Forewordinvestglasgow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Item-5bi... · Web viewGlasgow is known for,...

1

GLASGOW ECONOMIC RECOVERY GROUP

SUBMISSION TO SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

JUNE 2020

Foreword The Glasgow Economic Recovery Group (GERG) submitted its response to the Scottish Government’s independent Advisory Group on Economic Recovery at the end of May 2020. The purpose of this report is to build upon the initial GERG submission, reflecting the further discussions with partners over recent weeks. It provides a greater focus on the delivery actions that will support Glasgow’s economic recovery.

The recovery and transformation towards a more resilient economy will be driven by cities. They have the scale, the innovation and young people who will shape the future. However, it is essential we get Glasgow up and running again. Home to approximately 245,000 workers, the city centre has the largest concentration of jobs in the country. There are 180,000 jobs at risk in the city’s tourism and hospitality industries (including retail, creative and cultural sectors). Equally, we have the highest concentrations of deprivation in Scotland. We cannot allow Covid-19 to worsen inequality in our communities.

With the right support, Glasgow will turn this around. In Mission Clyde, we have a once in a generation opportunity to create a programme that will be the largest regeneration initiative in Europe. One that brings in major international investors attracted to the key waterfront locations, a burgeoning financial district and the confluence of three innovation districts, surrounded by our leading universities. To unlock this, amongst many other things, we will need to address our emerging flood issues and reinstate historic areas of vacant and derelict land. We also need to ensure our city centre and universities and educational institutions are able to get out the other side of this public health crisis.

With the right institutional frameworks, we have the ability through targeted employment and skills programmes to transform the lives of 100,000s of residents. We will achieve this by not only focusing on bouncing back from Covid-19, we will also ensure we are ready to take on the oncoming challenges and opportunities of Brexit, Artificial Intelligence and the Climate Emergency.

Glasgow will use practical delivery mechanisms building on our experiences of the last 30 years in successfully transforming our economy. We will use internationally renowned expertise in community and neighbourhood renewal. With additional tools, we can reshape Glasgow and thereby help create a new economic future for Scotland.

This report emphasises the specific actions that we can take locally – in collaboration with our partners in the city and across the wider Glasgow City Region. We are changing the delivery of public services to be more responsive to supporting businesses, while sustaining existing and creating new jobs. In doing so, we have specific asks of the Scottish Government, the UK Government, and supporting agencies. Some of these asks will require financial support, whilst others relate to the powers that we are able to exercise locally in support of economic recovery.

This report seeks to start a dialogue with government and our partners in relation to the specific actions and requests that we have identified. It reflects a clearly considered action plan based on the evidence we have today. We will continue to update and review the actions that we identify to ensure that they are meeting the aspirations to transform the economy to meet the needs of all our residents.

Councillor Susan Aitken

2

Chair of the Glasgow Economic Recovery Group, Leader of Glasgow City Council

3

1. Programme Summary

In our submission to the Scottish Government’s independent Advisory Group on Economic Recovery at the end of May 2020 we outlined a number of proposals seen as critical to the city’s economic recovery. We have expanded on these, following discussions with key stakeholders over the last few weeks. These are grouped under priority themes identified by GERG. However, by design, these programmes will deliver across a series of these themes - i.e. Mission Clyde will cut across most, if not all, of the themes.

A brief summary of the proposals are listed below. The detail behind each of them can be found in the Action Plan in Section 5.

ACCESS

P.1 Improving Access Into and Within the City Centre – we are working on a programme that enables our residents, business owners and visitors to get into the city centre and navigate around it in a safe way. In doing so, we are embedding a significant immediate and longer term shift to active travel.

BUSINESS

P.2 Retail, Creative, Culture and Hospitality Sector Support: Glasgow is known for, and relies heavily for jobs, on its vibrant culture and hospitality sectors, and innovation of our creative sector. It is critical that our footfall orientated businesses get back up and running as efficiently and effectively as possible. To protect jobs, in a safe manner, we have developed a series of initiatives, some requiring support from Scottish Government.

P.3 Break Even Business Grant Fund & a Patient Capital Fund: we have some great businesses that without support, through no fault of their own, won’t survive the next few months. These are businesses that are city institutions, ones whose influence radiates far beyond their own doors, are otherwise viable but are facing short term cash flow difficulties in relaunching. It is essential we keep them going through financial support. We also have other innovative businesses who can be at the forefront of the new economy but are struggling for medium or longer term investment. We need to set up locally managed funds to support these businesses.

INVESTMENT

P.4 Mission Clyde: the Clyde corridor has too long been a wasted opportunity. To create a new economy, this transformational social and economic programme must be the focus of central government and partner investment for the next decade. We are working with partners to accelerate this programme as a priority.

P.5 Connectivity Commission: Glasgow Metro: another programme which has seen various false dawns. It is the centrepiece in developing an integrated transport system which is in keeping with a modern European metropolitan city the scale of Glasgow.

4

ASSETS

P.6 Re-Shaping our Shopping / Commercial Districts: it is inevitable that despite our best efforts, some businesses will fail. We cannot allow our high streets to go with them. We need to find new and innovative ways of creating a new future for shopping areas across the city and commercial areas in and adjacent to our city centre. We will do so by reimagining the function and forms of some key areas and buildings to meets the emerging needs of our citizens and businesses. We are setting up programmes that provide support now when it is most needed but will also create High Streets which are fit for the year 2030. We will require the tools to support us to do so.

P.7 Opportunities from Vacant and Derelict Land: Not only in the Clyde Corridor area but also across the city we have large swathes of vacant and derelict land that is blighting our communities. It is critical for public health and economic reasons that this land gets used e.g. for green corridors and new workspaces. We need support and tools to make sure we can repurpose land and turn it back into use.

PLACE

P.8 Affordable Housing: we have a long track record of bringing forward housing schemes that meet the needs of residents in our more deprived communities. We also have a housing market that is relatively affordable and thereby keeps and attracts residents. It is essential that this continues. We need financial commitments from Scottish Government to allow us to deliver this.

P.9 Green Infrastructure: Glasgow has long led the way in developing green initiatives. We are in the process of creating new programmes to provide low emissions heating to our homes and businesses. With right support, these could help support the creation of new jobs and help showcase the city at COP26. We are asking for Scottish Government support to get this transformative programme up and running.

