A Business Improvement District for every town in Scotland.
As we struggle our way along the bumpy road from recession towards economic stability and hopefully onwards to growth, it is essential that we ensure our town centres have the tools for success. A Business Improvement District (BID) enables businesses to work together, to pool resources and raise revenue, delivering a true local partnership between the public and private sectors, with the primary aim of delivering local solutions to local issues and concerns and improving local economic growth.
A BID brings focus and energy from the private sector which when combined with public sector support can make a real improvement and difference to Scotland's town centres.
All towns of whatever size have different issues and problems that are of concern to local businesses and these problems often impact on the local community and the wider regeneration aspirations of the public sector.
The creation of a Business Improvement District will encourage greater use of our town centres. From physical improvements to marketing campaigns, from food festivals to community safety, BIDs make a real difference to the vibrancy of our town centres, recognising the vital role they have to play in the economic and social fabric of our communities.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
Idea 13: "Portrait of the artist as a valued resource"
Published in the Scotsman, 18/2/11
All artists who are supported by the public purse should repay that investment with energetic and enthusiastic interest.
"In the run-up to the election, Ross Martin will look at options for the new Scottish Government. Here he outlines how to get better value from arts grants and improve education at the same time.
ALL artists who are supported by the public purse should repay that investment, with energetic and enthusiastic interest. Art is heavily subsidised by the public pound. We should view that sizeable financial contribution as something upon which the public can see a real return. Just as we expect publicly funded enterprise to contribute to economic growth, so too should we expect a community, as well as a cultural return on our investment in all forms of art.
In addition to recognising the inherent individual and societal value in art - art for art's sake - so should we develop ways in which we can build in a better deal for state investment. For example, we should demand that all artists who benefit from financial support from the public purse should put an equivalent value back into our public services.
That is the principle. What of the detail? As we debate the role of public services, their funding and their reform; where does art fit within that developing picture? What contribution can and should art play? Can we ensure, for example, that all painters, sculptors, actors, dancers, musicians, writers and all others involved in the arts community who benefit from public financial support, return the favour?
If so, what form might that take?
As a starter, let's go back to school. Imagine a world where our leading players in the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe take to the school stage as an integral part of their time in the capital. How exhilarating, inspiring and yes, educational, would that opportunity prove for the primary pupils across the city, and perhaps beyond, especially in areas such as my home housing estate, Wester Hailes?
Picture if you will the scenes in Scottish secondary schools if the stars of the silver screen who annually grace the Edinburgh Film Festival, were to spend time coaching our kids on the finer points of method acting. Play out in your mind the very notion of our leading musicians strumming their stuff in school halls the length and breadth of the land as part of an orchestrated campaign to support music tuition, which is increasingly a target for budget cuts.
I have witnessed myself the benefit of listening to, and learning from, great artists such as the entertaining and engaging writer Alan Spence.
I have even basked in the reflective glow of a school mate, Tommy Smith, jazz saxophonist, as he practised his way on those first crucial steps towards critical acclaim and commercial success. This is mental nutrition of the very best kind.
I have attended many a Fringe performance and the occasional Festival concert enjoying the undoubted benefits to my own personal cultural development, but I can't help thinking that in all of these cases, wherever public money is used, there must be a better way to reach a wider audience base. As we approach the 5 May Holyrood election, we should remind ourselves that the audience in question also plays a role in a political performance - that of the electorate.
It is surely possible to conceive of a system of public funding for all of these, for sculptors and other artistic specialists too, where they give back to the public some of the very thing that the public pound has enabled and encouraged them to develop - their talent.
All of these artists must pass on their incredible, sometimes traditional, skills to school students eager to learn and develop a way in which to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive labour market. It must also be possible for them to think a little differently and devise ways in which their public funding can be valued by those in whose name the cheques are signed - the public.
It is easy to envisage a way in which that publicly celebrated talent can celebrate the public that nurtured it. It is of course possible to put in place simple mechanisms by which actors, singers and dancers who rely on public funding to pursue their chosen career paths use a small part of their publicly funded time entertaining the elderly. It would be fantastic if we could structure a programme of entertainment for those who most deserve to be looked after and entertained, our senior citizens, around the general programme of arts entertainment which is simply not accessible to them.
