The Economy and Fair Work Committee has called for action to halt the long-standing decline of Scotland's town centres, as it publishes a new report following an inquiry into the issue.
The inquiry concluded that the planning system needs to be strengthened to ensure no new developments unfairly compete with town centre provision.
Alongside this, a rebalancing of the cost of doing business is required to make town centres more competitive, including how non-domestic rates currently operate, to support investment in town centres.
The committee suggested that every town in Scotland should have a long-term, strategic vision for the future that recognises its unique nature, history and the community. This should be driven locally and not imposed from the top down.
Transparency of ownership and powers to tackle derelict or dangerous buildings also need further action.
Claire Baker, convener of the committee, said: “This report should signal a line in the sand for how we support, develop and prioritise investment in our town centres.
“Throughout this inquiry we heard that although the pandemic accelerated trends towards online shopping, people really care about the future of their town centre and what is on their doorstep.
“As we move into a challenging period for our retail sector, our committee is unified in its call that vibrant, thriving town centres must be prioritised.
“This report recognises that the only way to do that is through changing how we support these developments through various measures, from planning to non-domestic rates.”
She added: “We know there is no quick fix but unless we start now, then we won’t be able to halt the accelerated decline of recent years we’ve seen already in too many communities across Scotland.”
Specific measures include:
- Strengthening the National Planning Framework 4 to ensure that any proposed developments can demonstrate that town centre sites have been pursued and thoroughly evaluated and that developments will have no adverse impact on town centres and will not compete with town centre provision.
- The overarching principle must be rebalancing the cost of doing business in town centres versus out-of-town sites - so approaches that could be considered include giving councils the power to levy an out-of-town development premium or a business rates surcharge which could then be used for town centre regeneration.
- The current non-domestic rates (NDR) system acts as a disincentive when trying to attract businesses back to our town centres. For businesses already located in town centres, the current NDR system acts as a disincentive to invest in already occupied property, as any investment leads to an increase in NDR. The committee stated that it consistently heard that the current system works against investment and growth in town centre retail and that the NDR system should be rebalanced to support town centre development.
- There is strong demand amongst Scotland's smaller retailers for more and better support to build their online presence and to be able to take advantage of platforms that already exist - so a broader range of opportunities must be made available to up-skill and future-proof the retail workforce.
- Transparency of beneficial ownership of town centre property and land and absentee owners can still be a problem, particularly where an individual lives or is based overseas. The committee stated that all property and landowners should be contactable and there should be clarity on who the owner is. The Scottish Government has said its focus is on Compulsory Purchase Orders, but the committee reckons its actions may be insufficient and that more may need to be to address this problem.
- Local authorities have a range of powers available to them to tackle derelict or dangerous buildings, but they are not used as frequently or proactively as the committee would like. There can be a reluctance to resort to those statutory powers, in part due to a lack of resources to carry actions through.
- The committee recognises the value of, and increased demand for, e-commerce activities and the importance of increasing the use of technology as a driver of increased productivity - so an action plan should be developed by the Scottish Government to support the take-up of training and capacity building to support Scottish activity.
As part of the inquiry, the committee visited a number of town centres across Scotland, including Burntisland, Inverurie, Fraserburgh, Hamilton and Dumfries.
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