Figure 6 % Change in Number of Businesses Registered for VAT

Source: DTI (NOMIS)

• This figure shows the relative change (%) of the number of businesses registered for VAT purposes in the region. Although not all businesses qualify for VAT registration, the evidence is a partial indicator of the supply side health of the region.
• The most recent figures available are for 1995-1996 and are compared to the evidence for 1994-1995. The general trend continues to see a fall in the number of businesses registered for VAT. All areas in the region have a higher drop than Scotland and Dundee shows the biggest fall with nearly 3.0% leaving the register.

HOUSING MARKET

In this issue we examine the role of housing associations in the housing market in Tayside. Although housing associations are a comparatively small sector of the market, they play an important role for particular groups in society. This sections examines who these groups are using data from SCORE for new lettings made by associations during 1997/1998.

• Single person households are the largest household group. With the exception of Fife (46.3%), all areas have more than half of all lets held by single people.

• Fife shows a higher than average level of housing lets in the larger household groups. Households of 3 or more persons hold more than a quarter of lets in Fife. This compares with approximately 20% in Scotland and the other Tay areas.

Figure 8 Household Composition (%)

Household Type	Angus	Dundee City	Fife	Perth & Kinross	Scotland
Lone older person	22.6	16.2	15.2	20.0	16.7
Older couple	5.3	6.0	3.4	4.0	4.5
Lone adult	33.2	35.2	31.0	33.0	37.1
Lone parent	14.2	20.5	21.9	18.5	19.0
Two adults	8.9	7.7	9.1	9.0	8.2
Two adults + children	11.6	10.1	14.6	10.5	10.0
Other	4.2	4.3	4.7	5.0	4.4
	100	100	100	100	100
Total	190	653	951	200	11125

Source: Joint Centre for Scottish Housing Research

• From Figure 7 it was shown that half of all households are single adults. Figure 8 shows that a third of those households are over retirement age.

• Across the Tay region, a fifth of all new lettings were to people over retirement age; however, in Angus this figure rises to almost 30%.

• With the exception of Angus, around a fifth of all new lettings were to single parent households.

• Only one household in ten were families with dependent children. In Fife this figure rises to 15 percent reflecting the larger household size recorded above.

Figure 9 Dwelling Type (%)

Dwelling Type	Angus	Dundee City	Fife	Perth & Kinross	Scotland
Flat/Maisonette	57.2	76.2	59.7	80.8	72.4
Bedsit	12.3	11.0	3.1	3.3	5.3
House	30.5	12.5	37.2	15.9	22.1
Other	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.1
	100	100	100	100	100
Total	203	672	967	214	11361

Source: Joint Centre for Scottish Housing Research

• In Scotland three-quarters of housing association dwellings are flats and this proportion is reflected in the figures for Dundee and Perth and Kinross.

• In contrast, in Angus and Fife a third of dwellings are houses - a proportion well in excess of the Scottish average and of the urban areas of Dundee and Perth.

Figure 10 Economic Status of Household (%)

Status	Angus	Dundee City	Fife	Perth & Kinross	Scotland
Full-time	39.8	27.8	32.2	32.5	27.6
Part-time	5.8	5.9	4.5	4.4	4.1
Govt. Training	1.6	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6
Unemployed	11.5	24.8	25.8	28.6	29.8
Retired	27.2	22.5	20.2	25.1	21.6
At home	5.8	9.1	7.9	0.5	4.8
Student	2.1	2.9	1.2	1.5	1.9
Sick or disabled	6.3	6.7	7.8	6.9	9.5
Other	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
	100	100	100	100	100
Total	191	658	950	203	11126

Source: Joint Centre for Scottish Housing Research

• A fifth of households in Dundee and Fife were retired compared to a quarter in Angus and Perth and Kinross.

• With the exception of Angus (11.5%), a quarter of households was unemployed.

• While a third of households in the Tay region were employed (full or part-time), reflecting the Scottish average, in Angus this figure rises to 46 per cent.

Figure 11 Weekly Income (%)

Income band (£)	Angus	Dundee City	Fife	Perth & Kinross	Scotland
Less than 50	6.8	10.3	9.8	8.0	9.8
50-100	36.4	27.8	31.5	30.4	35.7
100-150	19.3	34.1	31.5	23.2	29.7
150-200	12.5	14.6	12.4	21.4	11.9
200-350	21.6	11.0	12.6	16.1	11.2
More than 350	3.4	2.2	2.1	0.9	1.8
	100	100	100	100	100
Total	88	417	723	112	7888
Average (median)	116	120	112	115	109

Source: Joint Centre for Scottish Housing Research

• The average income of housing association tenants is low, £115 per week, reflecting the larger proportion of single and elderly households.

• Around 40 percent of households have incomes of less than £100 per week.

• Only in Angus do a significant number of households - a quarter - have incomes of over £200 per week.

Introduction

Urban regeneration in Scotland has evolved into a distinctive approach that relies on the geographical targeting of aid, the principles of partnership and empowerment and the implementation of initiatives within a strategic framework. As documented in TAYWATCH the most recent initiative - the Priority Partnership Area - emphasises the designation of communities for practical support for specific projects within a city wide regeneration strategy.

