Place Based Investment

The Place Based Investment Programme aims to bring the Place Principle to life.  It is supported by an initial £325 million capital over the next 5 years to accelerate the delivery of community led regeneration, community wealth building, town centre revitalisation, and 20-minute neighbourhoods.

The Programme will link and align all place based funding initiatives to create a coherent approach to building resilient communities, addressing inequalities and supporting an inclusive, well-being economy in local settings. In practice this means that consideration will be given to how place based investments align with other planned investments in the locality in order to streamline delivery and increase impact.

 

Aims 

The Programme aims to:

  • ensure that investments in a place are relevant to that place and for the benefit of all the people in that place.
  • support the delivery of 20 minute neighbourhoods.
  • provide a consistent framework for looking at investments in a place, and explore with those communities how greater collaboration can improve the circumstances of peoples’ lives.
  • support the ambitions of existing place based plans and strategies, such as the Infrastructure Investment Plan and the emerging National Planning Framework4, making sure that money spent in places has the greatest collective benefit possible.
  • accelerate ambitions for Community Wealth Building, community-led Regeneration, and the cities and town centres agendas.
  • provide a coherent local framework across urban and rural areas for realising ambitions for inclusion, climate change, and wellbeing.

The programme of investment includes continued delivery of the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, ongoing support for Clyde Gateway, funding that is being allocated directly to Scotland’s local authorities and providing support to communities to shape local action to accelerate ambitions for place and 20‑minute neighbourhoods.

A new £50 million low carbon Vacant & Derelict Land Investment Programme will compliment the Place Based Investment  Programme over the next five years.  This fund aims to support ambitious local approaches to unblocking the reuse of persistent vacant and derelict land to deliver new green infrastructure, supporting a just transition to net zero.

For the local government allocation, the funding will be for local authorities to allocate, working collaboratively with local communities, along with business and the third and public sectors, to support shared local plans and aspirations. Locally allocated funding is also expected to contribute to net zero, wellbeing and inclusive economic development, tackling inequality and disadvantage, and community involvement and ownership, including the repurposing of buildings, maintenance and repairs, reallocating external space and community land acquisition.

Infrastructure and Place

Infrastructure investment touches the lives of every person in Scotland and is an important part of our communities – from the homes we live in and the water, energy and telecommunication we consume, to how we travel to the places we work, shop and learn.

Scotland's Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26 (IIP) plan focusses investment in infrastructure on the transition to net zero emissions, driving inclusive economic growth and building resilient and sustainable places. It builds on the recommendations of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports.

The Plan includes details of over £26 billion of projects and programmes, including investments that support better local places through community-led regeneration and town centre revitalisation; more suitable, warm, affordable homes; and more high quality social infrastructure such as more local and elective healthcare services and more investment in learning facilities.

 

Resilient, Sustainable Places

The IIP contains a theme on Building Resilient and Sustainable Places which highlights the strong relationships between decision making on infrastructure provision, and the quality of life for people in local communities.  Future work is set out under 3 headings: 

 

Creating Better Local Places

  • Promoting place-based economic development and cohesion, ensuring all city, town, village and island communities can thrive by through the Place Based Investment Programme.
  • Addressing the inequalities of land ownership through the Scottish Land Fund.
  • supporting the introduction of Low Emission Zones into Scotland’s 4 major cities

Access to high-quality sustainable homes that are affordable and meet people’s needs

  • Implementing the Housing to 2040 Vision 
  • deliver affordable and social homes, helping to create great places, and continuing to ensure the right types of homes in the right places to support Local Housing Strategies and regional development priorities.
  • investing £58 million in a programme to help Registered Social Landlords deliver adaptations needed to enable tenants to stay in their homes for longer.

High quality social infrastructure

  • Boosting digitally accessible services
  • Improve outcomes in health, learning and justice as key elements of national, local and social infrastructure.

City Region and Regional Growth Deals

City Region and Regional Growth Deals help deliver sustainable places by enabling decisions to be taken at a local and regional level about the investments that will drive inclusive growth across our communities over the long term.

Every part of Scotland will benefit from a Deal. Eight are already in delivery – in Glasgow City Region, Inverness and Highland City Region, Aberdeen City Region, Stirling and Clackmannanshire, Tay Cities Region, Ayrshire, and Borderlands (encompassing Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders, as well as Northumberland and Cumbria). Four more are in development, covering Moray, Argyll and Bute, the islands, and Falkirk.

Each Deal is developed and delivered in partnership between the Scottish and UK governments and regional actors including councils, further and higher education, the business community, and the third sector. Local elected members play a central role in decision making, ensuring local issues and community voices are at the heart of every Deal.

The Scottish Government is contributing £1.9 billion to the Deals programme over almost two decades. When UK Government and regional partner contributions are added total investment through the Deals will top £5 billion, and create at least 80,000 jobs.

You can find out more information by visiting the City Region and Growth Deals pages of the Scottish Government website, or the following sites maintained by regional partners:

Aberdeen City Region Deal 

Argyll & Bute Rural Growth Deal

Ayrshire Growth Deal

Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal

Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal

Falkirk Growth Deal

Glasgow City Region Deal

Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal

Islands Growth Deal

Moray Growth Deal

Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal

Tay Cities Deal