Additionally, it is now quite common practice for famous actors, artists, singers and dancers to "do their duty" entertaining front line troops. Well, what about the veterans back home, and the families, without whose support these brave men and women would have foundered? It must be possible, in all good conscience, to put together a programme for the families of our brave and dedicated service personnel, as a matter of course, at least each year we remain at war.
In Scotland, we do none of this. We spend millions of pounds supporting "art", in all its forms, without a single thought of how to make that spend sustainable. We must devise a mechanism by which we ensure that art is indeed a public good. We must be able to put in place funding systems that deliver public benefit for every public pound invested. Otherwise public funding for art will exit stage left.
The purists will, no doubt, label me a Philistine.
Who cares? Not me, and certainly not, I would suggest, those members of our communities who either can't get access to the arts, or perhaps more importantly, those who simply do not see the benefit of engaging with our artists. In other words, the people who would most benefit from an active arts policy of public engagement.
Far from being a threat to public funding of the arts, this proposal could be an integral part of their survival. By locking an artist's participation into not only the delivery, but also the design of public services, our artistic community can truly weave themselves into the fabric of Scottish society. In so doing, our actors will be playing out a sustainable funding mechanism that benefits them in the longer term, protecting them from the spending cuts that currently threaten their existence.
We operate in what people call "silos", each contained in our own world. We put needless barriers in between different sectors. Public or private. Voluntary organisation or social enterprise, we love to categorise and keep control by maintaining degrees of separation that do not need to exist. The arts are for all. In the current economic climate it is essential that we ensure that the public are not only the audience but that they play their part alongside the professionals.
It was all too easy to run separate organisations, separate structures, with separate funding streams when the cash kept flowing from both the public purse and private sector sponsorship. Those days are over and we must now work creatively to nurture and develop all forms of art if we are to avoid a descent into an abyss.
Let me finish by slightly mixing my metaphors but, I hope, to effect. The stage is set. There is pretty much a blank political canvass on which to paint. This is a huge opportunity to sing a song of support for our arts community. We can't sit back awaiting a policy idea to applaud. It is time to put in place a self-sustaining funding model that celebrates all that is good about the arts in Scotland. It's in our genetic make-up".
• Ross Martin is policy director of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy
All artists who are supported by the public purse should repay that investment with energetic and enthusiastic interest.
"In the run-up to the election, Ross Martin will look at options for the new Scottish Government. Here he outlines how to get better value from arts grants and improve education at the same time.
ALL artists who are supported by the public purse should repay that investment, with energetic and enthusiastic interest. Art is heavily subsidised by the public pound. We should view that sizeable financial contribution as something upon which the public can see a real return. Just as we expect publicly funded enterprise to contribute to economic growth, so too should we expect a community, as well as a cultural return on our investment in all forms of art.
In addition to recognising the inherent individual and societal value in art - art for art's sake - so should we develop ways in which we can build in a better deal for state investment. For example, we should demand that all artists who benefit from financial support from the public purse should put an equivalent value back into our public services.
That is the principle. What of the detail? As we debate the role of public services, their funding and their reform; where does art fit within that developing picture? What contribution can and should art play? Can we ensure, for example, that all painters, sculptors, actors, dancers, musicians, writers and all others involved in the arts community who benefit from public financial support, return the favour?
If so, what form might that take?
As a starter, let's go back to school. Imagine a world where our leading players in the Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe take to the school stage as an integral part of their time in the capital. How exhilarating, inspiring and yes, educational, would that opportunity prove for the primary pupils across the city, and perhaps beyond, especially in areas such as my home housing estate, Wester Hailes?
Picture if you will the scenes in Scottish secondary schools if the stars of the silver screen who annually grace the Edinburgh Film Festival, were to spend time coaching our kids on the finer points of method acting. Play out in your mind the very notion of our leading musicians strumming their stuff in school halls the length and breadth of the land as part of an orchestrated campaign to support music tuition, which is increasingly a target for budget cuts.
I have witnessed myself the benefit of listening to, and learning from, great artists such as the entertaining and engaging writer Alan Spence.