At the present time, however, the PPA initiative, itself a very recent policy innovation, is being superseded by a new measure - the Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) - which will attempt what Donald Dewar memorably described as "joined up solutions to joined up problems". The SIPs initiative is intended to extend the principles embedded in the PPA measure to directly confront the dynamics of social inclusion and social exclusion.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

In May 1998, the Secretary of State for Scotland announced the introduction of SIPs. In particular, he stated that the 12 PPAs would evolve into SIPS and that additional new SIPs would be set up. It is clear that SIPs represent a new phase in Scottish urban regeneration policy; while the measure is drawn directly from the Government's approach to social exclusion, it reflects a specifically Scottish theme. For example, in introducing the measure, the secretary of state argued that "Scottish circumstances differ from England in that those suffering exclusion in Scotland are disproportionately concentrated in specific communities, and there has been more experience of effective urban regeneration policies originally pioneered in Scotland and maintained in later years by local government and others" (Dewar, 1998, 1). It is clear that SIPs build on established arrangements and experience but with a particular emphasis on seeking to prevent young people, in particular, from being excluded in participation in the economic and social mainstream. The key characteristics of SIPs will be:

• a focus on the most needy members of society;

• the co-ordination and filling in of gaps between existing programmes in order to promote inclusion;

• an attempt to prevent people becoming socially excluded.

It is intended that the new SIPs "will focus more closely on promoting inclusion in our communities and preventing social exclusion from developing. As part of this refocus on prevention we will be calling on all partnerships to ensure that they are getting the early years right and ensuring that residents in their communities can take full advantage of the roll out of our plans under the Scottish Childcare Strategy" (Dewar, 1998, 8). In this sense, the SIPs initiative is an endorsement of the established approach but with a key twist in its emphasis on addressing the perceived dynamics of exclusion and inclusion. In practice, it is intended that existing PPAs will evolve into SIPs and the new SIPs programme will be opened up to those communities that missed out on the initial PPA designations. It follows that established PPAs would have to adjust their arrangements to reflect the expectations of the new emphasis of the SIPs approach. In particular, the new approach will include:

• sectoral initiatives in education focusing on promoting inclusion for children and young people with an emphasis on 'New Deal Schools' and 'Out of School Learning Projects';

• pilot New deal Pathfinder projects aimed at strengthening community capacity;

• pilot pathfinder projects in Wester Hailes and Easterhouse which are to develop new integrated approaches to service delivery by unitary local authorities.

Specifically, however, the partnership approach remains central to the designation process; together with a long-term strategy which is achievable and the involvement of local communities. In this respect the Scottish Office expects "partnerships seeking support to demonstrate that they have convincing strategies, will work together, and can do the job their communities deserve". The SIPs initiative involves an innovative feature - it introduces a shift away from an exclusive reliance on geographically focussed policy. Among the suggested approaches to be adopted in the SIPs framework are sectoral measures which can cut across defined areas of disadvantage and address processes of cosila exclusion in a city wide context. In this respect the SIPs model builds on and extends the ideas enshrined in the earlier PPA approach to urban regeneration.

Urban Regeneration into the Millennium

It is clear that urban regeneration remains very high on the Government's agenda and that it will be viewed as a high priority in the run up to the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Indeed, the new Parliament may seek to ensure a more explicit link between demonstrable need and the application of urban policy resources and a more substantial role for local communities in the process of regeneration. In this context, the role of SIPs will assume considerable importance.

SIPs are intended to secure the prevention of exclusion and the promotion of social inclusion in disadvantaged areas. This approach reflects changing perceptions of poverty and disadvantage to one that is dynamic in terms of accommodating social and institutional restructuring, dis-empowerment and community capacity building. In this respect, SIPs mirror policy developments elsewhere, such as in America where there is an emphasis on competitive bidding to designate areas for support, the close geographical targeting of resources, an holistic approach to regeneration, a strategic approach to defining problems and setting common priorities, a partnership approach to policy implementation and an emphasis on community-based involvement. There are, however, some major differences between SIPs and American practice, although both reflect an approach to urban policy that incorporate a recognition that complex and multi-dimensional problems require multi-faceted solutions, and that a needs-based approach is more effective than an approach that prioritises opportunity. Moreover, both initiatives reflect traditions of experimentation in urban policy, which have yielded some innovative and effective initiatives; the Scottish Parliament, it is hoped, could play a part in extending the use of such experiments in the future.

The SIPs initiative represents the culmination of an evolution in urban regeneration policy that has been taking place in Scotland since the 1960s. It appears to be an advance on previous policy initiatives for urban regeneration in Scotland since it attempts to address the causes of urban decline rather than simply ameliorating the effects of such decline. Its challenge will be to deliver sustainable solutions for the complex processes of social inclusion and exclusion.

MG Lloyd, J McCarthy and K Fernie.

