Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Ewan SNP’s economic failings
AT THE end of March, over 20 business leaders in Dundee gathered for the first meeting of a newly convened business and economic council.
Drawn together by council leader John Alexander, the group is expected to provide constructive feedback on the city’s strategy. Citing a recently published Centre For Cities report, Mr Alexander said: “We know and have to recognise that Dundee has seen numerous improvements over the last 20 years, but we also know that challenges remain.”
The report had many positives. There are 2,500 more jobs in Dundee now than there were in 2010. Dundee has seen a 41% increase in publicly funded service jobs, a reasonable chunk of which comes from Social Security Scotland’s new HQ at the waterfront. Out of 62 equivalent UK cities, Dundee stood third highest in terms of the number of well-paid jobs secured via inward investment. These are very encouraging signs, but as the councillor said, the report also contained some sobering revelations.
In the same period, productivity was stagnant, despite an average increase of 1.5% year on year between 1998 and 2010. Also, despite new and available jobs, Dundee ranked lowest for employment. Clearly, Councillor Steven Rome, convener for economic growth, did not read the same report as his boss or his intervention to the press release wouldn’t have read: “Employment reached its highest level since records began…”
However, why is pulling in business leaders positive? Because the SNP has notoriously poor national relations with business, and commerce is one of Dundee’s foremost attractions. In its December
2023 Budget, the Scottish Government refused to apply UK Government-funded measures which could have decreased annual charges on non-domestic properties by 75% or offered rates relief of up to 40%. Both incentives could have provided the “supercharge” in the leisure
and retail sectors Mr Alexander said he hopes to unleash.
This is also important because there is huge risk attached to current spending plans. For example, just weeks before convening this meeting, councillors signed off on a fiveyear Capital Plan, at an overall cost of £388 million, much of
which relies upon future and as yet unsourced investment. The plan, among other things, intends to reduce child poverty, tackle climate change and design a modern council.
On February 19, a report was presented to councillors by executive director of corporate services Robert Emmott.
The risk report, which was included, projected a “high” risk of costs increasing due to price inflation, and it anticipated additional unforeseen costs once the project got under way. There were also concerns raised about a lower return on investment than expected as well as there being no guarantee of future grants from the Scottish Government to complete the project.
Dundee has so much potential but it suffers from Scottish Government interventions that are profoundly anti-growth or ill conceived. At the end of next month, for example, enforcement charges will be applied to Dundee’s Low Emission Zone, limiting citycentre footfall. Just once, I would appreciate hearing Councillor Alexander address the challenges Dundee faces while placing some blame upon his Scottish Government counterparts.