SKILLS / LABOUR MARKET

P.10 Wage Subsidy Programme: 38,500 residents across the City Region were added to the Claimant Count register in May. We need to get these residents back into work as quickly as possible. We have successfully managed many wage subsidy programmes in the past and urgently now require additional support for our newly unemployed.

P.11 Green Recovery Job Development Programme: we also want to introduce programmes that provide meaningful jobs for residents that meet long term needs of our society. We are requesting a major investment to support a much needed housing retrofit programme for the city. This will bring new productive jobs that offer the chance to build local specialisms that can be subsequently taken elsewhere. Equally, it will be an important plank in tackling the Climate Emergency.

P.12 Regional Skills Planning and Delivery: In the coming months we expect to see 60,000 to 100,000 job losses across the wide city region. Many of those losing their jobs will need support to

5

retrain or upgrade their skills. Equally, we are anticipating 16,000 young people will enter the labour market after leaving the education system. It is essential we equip both groups them with new skills to allow them transition into employment – in both existing and emerging sectors / industries. Mobilising partners, including tertiary education institutions, will key to developing and sustaining our local skills base. We are developing a programme of skills planning and delivery across the region that meets the short- and long-term needs of our economy.

FUTURE ECONOMY

P.13 Digital Connectivity and Inclusion: the lockdown has shown the strengths and weaknesses of Glasgow’s digital connectivity and put the spotlight on the consequences and levels of digital exclusion – both for residents and our SMEs. We urgently need to implement Glasgow’s digital strategy. We also need to create a programme that gives our residents and businesses the digital skills which will support the development of a future economy. This must be supported by ensuring all residents have digital access and the necessary hardware to ensure they can fully participate in the digital economy and an increasingly digitised society.

6

2. Delivery and Timescales

The delivery of the programmes have been designed with different timescales in mind, in order to address different issues – the immediate and longer term. In doing so, it is important that they are supported by a number of enabling powers and mechanisms.

A – TARGETED AND TIMEBOUND PROGRAMMESThese are short term programmes designed to meet the immediate economic consequences of managing the Covid-19 pandemic. They are targeted at supporting businesses in the sectors most reliant on footfall which inevitably have suffered most by the lockdown and at protecting jobs, which is vital if we are to prevent any further increases in inequality in our society. They will be complemented by other measures being considered to address the social consequences of Covid-19 on those most adversely impacted – our young and most deprived. The economic measures identified here are designed to be delivered over a fixed period, originally envisaged to be one year, but this will dependent on how well these sectors are able to recover as lockdown restrictions are eased.

B – TRANSFORMATIONAL POWERS AND DELIVERY ARRANGEMENTSThese programmes are specifically designed to begin the process of transforming the economy. They are very much based on a pre-existing understanding of what is required to address the imposing challenges we face around addressing:

• Glasgow’s deep-rooted levels of deprivation and inclusive growth issues• The relatively low levels of productivity and innovation in our city economy• The climate emergency

Some of the programmes are ones that had already been identified as priorities but were at an early planning or delivery stage- the perfect example being Mission Clyde. We are arguing that these programmes should be accelerated in order to support recovery, but the underlying rationale is longer term. They owe as much to tackling Glasgow’s deep-rooted levels of deprivation and the responding to the climate emergency as they do to any short term expediency. They are rooted in analysis of what is needed to address all three of the transformation challenges identified and will lay the foundations for the medium and longer term future of the Glasgow city region. Delivering them will cut across all three challenges.

C – ENABLING MECHANISMS AND POWERS These are additional powers which we believe are needed by Glasgow to implement the programmes noted. They are ones which can be readily gifted to the Council and Scottish Government to ensure the most efficient and effective delivery. These are summarised below:

E.1 Community Wealth Building: We wish to work with Scottish Government, and local key anchor institutions and partners, to develop and strengthen our approach to community wealth building.

7

This will join up and help to integrate a wide range of work we are already doing, such as our existing and emerging strategies on the Social Enterprise, Circular Economy, Local Food etc.

E.2 Regional Development Agency: Transformational major infrastructure projects, such as the Metro and Mission Clyde, will help to drive recovery. This will not only require the resources and support of government and its agencies, it will also require the city region to be empowered to maximise the benefits of our shared investments and activities. As set out in the recommendations of the Connectivity Commission we will seek to establish a Regional Development Agency to lead on co-ordinating the delivery of infrastructure investment across the region.

E.3 Land Assembly, Property, and Fiscal Powers: To support our planned investment and maximise the benefits of our local assets, we ask the Scottish Government to work with us to streamline and speed up the CPO process, consider establishing local land / property banking taxes which can be used by local authorities, and create a property fund for the redevelopment of key sites / properties.

The detail behind these are noted in the Action Plan in section 5.

D – DELIVERY FRAMEWORK

We have noted below a broad delivery framework. This will be further developed and refined in the coming weeks and months.

8

3. Key Asks

Glasgow has well established structures and delivery mechanisms for transforming its economy – whether that be through the Glasgow Economic Leadership (GEL), the Glasgow Partnership for Economic Growth (GPEG) and through its wider Regional Partnership, supported by the Commission on Economic Growth. However, we recognise the scale of the challenge in fighting Covid-19 means we will need to look for national government for additional support. The asks of Government are outlined in the Action Plan in Section 5. A summary is provided below:

• Financial Support for a series of programmes – the details of which we will work through during business case development. See programmes 2 to 11 and 13 to 14.

• Support for delivery reform – backing to deliver existing services in new ways that will invariably require our partners to also take new approaches to delivery. See programmes 12 and 14

• Empowerment – new powers which will enable the delivery of the Action Plan. This includes:

o Setting up Glasgow as Community Wealth Building pathfindero Legislative reform for new fiscal, land and property powers

9

4. Why Glasgow (and Cities) are Essential to the National Recovery

If Scotland is to address its longstanding poverty and social justice issues which are being exacerbated by Covid-19, it is vital that Glasgow is supported through this current crisis. In return, as a modern European city, Glasgow has many of the foundations which will be essential to reshaping our national economy in the long term.