I have even basked in the reflective glow of a school mate, Tommy Smith, jazz saxophonist, as he practised his way on those first crucial steps towards critical acclaim and commercial success. This is mental nutrition of the very best kind.
I have attended many a Fringe performance and the occasional Festival concert enjoying the undoubted benefits to my own personal cultural development, but I can't help thinking that in all of these cases, wherever public money is used, there must be a better way to reach a wider audience base. As we approach the 5 May Holyrood election, we should remind ourselves that the audience in question also plays a role in a political performance - that of the electorate.
It is surely possible to conceive of a system of public funding for all of these, for sculptors and other artistic specialists too, where they give back to the public some of the very thing that the public pound has enabled and encouraged them to develop - their talent.
All of these artists must pass on their incredible, sometimes traditional, skills to school students eager to learn and develop a way in which to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive labour market. It must also be possible for them to think a little differently and devise ways in which their public funding can be valued by those in whose name the cheques are signed - the public.
It is easy to envisage a way in which that publicly celebrated talent can celebrate the public that nurtured it. It is of course possible to put in place simple mechanisms by which actors, singers and dancers who rely on public funding to pursue their chosen career paths use a small part of their publicly funded time entertaining the elderly. It would be fantastic if we could structure a programme of entertainment for those who most deserve to be looked after and entertained, our senior citizens, around the general programme of arts entertainment which is simply not accessible to them.
Additionally, it is now quite common practice for famous actors, artists, singers and dancers to "do their duty" entertaining front line troops. Well, what about the veterans back home, and the families, without whose support these brave men and women would have foundered? It must be possible, in all good conscience, to put together a programme for the families of our brave and dedicated service personnel, as a matter of course, at least each year we remain at war.
In Scotland, we do none of this. We spend millions of pounds supporting "art", in all its forms, without a single thought of how to make that spend sustainable. We must devise a mechanism by which we ensure that art is indeed a public good. We must be able to put in place funding systems that deliver public benefit for every public pound invested. Otherwise public funding for art will exit stage left.
The purists will, no doubt, label me a Philistine.
Who cares? Not me, and certainly not, I would suggest, those members of our communities who either can't get access to the arts, or perhaps more importantly, those who simply do not see the benefit of engaging with our artists. In other words, the people who would most benefit from an active arts policy of public engagement.
Far from being a threat to public funding of the arts, this proposal could be an integral part of their survival. By locking an artist's participation into not only the delivery, but also the design of public services, our artistic community can truly weave themselves into the fabric of Scottish society. In so doing, our actors will be playing out a sustainable funding mechanism that benefits them in the longer term, protecting them from the spending cuts that currently threaten their existence.
We operate in what people call "silos", each contained in our own world. We put needless barriers in between different sectors. Public or private. Voluntary organisation or social enterprise, we love to categorise and keep control by maintaining degrees of separation that do not need to exist. The arts are for all. In the current economic climate it is essential that we ensure that the public are not only the audience but that they play their part alongside the professionals.
It was all too easy to run separate organisations, separate structures, with separate funding streams when the cash kept flowing from both the public purse and private sector sponsorship. Those days are over and we must now work creatively to nurture and develop all forms of art if we are to avoid a descent into an abyss.
Let me finish by slightly mixing my metaphors but, I hope, to effect. The stage is set. There is pretty much a blank political canvass on which to paint. This is a huge opportunity to sing a song of support for our arts community. We can't sit back awaiting a policy idea to applaud. It is time to put in place a self-sustaining funding model that celebrates all that is good about the arts in Scotland. It's in our genetic make-up".
• Ross Martin is policy director of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Idea 12 - Votes at 16 (by the SYP)
Lower the voting age to 16.
"At the heart of the Scottish Youth Parliament’s work is our belief that young people should be involved in making every decision that affects them. We feel that that one of the best ways of getting involved in making decisions is through the ballot box. Through our work we’ve seen many capable, confident and well-informed 16 and 17 year olds who have a real interest in politics, but are unable to play their full part as citizens by exercising their democratic rights on election day.
“For us, it’s an issue of fairness. In Scotland 16 and 17 year-olds can sign up for the armed forces while not having the right to have their say at the ballot box on defence policy. They can leave school, get a job and be taxed without being represented at Westminster or Holyrood. The SYP firmly believes it’s a real injustice that under 18s are considered mature and responsible enough to get married or drive a car, but not mature and responsible enough to choose who they want to represent their communities.
