Fife’s Economic Strategy

.. and by 2030 achieve the following outcomes:

• An increase in businesses and jobs, especially in Mid-Fife.
• Business start-up and survival rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels and/or are higher than national rates.
• A reduction in per capita greenhouse gas emissions.
• Over 50% of Fife Council’s procurement expenditure is spent with suppliers based in Fife.
• An increase in the number of social enterprises, co-operatives & community-owned businesses.
• An increase in the number of advanced manufacturing, low carbon, digital innovation and trade activities and jobs as a result of the successful operation of the Forth Green Freeport.

... and by 2030 achieve the following outcome:

• An increase in businesses and jobs especially in Mid-Fife.
• The opening of the Levenmouth Rail Link has seen an increase in businesses and jobs in the area.
• Over 90% of Fife Council-owned business premises are occupied.
• A fall in town centre vacancy rates.
• Most communities have access to an enterprise centre aimed at stimulating small and growing businesses.
• Visitor numbers to Fife have returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

... and by 2030, achieve the following outcomes:

• Higher rates of employment and reduced levels of economic inactivity.
• Fewer people claiming out-of work benefits and suffering the greatest levels of deprivation.
• At least 95% of our school leavers go to and are still in a positive destination after 6 months.
• An increase in average wages and the percentage of employee jobs which are paid above the real living wage.
• More employers are accredited as real Living Wage Employers.

The delivery of this strategy will be influenced by a number of significant challenges and uncertainties, as illustrated in Figure 1 below. Our priorities, actions and delivery plan are based on our assessment of the current situation, but this will be continually reviewed in relation to the environment in  which we are operating, and further adjustments will be made as required

Our new strategy also takes into account the objectives and priorities of the UK Government Levelling Up Paper, Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation, the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Regional Prosperity Framework and Action Plan, Tay Cities Region Economic Strategy and the Plan for Fife and Plan for Fife Reform & Recovery Update. Details of this national, regional and local policy context are set out in Appendix 1.

Our assessment of the key economic strengths, challenges and opportunities for Fife is contained in Figure 2 and summarised below. A more detailed evaluation of Fife’s recent economic performance and trends is provided in an Evidence Report.

We have strengths in several business sectors (as shown in Appendix 2) and provide effective support to businesses and to people facing barriers to work.

Major events, golf tourism and Fife’s outstanding natural and cultural assets provide the platform for growing visitor numbers to Fife – but with an increased focus on promoting sustainable tourism.

Fife is home to a top-class university and college and its labour market is more qualified than Scotland’s as a whole.

Employment has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels and there has been an increase in economic inactivity. Claimant rates in Levenmouth, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath are consistently higher than the rest of Fife and the under-performance of the Mid-Fifei economy remains a concern.

There has been a fall in the number of jobs and businesses and Fife’s jobs density is lower than that for Scotland as a whole. Business investment in digitisation is below the Scottish average and many businesses are yet to achieve net zero emissions. Many of our industrial estates and properties need significant investment and there are gaps in digital and transport connectivity. The changing dynamics of high street retail in our key town centres continues to pose a significant challenge.

Visitor numbers to Fife have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Whilst the number of tourism-related businesses has grown, the sector continues to face significant pressures from staff shortages and the cost-of-living/cost-of-doingbusiness crisis.

Securing positive destinations for 16–24 year olds remains a priority, as does targeted support for the most disadvantaged to access fair and meaningful employment.

Delivery of the Leven Rail Link, work on the River Leven and Levenmouth Reconnected Programmes provide an opportunity to attract further investment into the area.

Fife’s success in having Dunfermline recognised as Scotland’s newest city provides a platform from which to attract new investment.

Promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation continues to be an important area of activity with culture of enterprise activities linking our schools, college and local businesses to raise ambition and promote opportunity.

This is backed by a strong emphasis on business start-up, survival and growth assistance.

The ongoing development of the Eden Campus at Guardbridge and Arrol Gibb Innovation Campus at Rosyth and the award of Green Freeport status to the Forth provide exciting opportunities to stimulate data driven innovation, utilising established expertise in engineering and manufacturing in partnership with academic research and skills development to realise emerging opportunities in the Green and Blue economies.

The ambition of this strategy is to grow a stronger, greener and fairer economy for Fife.

An analysis of Fife’s strengths, challenges and opportunities, our national, regional and local strategic context and future operating environment, has led us to identify three priorities where our actions will be targeted over the next seven years.

A fourth priority, Working in Collaboration and Partnership, details how we will deliver the Strategy.

All activity will be underpinned by a Community Wealth Building approach and will aim to fulfil the following outcomes:

• A recovery and increase in the number of businesses
• Increased levels of economic activity and employment
• Improvements in the economic performance in Mid-Fife
• The recovery and growth of Fife’s tourism and hospitality sector
• Vibrant, attractive and re-purposed key town centres
• A skilled workforce able to support business needs
• Fair and inclusive access to work
• Lower levels of carbon emissions.

The actions and interventions which will support delivery of these priorities are summarised in Figure 3 (page 10) and detailed in the tables on pages 11–13.

Appendix 3 illustrates the alignment between the strategy’s three priorities and Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation and the 2021–24 Plan4Fife update.

Fife Council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019 was reflected in the 2021–24 Plan4Fife Update that identified Addressing the Climate Emergency as one of three priorities alongside Tackling Poverty & Preventing Crisis and Leading Economic Recovery.

The Fife Economic Strategy is committed to embedding actions to tackle climate change within all appropriate areas of economic development activity.

Supporting those who are most disadvantaged and furthest from the labour market to secure and sustain meaningful employment is a critical component in Tackling Poverty & Preventing Crisis.