The Impacts on GlasgowAs Public Health Scotland’s statistics show, Glasgow and the wider city region have suffered most in terms of deaths per population from the Covid-19. At the same time, the economic impacts hitting Scotland’s poorest communities, which Glasgow City Region (‘GCR’) has a disproportionate share of, means the claimant count levels in GCR reached 7.1% in May, 0.9% higher than the Scottish average. Now, as we move into easing lockdown, the region is facing its greatest challenge yet in terms of numbers of jobs at risk – over 300,000 according to the latest Scottish Government analysis.

City leaders are acutely aware that inequalities across city residents and communities will have been exacerbated by the pandemic and resulting lockdown restrictions. In order to address these impacts, a further aspect of our recovery plans is the establishment of the Glasgow Social Recovery Taskforce, which will sit alongside the Economic Recovery Taskforce, in recognition that coordinated strategic leadership and direction is crucial to ensure the societal impacts of the Coronavirus are also addressed. The Taskforce will be located within Community Planning. Community Planning is essentially how public bodies work together and with the local community to plan for, resource and provide or secure the provision of, services which improve local outcomes with a view to reducing inequalities.

Need to Learn from Glasgow’s PastOver the last thirty years Glasgow’s residents have shaken off its industrial past to become the forward looking cosmopolitan European city that it is viewed as today. However, in doing so, we have also had to tackle the challenges left by policies designed for a different public health challenge – Glasgow’s slums. It was less than 80 years ago that Glasgow was one of most densely populated cities in the world. The policies of creating new suburbs failed. The breakdown of social networks and the lack of access to employment and services as a result of de-industrialisation is a core contributing factor in 57% of GCR’s datazones being within the 15% most deprived in Scotland. Residents in these areas are amongst those who have been most adversely impacted by the pandemic e.g. through not enjoying the ability to work from home which in some cases has resulted in job loss and a wide range of other socio-economic disruption. Supporting these residents needs to be at the heart of any new national economic strategy and policies.

The Importance of Cities Such As GlasgowAs we look to find policy interventions that will reverse the impacts, and build a new economy, it is essential we do not forget the vital role that cities have played in the health and well-being of

10

nations over the past 200 years. They will continue to do so in the future. We only need to look at how nations in Asia have adapted to previous Coronavirus outbreaks. It is not by taking flight from cities, but rather by finding new and innovative ways of mitigating risks using new thinking and the latest digital and medical technologies, many of them conceived in tech districts, university labs and design institutions. In shaping a new economic future, Glasgow and similar cities can be at the forefront of the transformation. The reasons include their roles as:

Places of Opportunity – over the past 20 years, city centres across the UK have flourished. This has largely been driven by young people seeking opportunity. Opportunity for human interaction. Opportunity for cultural and recreational activity such as the thriving SEC in Glasgow. A chance to find new jobs and learn. We have generated a dynamic and vibrant service economy which attracts visitors and new residents and is particularly important in creating new activities, places and spaces for our young people. As we watch behaviours in our public places during the easing of lockdown, the innate desire for such experiences has clearly not ceased.

Innovation Hubs – Larger cites tend to house the non-routine innovation and knowledge activities that sit at productivity frontiers. For instance, the Glasgow City Innovation District, was the first of its kind in Scotland. It includes the Technology and Innovation Centre, which includes a focus on health technologies. Equally, the City Region has built strong foundations in precision medicine (PM) focused approaches to healthcare. This includes major investments at the £1bn Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow, including the world’s first clinical-academic industry campus designed around the clinical implementation of PM. Such advances only occur in thriving cities.

Attractors for Large Employers – multi-national firms require access to labour pools and links to ancillary business services (solicitors, accountants etc.). Barclays was attracted to Glasgow by its high levels of tech-literate graduates and burgeoning financial services eco-system. International firms are also mindful of finding places that can meet the high-quality life aspirations of its workforce and their families, including our vibrant public realm and cultural life.

Global Connectors – the ability through the networks built by research intensive universities and infrastructure such as airports and ports to permit trade and knowledge transfers between countries. For example, the seafood industry relies on flights and their cargo holds to reach export markets.

Climate Emergency Responders – well planned cities with the right levels of supporting infrastructure offer countries the most efficient and effective chance to respond to the climate emergency. They also offer the chance through networks and innovation to find new technologies that can help reverse environmental impacts of our modern lifestyles.

The great advances, albeit enforced, which have been made in technology taken up in the last few months won’t replace the need for human interaction. For instance, Glasgow’s finance sector has confirmed that, whilst encouraging longer term home working, they will seek to keep some level of office footprint. However, their staff want to ensure they have a well-functioning city centre to return to. Equally, video calls are not a long term replacement for days and evenings with friends and family in our city’s vibrant restaurant and cafés. It is vital that we find ways of protecting and enhancing our cities.

Why Glasgow Will Be Key to a Future National EconomyA report in March 2020 by the Connected Places Catapult, which reviewed the UK’s top performing innovation economies, identified Glasgow as one of four cities in the UK with “the strongest

11

potential to join London, Oxford and Cambridge as engines of Britain’s future economy .” The reasons for this are varied including:

Economic Scale – the region is vital to the success of the Scottish economy. Glasgow and the wider region is Scotland’s economic powerhouse. It accounts for almost 1/3 of Scotland’s jobs, businesses and economic output (GVA). It the fourth largest city region in the UK.

Population Growth – Glasgow’s population is on a strong upward curve and the share of people living in and around the city centre has increased, driven by the demands of a younger workforce: over the next 15 years, the metropolitan population is projected to grow as fast as New York, Los Angeles and Paris.

Urban Scale – Glasgow is a genuine metropolis and borrows scale from its wider (Central Belt) region, home to 3.5 million people and one of the 20 largest urban regions in Europe. The rise of new commercial and housing development in the city show the appetite for city centre living and we have all ingredients of a walkable and vibrant 21st century city. Glasgow’s urban scale and momentum continues to bring opportunities to serve Scotland as shown by COP26.

Jobs and Business Growth –Glasgow City Region is expected to house nearly half of all new Scottish jobs over the next decade. Glasgow's scale and status as the major metropolis in the Scottish ‘system of cities’ helps it to attract and serve many important company HQs and develop a critical mass of specialist back-office functions. An entrepreneurial mindset and independence of spirit now underpins a dynamic start-up sector.

