that no adaptation is permitted to address emerging or changing concerns over time. Local growth plans may also have a role in informing and not just taking directions from national-level policy settings. This would mark a shift away from a logic of the “centre knows best” and more firmly establish partnership working.
Finally, none of the above will be straightforward and the tensions between different parties with a stake in regional development in Scotland are already apparent. Despite this governance complexity, it would be a limited policy outcome if only ad hoc announcements defined the next 10 years of Scottish urban and regional policy.