“Most importantly, our belief is based on the views of young people. We regularly consult thousands of young people across Scotland on issues that are important to them, and consistently the message comes back loud and clear – young people want the right to vote at 16 and they believe that it’s an essential part of encouraging young people’s participation as active citizens.”
The Scottish Youth Parliament
"At the heart of the Scottish Youth Parliament’s work is our belief that young people should be involved in making every decision that affects them. We feel that that one of the best ways of getting involved in making decisions is through the ballot box. Through our work we’ve seen many capable, confident and well-informed 16 and 17 year olds who have a real interest in politics, but are unable to play their full part as citizens by exercising their democratic rights on election day.
“For us, it’s an issue of fairness. In Scotland 16 and 17 year-olds can sign up for the armed forces while not having the right to have their say at the ballot box on defence policy. They can leave school, get a job and be taxed without being represented at Westminster or Holyrood. The SYP firmly believes it’s a real injustice that under 18s are considered mature and responsible enough to get married or drive a car, but not mature and responsible enough to choose who they want to represent their communities.
“Most importantly, our belief is based on the views of young people. We regularly consult thousands of young people across Scotland on issues that are important to them, and consistently the message comes back loud and clear – young people want the right to vote at 16 and they believe that it’s an essential part of encouraging young people’s participation as active citizens.”
The Scottish Youth Parliament
Adopt an intern and help graduates take first step
Published in the Scotsman, 15/2/11
Now is not a good time to be a graduate. The economic crisis has left more than a million 16-24 year-olds unemployed in the UK, with graduate unemployment up by 44 per cent in 12 months.
One answer to this economic and social challenge is an increase in the volume and variety of intern opportunities for our graduates. It is vital that graduates are given the chance to gain suitable work experience and the opportunity to develop the kind of workplace skills that employers need. Sadly, an accessible internship culture does not exist in Scotland.
The importance of paid, well-structured and accessible internships cannot be understated if we are going to achieve social mobility, promote economic growth and avoid a lost generation of youth.
That is why my organisation set up a new programme – Adopt an Intern, with financial support from the Scottish Government. This innovative programme is intended to help Scotland's graduates into paid internships using the centre's network of cross-sector member organisations.
After the first year of operation, the initiative is bringing energetic new talent into organisations, big and small, as well as providing young people with the opportunity to take their first step on the career path.
Feedback from the public, private and voluntary sector employers has been tremendous as they benefit from access to a talent pool of individuals with graduate-level education, adding real value to their business.
We aim to embed a vibrant intern culture across Scotland, creating a route to graduate employment. All organisations – small, medium and large, public and private, voluntary and charity – can play a positive part in securing the first opportunity for graduates who would otherwise be denied the chance to demonstrate their potential. These graduates are self-starters bursting with new ideas; they're keen to make their mark.
Joy Lewis, CSPP Intern Programme Manager
Now is not a good time to be a graduate. The economic crisis has left more than a million 16-24 year-olds unemployed in the UK, with graduate unemployment up by 44 per cent in 12 months.
One answer to this economic and social challenge is an increase in the volume and variety of intern opportunities for our graduates. It is vital that graduates are given the chance to gain suitable work experience and the opportunity to develop the kind of workplace skills that employers need. Sadly, an accessible internship culture does not exist in Scotland.
The importance of paid, well-structured and accessible internships cannot be understated if we are going to achieve social mobility, promote economic growth and avoid a lost generation of youth.
That is why my organisation set up a new programme – Adopt an Intern, with financial support from the Scottish Government. This innovative programme is intended to help Scotland's graduates into paid internships using the centre's network of cross-sector member organisations.
After the first year of operation, the initiative is bringing energetic new talent into organisations, big and small, as well as providing young people with the opportunity to take their first step on the career path.
Feedback from the public, private and voluntary sector employers has been tremendous as they benefit from access to a talent pool of individuals with graduate-level education, adding real value to their business.