University Innovation – Glasgow’s Universities are major assets, not only as economic anchors and drivers of innovation but also through the engagement of their graduates in leading sectors such as Information and Communication and Professional, Scientific, Design, and Technical Activities, which has greatly contributed to the dynamism of businesses and to overall productivity of workers in the region. If productivity increases at current rates, over the next five years, Glasgow will have higher levels of productivity than most other post-industrial city regions such as Manchester and Liverpool.

A Burgeoning Talent Pool – Glasgow is now a city of applied knowledge. By European and global standards, 43.9% of the city’s workforce has is educated to degree level. Its talent base is also boosted by the globally impressive number of international students. Glasgow is now in the top 5 mid-sized city regions globally for the number of international students

Glasgow – The Opportunity and the ChallengeGlasgow and the wider region has transformed itself in recent years. With the right support (organisational as well as financial) it has the opportunity to lead and drive forward building a new economy for Scotland. In doing so, the scale which provides Glasgow with its opportunity is also its challenge. As well as the large numbers of currently or soon to be unemployed, this month we are likely to have over 16,000 young people leaving school, college and university to enter the labour market. Any package of initiatives and policies must ensure they are supported through this period.

12

5. The Recovery Action Plan

The GERG Recovery Action Plan is noted below. As previously stated, this is the first plan. Over the coming weeks we will add details to the programmes including development of business cases where appropriate.

They have been grouped under the Priority Themes identified by GERG. The objective for each theme is included. The impacts on the three grand challenges are also highlighted, alongside the anticipated duration for the programme.

We have also outlined the key enablers which will be required to deliver the plan.

ACCESS

Objective: Put in place measures to ensure that residents and visitors are able to safely get into and around the city during the lifting of lockdown

P1. Improving Access into and within the City Centre

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDWe are putting in place measures to ensure safe access into the city centre that supports active travel and safe use of public transport as priorities and make effective arrangements for those using private cars. We will work closely with Transport Scotland and other partners to put in place safe public transport options for people as lockdown eases and they start to return to work, to shop and to enjoy the leisure and hospitality opportunities within the city centre.

Within the City Centre, people will be able to move about confidently and safely – making the streets of our city welcoming to pedestrians and cyclists. Glasgow’s Connectivity Commission highlighted the importance of improving the city centre experience by prioritising pedestrians and cyclists and we will take steps to achieve this as we implement safe travel arrangements as lockdown eases. This will support our ambitions to cut carbon emissions, reduce car journeys and promote the health benefits of increased walking and cycling.

GCC ACTION • We will work in partnership with Transport Scotland, SPT, and other partners to ensure that there are safe and effective travel arrangements into the city both for public transport and for private cars.

• We are creating a safe and accessible city centre that prioritises active travel through a package of measures, including safe routes, that enable physical distancing in the city centre, local neighbourhoods and on the wider road network

• Glasgow’s HE institutions will work with the Council to create a co-ordinated safe ‘student + citizen zone’ and corridor stretching between their city campuses.

GOVT ASKIMPACTS INCLUSIVE GROWTH CLIMATE EMERGENCY PRODUCTIVITY

PROGRAMME START DATE: 1 May 2020

13

TIMELINES END DATE: Ongoing

BUSINESS

Objective: To ensure that otherwise viable businesses in those sectors most adversely impacted by lockdown can survive

P2. Retail, Creative, Culture, and Hospitality Sector Support

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDIn our initial submission to the Scottish Government’s Economic Advisory Committee we included a request that social distancing be reduced to the WHO recommended “at least 1m”. We reiterate that request within this report.

Whatever distance is laid down in regulations, the requirement to implement social distancing will have a significant impact upon businesses within the retail, creative, hospitality, culture and tourism sectors. Many businesses will require to make physical changes to their premises to ensure that they are compliant with social distancing guideline (e.g. providing plastic screens to protect staff, hygiene stations, one-way systems or PPE) and this will have a knock-on impact preventing them returning to their pre-Covid-19 capacity until restrictions are withdrawn.

Putting in place these practical changes to ensure social distancing will impose additional financial burdens when businesses and other organisations in these sectors have been adversely impacted by significantly reduced revenue during lockdown. It is proposed that Glasgow administer a Social Distancing Implementation Grant Fund to provide grant funding to assist businesses implement practical social distancing measures.

The representations we have received from Glasgow’s retail sector have made it clear that they need the guidance on social distancing for retail, once the lockdown eases and non-essential shops can re-open, to be clear and unambiguous. They have also stated that the guidance should be available early enough to allow retailers to put in place any necessary measures in their premises prior to reopening.

We recognise that both the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have shared responsibility in ensuring that clear and timely guidance is communicated to Glasgow’s retailers.As well as asking government to reduce social distance to “at least 1 metre” in line with WHO guidance, we are looking for government assistance in developing a targeted operations with our partners to get the city running.

Creative Economy Strategy Implementation: Glasgow’s Creative Economy is one of the most vibrant and productive in the UK. It contributes approx. £1.8bn to the economy and supports 36,500 jobs. Supporting the particular challenges that sector will face must be a top priority for the Scottish Government and we would want to work closely with both Scottish government and national organisations to develop and implement a recovery plan that restores the vibrancy of Glasgow’s cultural and creative sector, not only because that sector, along with the hospitality and retail sectors are so vital to the economy but also because the arts contribute so much to the quality of life.

GCC ACTION • Glasgow City Council will execute an effective strategy to communicate the government guidance to retail businesses in Glasgow and to support them

14

to meet the new guidance as they reopen.

GOVT ASK • The Scottish Government provides funding to establish a locally administered Social Distancing Implementation Grant Fund to assist SMEs with practical measures to facilitate social distancing within their premises.

• The Scottish Government provides clear and unambiguous guidance regarding the re-opening of the retail and hospitality sectors within a timescale that allows time for any physical measure to be put in place in time for re-opening.

• Financial support from the Scottish Government to protect and support the arts and culture in the city and for the continuing development and implementation of our creative economy strategy is vital to protect the city’s reputation as one of the UK and Europe’s leading cultural hubs: early action on this is vital.