The 2021–24 Plan4Fife Update also commits to adopting a cross-cutting, partnership-wide Community Wealth Building (CWB) approach. The Fife Economic Strategy incorporates the principles of CWB within all relevant economic development and employability activities. Fife Council, NHS Fife, Fife Voluntary Action, Fife College and the University of St Andrews are anchor organisations that have each adopted the CWB Fife Anchor Charter. As such they are each committed to: buying goods and service locally where appropriate; employing people from local communities and providing jobs that are secure, rewarding and are paid at least the real Living Wage; using their land and property to support communities and enterprises; harnessing and growing local wealth; and encouraging the formation and growth of inclusive business models, including social enterprises, employee-owned firms and cooperatives.

This strategy intentionally focuses on a small number of priorities with the greatest potential to help us achieve our aim of ensuring that more wealth is generated, circulated and retained in Fife and its communities for the benefit of all.

National Economic Policy Context

UK Government Levelling Up White Paper

Published in February 2022, the UK Government Levelling Up White Paper sets out 4 objectives and 12 associated missions aimed at sharing economic prosperity more equitably across England and the devolved nations of the UK, with the overarching ambition of increasing ‘Pride in Place’.

Boost productivity, pay, jobs & living standards

1. Increase pay, employment & productivity in every area of UK
2. Increase public investment in R&D outside the South-East by 40%
3. Make local public transport connectivity closer to London standards
4. UK-wide gigabit-capable broadband & 4G coverage, 5G majority

Spread opportunities and improve public services

1. Increase pay, employment & productivity in every area of UK 
2. Improve in primary reading, writing & maths (England 90%)
3. Narrow the gap / increase Healthy Life Expectancy +5yrs by 2035
4. Narrow the gap / improve well-being in every area of UK

Restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging

1. Narrow the gap / increase pride in place in every area of the UK
2. Decrease the number of non-decent rented homes by 50%
3. Reduce homicide, serious violent & neighbourhood crime

Empower local leaders and communities

1. Provide a devolution deal for all parts of England that want one.

Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation

The vision of the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) (March 2022) is for a Wellbeing Economy that will create a Wealthier, Fairer and Greener Scotland. This will be achieved by five interconnected and mutually-reinforcing programmes of action, together with a sixth programme to promote an enhanced Culture of Delivery and accountability.

1. Enterprising people & culture
2. New market opportunities
3. Productive businesses & regions
4. A skilled workforce
5. A fairer, more equal society
6. A culture of delivery

Delivery Plans setting out how the Scottish Government will work with its partners to implement each of the Strategy’s programmes were published in October 2022.

Regional Economic Policy Context

Edinburgh & South-East Scotland City Region Deal & Regional Prosperity Framework (2021–2041)

The Edinburgh & South-East Scotland City Region comprises the area covered by Fife, Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian and the Scottish Borders local authorities. The Regional Prosperity Framework (RPF) agreed by the City Region Deal partners in September 2021 sets the direction for regional economic collaboration across the City Region for the next 20 years. It identifies how partners in the region can build on other significant investments to further improve the way the regional economy functions and deliver an economy that is more resilient, flourishing and innovative.

A Delivery Plan has been developed setting out both an action plan of immediate interventions for 2023–2025, and a prospectus detailing collective future ambitions and opportunities. The Delivery Plan, which targets three goals–reduced economic exclusion, increased regional competitiveness and an accelerated transition to Net Zero–is a live document that will be updated every 12 months to reflect changes to the local, regional and macro economy. Four key programme areas have been identified for Year 1 (2023/24):

1. Green Regeneration
2. Infrastructure for Recovery
3. Visitor Economy and Culture
4. Data-Driven Innovation Economy.

Tay Cities Region Deal & Regional Economic Strategy

The Tay Cities Region describes the area of East Central Scotland covered by the local authority areas of Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross and the northeast part of Fife. The ambition of the current Tay Cities Region Economic Strategy (which will be refreshed in 2023) is to increase the number of businesses and create more better-paid jobs across the region to improve access to opportunity and increase the distribution of wealth and wellbeing.

Key targets to 2029 include:

• Increasing regional employment to above the Scottish average;
• Increasing the 5-year business survival rate to above 50%; and
• Reducing the proportion of jobs paid less than the real Living Wage

The Strategy focuses on 3 key inter-related themes:

Key Business Sectors
Supporting key business sectors in which the region has a strength, or which offer potential for growth.

Place: Investment & Infrastructure
Supporting improvements in digital and transport connectivity, investing in key business infrastructure and improving business support arrangements.

People: Skills & Employability
Improving workforce skills, re-skilling and up-skilling workers, tackling barriers to employment for disadvantaged groups and streamlining the skills system.

Local Policy Context

The Plan4Fife 2017–27

The Plan4Fife is the Fife Community Planning Partnership’s 10 year vision for Fife and was first launched in 2017.

The Plan sets out 4 strategic ambitions and 13 objectives for Fife:

The Plan4Fife: Reform & Recovery Update 2021–24

A refresh of the Plan4Fife was published in August 2021, with a focus on Reform and Recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Plan4Fife Update retains the ambitions and objectives and sets 3 overarching priorities for the 3-year period 2021–2024:

• Leading Economic Recovery
• Tackling Poverty and Preventing Crisis
• Addressing the Climate Emergency

These three priorities are underpinned by the development of a partnership-wide, cross-cutting approach to Community Wealth Building.

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a people-centred approach to local economic development, which aims to redirect wealth back into the local economy and place the control and benefits of assets and resources into the hands of local people.

The CWB approach focuses on five pillars of activity:

• Using spend to support local businesses and communities
• Encouraging fair employment and supporting local labour markets
• Encouraging shared ownership of the local economy and inclusive business models
• Using land and property to support communities and enterprises
• Harnessing and growing local wealth.