Introduction

The Scottish-wide programme of Priority Partnership Area and Regeneration Programme became operational in November 1996. It is part of government’s new urban regeneration policy framework that builds on the partnership approach to urban regeneration developed in the successful Scottish-Office led Urban Partnerships.

Two levels of Urban Programme funding are available: Priority Partnership Areas for concentrations of deprivation, which deserve national priority; and Regeneration Programmes for lesser concentrations of deprivation or city wide regeneration initiatives. Scottish Office funding for the Regeneration Programmes will be for a maximum of five years.

In the Tayside and Fife area there are three separate Regeneration Programmes. The following information outlines their location, their policy framework and strategic objectives.

Angus Council’s Regeneration Programme (Community Regeneration Strategy) is overseen by the Arbroath Community Regeneration Partnership.

The community regeneration strategy approved by the Scottish Office in respect of support via the Programme for Partnership initiative is targeted on part of the Burgh of Arbroath. The area consists of the three small areas of Strathairlie, Bruce Road/Priory Crescent and Wardykes and has a population, at April 1991, of 2648. The area, in relation to 1991 Population Census indicators of deprivation, exhibits high levels of social and economic disadvantage.

The Partnership has focused their objectives around activities which will address issues associated with physical, social and economic regeneration. The following are a selection of priorities which form the basis of expenditure for projects in the lifetime of the programme, beginning in the financial year 1997/1998:

Physical Regeneration

• to implement a series of environmental improvement works throughout the area.

• to identify ways of improving the physical appearance of the industrial units immediately south of the designated area.

Social Regeneration

• to increase the number of residents actively participating in community life within the area.

• to increase the number of local social facilities available to residents in the area.

Economic Regeneration

• to improve the skills levels of residents within the area in terms of economic activity.

• to provide opportunities for young people in particular to undertake training and work available in the wider Arbroath area.

Administrative arrangements for monitoring and evaluation are managed by Angus Council’s Chief Executive Department.

For more information contact Jacqui McNeill, Angus Council Regeneration Programme (Manager), Angus Council 01307 475171

Dundee

The Regeneration Programme in Dundee has been developed to respond to the spread of deprivation and poverty across the City. More than two thirds (69%) of 1991 Census EDs that are eligible for Urban Programme support in the City (in the worst 10% of all EDs in Scotland) will benefit from this programme.

The programme is wide spread and covers enumeration districts located in the communities of Whitfield, Douglas, Mill’o’Mains, Fintry, Beechwood, Lochee, Charleston, Menzieshill and a number of small areas of deprivation in the inner City.

The specific contribution of the Regeneration Programme to the overall strategy for the city is to:

• Stop those areas of the City which are showing increasing signs of stress form getting worse. 1991 Census statistics indicated high levels of unemployment and long-term sickness with low levels of income and low educational attainment in these areas.

• Help those areas of the City which currently benefit form Urban Programme support to ensure that the benefits are not lost. Its strategy will also focus on the development of community capacity and empowerment.

Additionally, a more client-based than geographical-based focus is appropriate. As such, the strategy will support initiatives which address the social and economic needs of specific client groups such as: minority ethnic communities; victims and families who have experienced sexual violence; those affected by HIV.

Administrative arrangements for monitoring and evaluation have been put in place based on a partnership between the University of Dundee and Dundee City Council which is in turn overseen by the Dundee Partnership.

Contact Keith Fernie on 01382 345332 /433219 and/or

e-mail him on either k.fernie@dundee.ac.uk / keith.fernie@dundeecity.gov.uk

Fife

The Fife Regeneration Programme covers approximately 22,000 of Fife's population spread across four areas: Kirkcaldy, Methil/Buckhaven, Benarty/Lochgelly and Abbeyview, Dunfermline. Of which nearly 48% live in Enumeration Districts (EDs) in the worst 10% of deprived EDs in Scotland (see Deprived Areas in Scotland, G Duguid 1995).

The vision of the partners involved in the Fife Regeneration Programme is to secure for Fife’s most disadvantaged communities: sustainable full employment through economic development and training; decent incomes; enrichment through life long learning opportunities; care through quality services for those in need; choice of good affordable homes; a safe, accessible and attractive environment; and for all citizens a stake in a community they value and that values them.

To help achieve this vision the Fife Regeneration Programme, and the partnership, has the following aims:

• to reduce levels of unemployment and raise income levels;

• to promote opportunities for learning and stimulation;

• to enhance health, caring and combat social exclusion;

• to improve homes, the environment and community image;

• to foster community participation and safety.

The Fife Regeneration Programme links with other regeneration and anti-poverty work that is undertaken by members of the partnership whose primary purpose is to improve the living conditions and quality of life for Fifes residents. Some of these initiatives are outlined below:

• Housing Investment Programme

• Local Economic Development Strategy

• Locally Based Initiatives Strategy

• Social Inclusion Strategy

• Training Strategy

• Health Alliance

• Equality Networks

Administrative arrangements for monitoring and evaluation are managed by Fife Council's Chief Executive Department.

For more information contact Ian Maconachie, Team Leader (Programme Management), Corporate Policy, Fife Council 01592 416 162