• We ask the Scottish Government to reduce Social Distancing to WHO recommended “at least 1m”:

IMPACTS INCLUSIVE GROWTH CLIMATE EMERGENCY PRODUCTIVITY

PROGRAMME TIMELINES

START DATE: tbcEND DATE: tbc

P3. Break Even Business Grant Fund & a Patient Capital Loan Fund

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDAs a result of Covid-19 and the lockdown, many otherwise viable businesses are lacking liquidity. Some have accumulated substantial debts during the lockdown period and many require assistance to address immediate short term cashflow problems and investment, ideally in the form of capital grants to enable them to restock and re-equip for the new normal. Some will also need to access longer term financial support on favourable terms to recapitalise.

In order to prevent attrition, short term support in the form of a locally managed ‘break even’ business grant fund is needed that will support otherwise viable businesses as they recommence trading, until such time as they get back on their feet.

Whilst there are a number of national bodies that provide investment to businesses (e.g. The British Business Bank, Enterprise Capital Fund, Scottish Investment Fund British Patient Capital), in Scotland there is no accessible source of long term patient capital at a city or city region level, particularly in relation to SMEs affected by the current economic crisis.

A locally administered equity and business investment fund, could provide this patient capital, enabling businesses to secure long term funding and recapitalise existing debts, with options to buy-back equity stakes in the future. This would not be grant funding, so the investment in this case will be recyclable. The fund would support the survival of local jobs and businesses as we move into the economic recovery. Local administration of the fund will allow it to align to local priorities and allow us to deliver a place-based approach to business support.

GCC ACTIONGOVT ASK • We would ask that the Scottish Government establish a ‘break even’

15

business grants fund to provide short term financial support to otherwise viable businesses as they resume trading.

• The Scottish Government to provide the funding to establish a locally administered, Covid-19 Equity and Business Investment Fund, which would provide a source of patient capital to support otherwise viable businesses in the city.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


16

INVESTMENT

Objective: To stimulate the recovery by speeding up two transformational programmes which cut across the three grand challenges of inclusion, climate emergency and productivity.

P4. Mission Clyde

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDThe Clyde is a vast untapped economic asset for Scotland. Its development would combine addressing the three challenges: inclusive economic growth, innovation / productivity enhancement and the climate emergency. The area covered by Mission Clyde spans Scotland’s largest centre of economic activity, Glasgow City centre, some of Scotland’s most deprived areas (eg Greenock Town Centre) and Scotland’s biggest and most ambitious current regeneration project, Clyde Gateway – the communities that would benefit are amongst those most severely impacted by Covid-19.

Mission Clyde is the location of Scotland’s most ambitious innovation programme, including three Innovation Districts - Glasgow City Innovation District (GCID), Glasgow Riverside Innovation District (GRID) and the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District for Scotland (AMIDS). In addition, it includes a wide arrange of exciting waterfront projects completed or in the pipeline since 2016, worth almost £2.75bn. There are seven major City Deal projects that will help unlock the potential of the Clyde.

There are a series of major projects which are due to be delivered in the next couple of years including the SEC expansion, next phases of International Financial Services District (IFSD), the Clyde Gateway preparation for business and manufacturing expansion. The campus redevelopment at the University of Glasgow is one of the largest developments currently underway in Scotland.

Shovel Ready Projects: To help fast track the programme and kick start the Covid-19 jobs recovery, we have identified a range of shovel ready projects which could be progressed quickly.

There are nine projects in the Waterfront area totalling £37.97m ranging in value from £1m to £7m. Ten projects have also been identified elsewhere in the rest of the city totalling £13.27m and ranging from funding of £700k to £3.47m.

Clyde Gateway has also identified 18 shovel ready projects ranging in value from £0.2m to £20m.

Clyde Barrage: However, there are concerns about increased flood risks in some of key sites. Addressing this requires government support. With the right support and investment at the right time, this programme, or similar flood intervention scheme, can be the catalyst for recovery across many communities and send a signal to the private sector. In doing so, it can help address some of the major macro challenges we face.

GCC ACTION • To support and partner with Scottish Government in the development and delivery of the Mission Clyde project

GOVT ASK • To set up the governance arrangements to get the project off its feet• To develop an integrated socio-economic, design and engineering

masterplan to guide the project

17

• As we look to the future economy, it is critical this project is recognised as National Development Area within National Planning Framework 4 and that the Scottish Government make the development and delivery of Mission Clyde its top national investment priority.

• To support the delivery of a series of shovel ready projects to kick start the project

• To support the development of a flood prevention / mitigation scheme such as the Barrage


PROGRAMME TIMELINES

START DATE: January 2020END DATE: tbc

P5. Connectivity Commission: Glasgow Metro

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDGlasgow’s Connectivity Commission included the recommendation of the creation of a comprehensive Glasgow metro system, consisting of a network of high capacity rapid transit lines across the city, with the proposal that the first route to be constructed should be the leg between Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Airport.

By linking Glasgow Airport, AMIDS, Renfrew, Braehead, QEUH, Govan to Glasgow City Centre, the Metro will open up employment opportunities to a wide range of communities which current struggle to physically access education facilities and jobs.

As we start building a new economy, it is critical Glasgow’s transport needs are addressed. The Metro has the potential to build a more inclusive economy, increase the Region’s productivity and do so in a sustainable way. Early support for this project through the Strategic Transport Projects Review will help send the right signals to business that Glasgow remains open to investment.

GCC ACTION • To support Scottish Government and partner in the development and delivery of the project

GOVT ASK • We would ask the Scottish Government to accelerate decision making processes to support and fund the transformational Metro system, as proposed by the Connectivity Commission.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES

START DATE: January 2020END DATE: tbc

18

ASSETS

Objective: To take under-utilised property assets to deliver sustainable development and address long term inequalities around vacant and derelict land

P6. Re-Shaping our Shopping / Commercial Districts

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDAs the impact of Covid-19 becomes apparent, we expect to see an increase in the number of commercial and retail properties becoming empty throughout the city and in the city centre over the coming weeks and months. The lockdown is likely to exacerbate the longer-term pressures on some of our fragile shopping and commercial areas in particular.