We aim to embed a vibrant intern culture across Scotland, creating a route to graduate employment. All organisations – small, medium and large, public and private, voluntary and charity – can play a positive part in securing the first opportunity for graduates who would otherwise be denied the chance to demonstrate their potential. These graduates are self-starters bursting with new ideas; they're keen to make their mark.
Joy Lewis, CSPP Intern Programme Manager
Friday, 11 February 2011
Idea 11 - STV for the Scottish Parliament.
STV for the Scottish Parliament.
Since the adoption of the Single Transferable Vote in 2007, Scotland has been ruled by four different electoral systems. Some work better than others. Yet it is undeniable – regardless of whether or not you support or reject it – that the use of STV for Scottish Local Government elections has had a transformative impact.
Not surprisingly, we think it has been a resounding success. Despite the scaremongering from opponents, STV has on the whole produced stable and more consensual decisions and ensured on-going competition in the local political marketplace.
It would be hyperbolic to suggest that the creation of coalition councils has ushered in a new era of “new politics”, but it has ultimately benefited our local democracy. Why?
1. Multi-member wards “remove political ownership” of electoral areas.
2. Council coalitions and multi-member wards increase the number of “political synapses” within councils and across council boundaries.
3. Council coalitions make for “more mature and considered” politics.
4. Tight competition in the political market improves service provision.
It is our belief that the next stage in the democratic evolution of Scotland should be the replacement of the Additional Member System (AMS) with STV for the Scottish Parliamentary election in 2015.
Those campaigning hard for the vote for a change campaign are rightfully supporting the campaign for AV in future Westminster elections; but let’s face it it’s difficult to get excited by a flawed system like AV.
The same cannot be said for the adoption of STV in Holyrood elections. It would end the “half-way house” and the two tiered system that doesn’t work.
Click here to read our RDII report that covered this issue.
Since the adoption of the Single Transferable Vote in 2007, Scotland has been ruled by four different electoral systems. Some work better than others. Yet it is undeniable – regardless of whether or not you support or reject it – that the use of STV for Scottish Local Government elections has had a transformative impact.
Not surprisingly, we think it has been a resounding success. Despite the scaremongering from opponents, STV has on the whole produced stable and more consensual decisions and ensured on-going competition in the local political marketplace.
It would be hyperbolic to suggest that the creation of coalition councils has ushered in a new era of “new politics”, but it has ultimately benefited our local democracy. Why?
1. Multi-member wards “remove political ownership” of electoral areas.
2. Council coalitions and multi-member wards increase the number of “political synapses” within councils and across council boundaries.
3. Council coalitions make for “more mature and considered” politics.
4. Tight competition in the political market improves service provision.
It is our belief that the next stage in the democratic evolution of Scotland should be the replacement of the Additional Member System (AMS) with STV for the Scottish Parliamentary election in 2015.
Those campaigning hard for the vote for a change campaign are rightfully supporting the campaign for AV in future Westminster elections; but let’s face it it’s difficult to get excited by a flawed system like AV.
The same cannot be said for the adoption of STV in Holyrood elections. It would end the “half-way house” and the two tiered system that doesn’t work.
Click here to read our RDII report that covered this issue.
CSPP in the News - Local Government
CSPP Board Member Richard Kerley was interviewed on Newsnight Scotland last night.
To watch the piece click here and fast forward to 17:43.
To watch the piece click here and fast forward to 17:43.
Idea 10: Create Limited Liability Partnerships between Local Authorities and providers of capital looking for long term investment
Create Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) between Local Authorities and providers of capital looking for long term investment(Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds) to build and manage new social housing.
The council provide land, planning permission, tenants, maintenance and a rent collection mechanism; the provider of capital puts up the cash.
The two parties agree to share the rental revenues according to the LLP agreement.
Tenants are housed in clean, healthy, energy efficient homes; the council is freed from debt obligation; and the funders have a long-term, low risk return on their capital - not to mention the benefits for a struggling construction industry.
The council provide land, planning permission, tenants, maintenance and a rent collection mechanism; the provider of capital puts up the cash.
The two parties agree to share the rental revenues according to the LLP agreement.
Tenants are housed in clean, healthy, energy efficient homes; the council is freed from debt obligation; and the funders have a long-term, low risk return on their capital - not to mention the benefits for a struggling construction industry.
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