In her draft budget statement to the Scottish Parliament on 4 December, Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, provided the following announcement:

“I know that many people want to see their local high streets thrive, so today I can announce that I will expand regeneration funding to £62 million to invest in towns and communities including Dundee, Arbroath, Possilpark, Pilton, Drumnadrochit and Stranraer town centre.”

The 2025-26 Proposed Scottish Government Budget, published by the Scottish Government immediately after the Cabinet Secretary’s speech, confirms that the regeneration spending item line is set to rise to £62.2m – an increase of £1.5m from the 2024/25 Autumn Budget Revision:

A supplementary document provides a breakdown of the purpose of this funding:

“These budgets deliver placed based, community led, investment and regeneration which is targeted to support our most fragile and disadvantaged communities – reducing inequalities and tackling poverty, supporting town centre regeneration and Clyde Gateway. These programmes are delivered in partnership with COSLA, local authorities and local communities to ensure they deliver the greatest collective benefit. Overall budget for regeneration has been increased, following a £4.2m increase in Capital between 2024/25 and 2025/26 to increase our support to place-based community-led regeneration in our most disadvantaged communities.”

While this presents a modest investment from the £63bn Scottish budget, SURF welcomes the increase, and the prominent recognition of the importance of investing in place-based regeneration in the Cabinet Secretary’s speech and the draft budget publication.

Given the thematic spread of regeneration project activity, place-based initiatives of all sizes can also benefit from other areas of the proposed budget.

Place-based regeneration is one of SURF’s five key thematic areas of interest, as reflected in the categories for tonight’s SURF Awards reveal. The other four are:

  • Housing is a key focal point in the draft budget. £768m is allocated to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, an increase from £488m in the 2024/25 Autumn Budget (which was a major cut from the £615m spent in 2023/24). The publication notes plans to develop a Housing Planning Hub to support the Planning and Housing Emergency Delivery Plan.
  • Creative regeneration organisations may welcome a planned £34m increase in the cultural budget, £20m of which will be distributed by Creative Scotland for multi-year funding. The budget statement recognises the value of arts and culture to Scotland’s economy, and to people’s lives and wellbeing
  • Employability is set to receive an increase of over £4m, to £104m. Lifelong Learning and Skills has a planned budget increase of £5m to £255m, and £25m is set to be invested in a Green Industrial Strategy to create jobs in green energy supply chains.
  • Community led activity could benefit from a planned £30m increase in Public Service Reform & Community Empowerment, linked to the outcomes of the Local Governance Review, which SURF provided an in-depth contribution to.

Child poverty action, NHS service improvements and a 40% rates relief for hospitality businesses were among the budget’s main spending priorities. There are no specific references to some SURF network policy interests, including Community Wealth Building and the Place Principle, in the budget publication.

The full proposed budget and supporting documents are available on the Scottish Government website – and the Cabinet Secretary’s Parliamentary statement can be found here.

The draft budget requires cross-party support prior to formal confirmation, which the Scottish Government hopes to achieve by February, and budgetary plans may change during discussions and negotiations. SURF will continue to track developments. Sign up to our monthly bulletin to stay informed.