There is an opportunity to repurpose these areas and properties for other purposes – housing, experimental retail and craft, premises for social enterprises or third sector-led businesses – and create new places and spaces suitable for the needs of tomorrow’s consumers and businesses.

We will use this opportunity to adopt a place specific approach and use existing and new powers and funding to support commercial districts and high streets to adapt to changes brought about by the economic impact of Covid-19.

Glasgow’s Housing Strategy and pioneering Empty Homes Strategy has demonstrated that we are able and willing to use all of our powers, including CPOs, to increase the city’s housing supply by bringing long-term empty homes back into use.

Our ‘City Centre Living Strategy’ aims to double the number of residents living in the Glasgow city centre to 40,000 by 2035. The density of city living makes it more environmentally sustainable, contributing to our climate emergency objectives. We will use the lessons learned from bringing empty homes back into use and apply them to commercial and retail properties that fall empty due to the impact of Covid-19.

There will be a financial cost in bringing these properties back into use, so there is an opportunity to review the regulatory and tax raising powers of local authorities, for example in relation to land assembly, and property and land banking taxes. The Scottish Government should also make available a capital fund to local authorities which they can utilise to fund the repurposing of vacant commercial and retail property. GCC ACTIONGOVT ASK • The Scottish Government examines the existing legislation to streamline

the process to allow local authorities to temporarily or permanently take over empty commercial and retail premises in order to bring them back into productive us

• The Scottish Government provides a capital fund for bids from local authorities to support the repurposing of vacant commercial and retail property in city centres & local high streets


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


19

P7. Opportunities from Vacant and Derelict Land:

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDThe de-industrialisation of the Glasgow City Region economy since the 1970’s has left a longstanding legacy of vacant and derelict land. The Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Surveynotes that in 2018, that there nearly 3,500 hectares of derelict and vacant land within the Glasgow City Region.

While accounting for only 4% of Scotland’ total land mass, the Region’s authorities collectively account for around 31% of Scotland’s total area of urban vacant and derelict land.

Not only is this a wasted amenity, it is also an issue of inequality. 42.5% of the Region’s 1,785 derelict and urban vacant land sites were located within the 15% most deprived datazones.

The challenges around land contamination costs have historically made it very difficult to bring this land into active use.

In Glasgow, there is a significant amount of vacant and derelict land in or adjacent to the city centre. Therefore, finding new financing mechanisms, will encourage opportunities for more city centre living and is a key opportunity for inclusive growth.

As part of Glasgow’s economic strategy, we are identifying vacant and derelict sites suitable for greening and rewilding to substantially increase the number of trees and greenery in Glasgow. Physical distancing and the lockdown has highlighted the importance of quality greenspace to city residents. We want to retain people in the city and attract more people to live here. Repurposing vacant and derelict land and making it available to community use e.g. by encouraging ethical food growth, is also important in the context of the climate emergency and with COP26 coming up.

There is also a potential opportunity to develop vacant and derelict sites if sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, seek to ‘reshore’ some of their operations or supply chains from abroad in the wake of the lockdown. We must be prepared to respond to such opportunities or other demands from business that can generate jobs and prosperity for the city by preparing vacant and derelict land for productive use.

GCC ACTION • To continue to identify land suitable for new development and greening projects

GOVT ASK • Support new finance and tax arrangements to support the purchase and development of vacant and derelict land across the city and wider region

• Support new financing arrangements to remediate some our most challenging sites to allow us to respond to changing business needs following the pandemic, including opportunities offered by ‘reshoring’.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


20

PLACE

Objective: To ensure that our most deprived communities are not left further behind

P8. Affordable Housing

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDThe importance of housing construction to Glasgow’s economy cannot be underestimated. Many businesses in the construction industry are struggling with the instability and uncertainty of lockdown.

Providing certainty about the level of future investment in Glasgow’s housing development would help to sustain local businesses and protect jobs. The core element of housing investment in the city is channelled by the Scottish Government through Glasgow City Council’s Housing Development funding.

In order to provide the certainty that the housebuilding industry needs, we would ask the Scottish Government to confirm at the earliest opportunity Glasgow’s Housing Development funding programme for 3 years starting in 2020/21.

The wider economic benefits of Glasgow’s Housing Development programme are significant. It is estimated that an additional £80m investment in constructing new homes in Glasgow could generate between £65.0m-£81.9m in GVA for the Scottish economy, as well as supporting between 1,225-1,500 years of FTE employment.

Previously this funding consisted of the £65m Transfer of the Management of Development Funding and topped up with £46.6m of Affordable Housing Supply Programme funding. This £110m will allow us to programme housing investment beyond March 2021, get projects on the ground quickly, give certainty and confidence to the housing market, and sustain local jobs.

There is also the opportunity for the design and construction sectors to develop more innovative techniques that would allow the industry to continue to grow and support local jobs during social distancing, such as an increase in off-site fabrication for construction.

GCC ACTION • Glasgow City Council will use the Housing Development Funding to maintain the existing programme of housing investment in the city, supporting local businesses and sustaining construction jobs, and sustaining the supply of new social housing.

GOVT ASK • The Scottish Government should urgently confirm 3 year support for Glasgow Housing Development Funding.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


21

P.9 Green Infrastructure Programme

PROGRAMME BACKGROUND

Sustainability and reducing Glasgow’s carbon emissions is a theme that is threaded throughout our plan for the city’s economic recovery. Hosting COP26 in 2021 gives us a unique opportunity to transform our city as we deliver on our commitment to make Glasgow carbon neutral by 2030.

Moving from Covid-19 to COP26 requires us to drive policy and investment towards a green recovery and prioritise investment in green infrastructure that will cut carbon emissions, create sustainable jobs, and address fuel poverty.

One of the largest sources of carbon emissions is through the heating of our city’s homes, and we are already looking to invest in low emission alternatives for heating our homes such as renewable heat, low carbon electric heat pumps, and district heating. Done in a creative manner, the development of these systems and network will allow Glasgow to build specialisations within its business and employment base that can be exported beyond the city and wider region.

