MSPs To Review Value Of Regional Selective Assistance

20th June 2019

The Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee is focusing its pre-budget 2020-21 scrutiny on Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) and other financial support for businesses provided by Scotland's enterprise agencies. It is our expectation that this will feed into Scottish Government budget plans and policy development.

The Committee would like to hear from businesses that have received RSA or other financial support from Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise over the past ten years. We want to understand what impact these grants have had and whether grant support could be improved.

We would also like to hear from businesses that have applied for RSA funding but have not had their applications accepted.In addition, the Committee would like to gain an understanding of how the enterprise agencies measure the impact of the grant support they provide. This is fundamentally important to the Committee, as it attempts to focus more on the outcomes of public sector budgets.Finally, the Committee would like to hear from any others who have views on these matters.The remit of this year's pre-budget scrutiny is:

To examine the impact of Regional Selective Assistance (RSA), and other enterprise agency financial support, in delivering the Scottish Government's economic goals. Specifically, the Committee is interested in whether RSA helps businesses become more productive and internationally-focused, whether RSA impacts employment levels and fair work practices and the future of such support mechanisms."

The committee wants to gain an understanding of impact these grants have had and whether grant support could be improved, and I urge businesses who have engaged with this scheme to tell us about their experiences

The outcome from this exercise is expected to feed into the upcoming Scottish Government budget plans and policy development.

The key areas that the committee hopes to find answers to are:

Does RSA, and other grants, represent good value for money?

Could the £18 million to £34 million spent each year on RSA be better used supporting Scotland's businesses in other ways?

To what extent does Regional Selective Assistance support the Scottish Government's economic goals, as set out in its Economic Strategy and National Performance Framework?

How do RSA, and other grants, contribute to "inclusive economic growth"?

How do the enterprise agencies measure the impact of RSA?

Should RSA change, and if so, how?

What due diligence and accountability processes are followed by the enterprise agencies?

What progress has been made towards introducing more conditionality?

Whether more conditionality should be applied to RSA funding in addition to that announced over the past year.

How successful is the claw-back process when investments fail?

Businesses are encouraged to complete a short questionnaire which aims to capture the experiences and views of successful, and unsuccessful, recipients of RSA and other grants. The questionnaire can be found HERE

HERE

The deadline for submitting views is Friday 16 August 2019.