“That the Parliament welcomes the investment in Roxburgh and Berwickshire, the Borders and the South of Scotland from European Union structural funding, such as at Springwood Park in Kelso and at Ettrick Riverside in Selkirk; notes that the current round of such funding ends in March 2006, and believes that the south of Scotland has a clear case for continuing investment to support its economy and communities.”
Stressing the value of local agencies working together across the region, Christine Grahame, MSP for the South of Scotland said: “Some people think that there is a forced marriage of convenience between Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders, but I have never seen the relationship in that way. When the south of Scotland Alliance was formed way back in 2000, there was a strength of purpose behind it. As I said, the areas have similar problems with infrastructure and low wages. They cannot simply be lumped in with cities in the east and west…”
This point was reiterated by Derek Brownlee, MSP for the South of Scotland who noted: “There is probably more that unites Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders than divides them. There are certainly strong and growing links between the councils that serve the region. There are also long-established family and business links. We only have to look at the history and traditions of the region to see that there are strong cultural links, which are important.”
Jeremy Purvis, MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale noted: “We in the South of Scotland should speak with a single, clear voice …. The South of Scotland has its own priorities. I find it hard to agree that priorities can be established on a lowland Scotland basis that covers the entire Scottish Enterprise network.”
Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries summed up the mood of local members. She said: “In spite of the political differences between the members who represent the area, we all agree that the South of Scotland is special. It is different. It is distinct in that it has its own culture, its own traditions and a very special landscape …”
Chris Ballance, MSP for South of Scotland stressed the need for a higher profile for the rural south. He claimed: “There is an assumption at large that rural Scotland is Highland Scotland ... but the claims and needs of southern Scotland are equally strong and should be taken into equal consideration.”
Allan Wilson, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning outlined the Executive’s position regarding future investment in the region. He said: “There is a case for continuing investment to support the South of Scotland's economy and its constituent communities. The South of Scotland faces significant challenges, as does the whole of Scotland, in relation to matters such as improving productivity and addressing social exclusion ... We have said that future [European] programming will need to be flexible enough to meet the needs of all areas of Scotland. We are looking into the use of spatial criteria and other options to ensure that the funding is concentrated in areas with the greatest need and is distributed equitably throughout Scotland.”
A number of MSPs also used the debate to support the South of Scotland Alliance campaign to redraw the boundaries of the NUTS II statistical areas in Scotland to address the masking of the true socio-economic position in the region under the current boundaries.
Elaine Murray MSP noted: “Unfortunately, the current NUTS boundaries seem to treat the South of Scotland as if it is the south of the central belt. …. The suggestion [of the creation of a separate South of Scotland NUTS II region] would not in any way disadvantage Glasgow or Edinburgh; it would advantage the South of the Scotland, but it would not disadvantage anyone.”
Scottish Executive Minister Allan Wilson MSP stated: “We have examined the option [of creating a South of Scotland NUTS II region] thoroughly and it is clear that there will be no reclassification of NUTS boundaries until 2008.” However, he added: “If there were ways in which we could bring political or other pressure to bear on the situation, we would do so.”
Euan Robson MSP noted: “If there is no will in Brussels to bring forward the review [of NUTS II boundaries], we should make a special case for the South of Scotland to be redesignated as a separate region. After all, there are at least nine NUTS II regions across Europe with smaller populations.”
The claim that the South of Scotland has too small a population to be designated a separate NUTS II region was also rebuffed by Alasdair Morgan, MSP for South of Scotland. He said: “The argument that the South of Scotland is too small to be a separate region does not wash either, because there are smaller mainland regions in Europe. The Valle d'Aosta in Italy and the Luxembourg province of Belgium are roughly the same size as the South of Scotland and qualify as NUTS II regions on their own. Why cannot the South of Scotland?”
Derek Brownlee MSP added: “I hope that it [The Scottish Executive] will lobby vigorously on behalf of the South of Scotland. If the Executive does not speak out, I doubt whether the South of Scotland will be listened to. It is important that the Executive is in there fighting the corner for the South of Scotland.”
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