GCC ACTION • To develop plans and technology for a renewable heating network that supports the future needs of our residents

GOVT ASK • Scottish Government and UK Government to work with us to identify sources of funding to deliver a programme of investment in alternative low carbon heating systems for the cities’ homes.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


22

SKILLS / LABOUR MARKET

Objective: To create a series of programmes that meet the short terms need of residents and longer terms needs to transform the economy

P.10 Wage Subsidy Programme

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDThe unprecedented drop in economic output caused by Covid-19 and the lockdown, unless we take action to mitigate its impacts, will worsen entrenched deprivation in disadvantaged communities and population groups within Glasgow. The lesson from previous recessions is that a quick and effective response is required to support those newly unemployed quickly back to work. While many more people who have been displaced are now looking for work, Glasgow continues to have a large number of long-term unemployed residents who have multiple barriers which need to be addressed in order for them to move into work.

It is crucial that we ensure that the needs of both of these groups are met during our Covid-19 recovery period. This will require that employment support provided by Glasgow complements Scottish Government initiatives and the activities of the DWP, SDS and other national and third sector agencies.

Previous programmes supporting graduates into SMEs have been successful from both the employee and employers perspectives. We believe that setting up a similar type of programme in the current context will help graduates to entering the labour market in the coming months whilst also providing opportunities to increase innovation and productivity of our business base.

Glasgow will continue to deliver its Glasgow Guarantee, retaining its focus on those residents who are furthest from the labour market to ensure they are not left behind. By providing additional conditionality in its arrangements, it will be further developed to provide additional support to businesses which can ensure sustainability of jobs or even creating new jobs. This needs to be complemented by national initiatives which should be focussed on the development of a wage subsidy programme that will quickly move people impacted by Covid-19 back into jobs.

GCC ACTION • Glasgow City Council will focus resources on continuing to support those further from the labour market and also by offering additional business support services. This will complement any emerging initiative from Scottish Government that focuses on those newly unemployed

• Support Graduates and Business through the reintroduction of Scottish Enterprise’s Graduates into Business programme

GOVT ASK • The Scottish Government establishes a wage subsidy programme that focusses on supporting those who have most recently lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown back into employment.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES

START DATE: 1 AUGUST 2020END DATE: 31 JULY 2021

23

P.11 Green Recovery Job Development Programme

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDAny labour market intervention to support the Covid-19 recovery must be focussed on the creation of meaningful jobs. To ensure that real jobs are created the intervention must both reflect the local priorities of the city and deliver on Scotland’s policy priorities.

The climate emergency has presented the challenge of cutting our carbon emissions but it also offers us economic opportunities as we support recovery from Covid-19. Carbon emissions from energy inefficient housing is one of the most significant contributors to climate change. In Glasgow we have 74,000 homes built pre-1919, the majority of which are privately owned, where poor conditions and energy inefficiency continues to be an issue. There is an opportunity for Glasgow and the Scottish Government to work together with RSLs and private owners to examine delivery of a major, citywide retrofit programme to improve the energy efficiency for our city’s housing stock.

A housing retrofit programme will improve the quality and value of Glasgow’s housing stock and reduce fuel poverty. It is also a very efficient way of generating local jobs, including opportunities for those furthest from the labour market, and maximising the economic return of doing so.

It will deliver multiple outcomes including supporting the national policy priority of reducing carbon emissions, create real jobs and provide people with skills on which they can build a career.

GCC ACTION • Glasgow will use it network of RSL’s who have vast experience in setting up community employment initiatives to run the programme

GOVT ASK • Scottish Government work with Glasgow to establish and fund a major energy efficiency retrofit programme of the city’s housing stock, to cut carbon emissions and create real local jobs.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


P.12 Regional Skills Planning and Delivery

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDWe will focus on helping people develop their skills and transition between jobs, in and out of unemployment. Skills and training interventions will need to be explicitly linked to opportunities in both existing and emerging sectors and industries, enabling rapid reskilling and transfer of workers displaced by the current crisis in sectors like retail and hospitality to emerging growth sectors, such as the creative economy. We will work with FE and HE partners to identify how they can deliver short term learning over the next 3-6 months to help people back into work and to transition to new jobs.

We will work with SDS, and our FE & HE and other partners in the city and wider city region to

24

develop and deliver a programme that will prioritise: Youth Transitions – safeguard opportunities for young people currently in senior phase at

school, college, university and work-based learning and increase opportunities for young people at risk of future unemployment

Adult Transitions – focus on upskilling and reskilling adults at greatest risk of redundancy with emphasis on sectors with greatest job opportunities (digital, health and social care,) including greater provision of short courses co-designed with industry

Inclusive Growth / Fair Work / Net Zero – use all opportunities to accelerate ambitions for Glasgow as Fair Work City Region, with public sector support becoming dependent upon adopting fair work principles and committing to carbon reduction

Resilient skills system – increase flexibilities in the skills system so that it can be fully responsive to the needs of industry and the regional economy

Tertiary education is key to developing and sustaining our local skills base. Given the anticipated job losses associated with Covid-19, there is a need to rapidly put in place measures:

a) to re-train, upskill and re-energise those made redundant to move forward to new job opportunities; and

b) to provide temporary support for the cohort of (mainly young) people graduating from Universities and Colleges who are going to find it more difficult to find work because of recruitment freezes.

Current funding arrangements are geared towards one year or multi-year courses, although the Flexible Workforce Development Fund has provided some resource to enable colleges to deliver courses that are more responsive to the immediate needs of industry and business. It is anticipated that the appetite amongst employers for short, focused or bite-sized learning interventions will increase as more people move into the labour market and require to retrain to meet new employment demands, such as improved digital skills.

GCC ACTION • We will co-ordinate an emergency workforce development programme with responsibility for setting a regional skills programme that cuts across business, education institutions, SDS and councils. Whilst offering immediate benefits, the resulting programmes will be targeted around the long term needs and opportunities in the economy.

• We will work with FE and HE to identify and deliver agile and short-term skills training conversion courses over the next 3-6 months to support people to transition to a new job.

• We will work with partners to support innovation, entrepreneurs and those keen to consider new business start-up, ensuring they have the skills and aftercare to support sustainability of these new businesses, or equip them with creative and entrepreneurial skills that might enable them to start a business.

