Councillors Give Green-light For Full Development Of Highland Investment Plan
3rd July 2022
Members of full Council, who met yesterday - Thursday, 30 June – were presented with a report on the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund and provided with an update on the process currently underway to develop a Highland Investment Plan which will determine how the funding may be used locally.
A financial allocation of £9,445,515 has been awarded to Highland Council over a three-year period, which runs from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025.
The fund is designed to deliver on the UK Government’s commitment to level-up the whole of the UK. The focus is placed on a ‘levelling up opportunity and prosperity as well as overcoming deep-seated geographic inequalities.
The Shared Prosperity Fund is one part of this Levelling Up agenda and succeeds the old EU structural funds.
The fund has four objectives:
boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector;
spread opportunities and improve public services;
restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging; and
empower local leaders and communities.
With the proposed approach now agreed by Highland Councillors, work will progress in drawing up a finalised investment plan for submission to the UK Government by 1 August 2022.
To assist with the preparation of the investment plan, the Council have been in active discussion with internal colleagues and external partners as they seek to map current activity and identify how best the fund could be used.
There are key themes which are being established in line with the investment plan requirements. They are grouped across the three investment priorities:
- Communities and Place,
- Local Business Investment,
- People and Skills (with Multiply sub-theme).
Detailed interventions being worked up will be based around several themes which reflect business and community needs and opportunities as highlighted in the following priority objectives:
Communities and Place
To strengthen social fabric and foster a sense of local pride and belonging
To build resilient, healthy and safe neighbourhoods
Supporting Local Businesses
Create jobs and boost community cohesion
Promote networking and collaboration
Increasing private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities
People and Skills
Boost core skills and support adults to progress in work
Reduce levels of economic inactivity
Supporting people furthest from the labour market barriers to work
Supporting local areas to fund gaps in local skills provision
Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans, welcomed the funding. He said: "Over £9.5m from the Shared Prosperity Fund will provide a significant boost to local communities, businesses and skills development. There is an opportunity for local design and delivery, within the parameters set by the UK Government, to decide how best the fund can be used locally for maximum effect, through a Highland Investment Plan."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Households across Scotland have received £4.1 billion in relief since the Council Tax Reduction scheme was introduced in 2013. People on low incomes are eligible for the benefit if they live in Scotland - there is no equivalent in England where most councils require each household to contribute a minimum amount of council tax, irrespective of ability to do so.
The Highland Council is preparing to carry out improvement works in Thurso at Ormlie Road and at The Mall riverside path adjacent to Janet Street. The scope of works on Ormlie Road will include junction improvements between Castlegreen Road and Juniper Drive with new drop kerbs and tactile paving and some surface repairs.
A Highland-wide partnership launched earlier in 2024 to support people on their journey towards, into and within employment is looking forward to a New Year in 2025 full of exciting opportunities designed to help hundreds more people across the Highlands unlock their work potential. Work.
The Highland Council is delighted to share that its Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme has won the Outstanding Project Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards. Described by Scottish Renewables as a "pioneering clean power scheme", this £7 million project demonstrates the incredible impact that can be achieved through combined public and private sector investment.
The ambitious yet focused ‘Highland Investment Plan' is committed to addressing our asset challenges over the next twenty years. By using a place based approach, to ensure a more integrated community offering through the creation of new community facilities.
Applications to the Inverness Winter Payments Scheme, which is fully funded by the Inverness Common Fund, have already been awarded to 1,035 eligible households within the 7 specified Inverness Wards. Leader of Inverness Area, Councillor Ian Brown said: "Since the Scheme was opened to applications for this winter, already £114,885 has been awarded to people who live in the eligible Wards of Aird and Loch Ness, Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side, Inverness Millburn, Culloden and Ardersier and Inverness South Wards.
The first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair held last month has proved to be a hit with participants and businesses. The week-long virtual event, which was delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West - The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions, Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides was timed to coincide with Scottish Careers Week 2024.
The Service Centre will close at 5pm on Tuesday 24 December, re-opening on Friday 27 December (opening times 8am to 5pm). It will be closed on 1 and 2 January and open 8am to 5pm from Friday 3 January 2025.
Members have considered an update on the Council's medium term financial plan and the impact of the UK and Scottish Governments’ budgets on the coming year’s funding settlement. The position is currently looking more positive than initially planned for, however more detail needs to be worked through.
In November, The Highland Council launched a public statutory consultation to seek views on the proposed introduction of a Visitor Levy scheme across the Highlands. The Council has announced an extension to this consultation period, which will now give businesses, visitors and communities until 31 March 2025, an additional seven weeks, to take part and have their say.