GOVT ASK • Scottish Government to provide additional resources (e.g. to support additional provision for recent graduates to help them into work or improve their skills and to underpin a re-modelled sector-wide Flexible Workforce Development Fund). Government should actively support and promote regional collaboration between Colleges and Universities, businesses and key agencies/partners, including local government.


25

PROGRAMME TIMELINES

START DATE: END DATE:

26

FUTURE ECONOMY

Objective: To create the platforms that allow the transition into a new and more inclusive economy

P.13 Digital Connectivity and Inclusion

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDFast and reliable digital connectivity is no longer a luxury. During the Covid-19 lockdown digital connectivity has become vitally important in allowing people to work from home, access public information and advice, shopping, and keeping in touch with friends and families.

While the importance of being digitally connected has never been more important, the lockdown has demonstrated the inequalities of digital exclusion. Those who don’t have the means to access online services due to the cost of equipment, monthly data or broadband charges, or who lack the skills and confidence to use online services, have been significantly disadvantaged. The lockdown has also exposed complex issues around equity, where those on higher paid jobs are much more likely to be able to work from home during the pandemic than those on lower incomes.

The need to ensure that support is available to businesses to maximise the opportunities offered by digital has also become apparent. A recent survey carried out during lockdown by the Federation of Small Business[1][1] reported that 30% or respondents within Glasgow city region had adopted new digital technologies to change their business processes and 15% made more effective use of e-commerce to generate online sales during lockdown. But too many businesses are not currently coping with adaption to the new digital environment.

Whilst improved digital infrastructure will not ‘solve’ digital exclusion alone, it will address having the essential foundation to then enable addressing exclusion through support for skills, participation and exploitation. We want to see continued investment in and the expansion of digital infrastructure (ducting, fibre and mobile connectivity, including 5G) within Glasgow and city region, ensuring that all businesses and homes, especially those within deprived communities and social housing, have sustainably affordable access.

GCC ACTION • We will work with local partners and the business community to share good practice among SMEs and build upon digital innovations developed during lockdown.

GOVT ASK • We ask the Scottish Government to work with the city and private sector partners to enable and dramatically accelerate the roll out of digital infrastructure to Glasgow and the city region to enable affordable and sustainable connectivity

• We will work with the Scottish Government and partners to identify resources to expand the network of tech clubs and other mechanisms that can boost digital skills or spread digital skills outwith the school environment


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


[1][1] https://www.fsb.org.uk/resource-report/finding-our-feet.html

27

https://www.fsb.org.uk/resource-report/finding-our-feet.html

ENABLING MECHANISMS AND POWERS

Objective: To ensure the city has all the mechanisms and powers necessary to ensure as an efficient and effective response as possible to the current crisis and future opportunities

E1. Community Wealth Building


Glasgow welcomes the people-centred approach to local economic development that Community Wealth Building offers. Equally, given the impacts of Covid-19, we also welcome the opportunities it could provide to build more resilience into the local economy.

Glasgow has already adopted a number of the principles of a Community Wealth Building approach and has experience of successfully building in community benefits – whether that is through using our procurement policies or through our Fair Work principles to our business support initiatives. Our Inclusive Growth Diagnostic has also been a key tool in our approach to economic development

We aim to work with Scottish Government, and local key anchor institutions and partners, to strengthen our approach and creating a broader model that can link together the wide range of work we are doing on building resilience, such as our existing and emerging strategies on the Social Enterprise, Creative Economy, Circular Economy or Local Food etc.

GCC ACTION • To work with our partner organisations to formulate a Community Wealth Building model which is tailored to the needs of Glasgow

GOVT ASK • To support Glasgow set up its Community Wealth Building modelIMPACTS INCLUSIVE GROWTH CLIMATE EMERGENCY PRODUCTIVITY

PROGRAMME TIMELINES


E2. Regional Development Agency

PROGRAMME BACKGROUNDTransformational major infrastructure projects, such as the Metro and Mission Clyde, will help to drive recovery. This will not only require the resources and support of government and its agencies, it will also require the city region to be empowered to maximise the benefits of our shared investments and activities.

The findings of our independent Connectivity Commission, which were endorsed by Glasgow City Council for inclusion in Glasgow City Council’s submission to the National Transport Strategy consultation, included the proposal for the establishment of a Glasgow City Region Development Agency to plan and coordinate transport infrastructure at the city region level. This would:

Expand the role of the City Region Cabinet Take on the powers of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and Clydeplan Have precept powers of funding

28

Acquire the necessary powers to assemble and develop land to benefit from the uplift in land values from transport projects

The Development Agency would play a lead role in co-ordinating the delivery of infrastructure investment across the region.

GCC ACTIONGOVT ASK • Scottish Government should enact primary legislation to create a Glasgow

City Region Development Agency to plan and coordinate transport infrastructure at the city region level, as proposed by the Connectivity Commission.


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


E3. Land Assembly, Property, and Fiscal Powers


Glasgow has been leading the way in using our CPO powers to support our housing strategy. As the city and local high streets start to return to business, we will see a lot more empty retail units and commercial landlords sitting on empty properties. Vacant properties can quickly turn into downward spiral for our high streets. It is essential for residents, workers and visitors that this does not happen.

By their nature (footfall dependent businesses) it is likely that many of these premises will be in central locations that could be repurposed for:

o Housingo Social enterprises/third sector-led businesses activities o Creative sector

In order that the downward spiral doesn’t occur, it is vital that the CPO process is speeded up and made as streamlined as possible for LAs and/or provide powers to temporarily take over empty commercial premises.

Further to that, the city and wider government are and will be looking to invest in our key centres. It is critical that powers are brought forward for land assembly and land/property-banking taxes (such as Tax Incremental Financing) to ensure that this investment occurs and that local and national government see a return. As well as acquiring land and properties, there will be occasions where properties will require to be repurposed. New funding mechanisms will be required to support this.

GCC ACTIONGOVT ASK • To speed up and streamline the CPO process

• To establish local land / property banking taxes which can be used by local authorities

• To create a property fund for the redevelopment of key sites / properties into a key economic activity

29


PROGRAMME TIMELINES


30

Date post:	17-Sep-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

Forewordinvestglasgow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Item-5bi... · Web viewGlasgow is known for,...

Documents