Town Centres (Regeneration)

Part of Question Time — Scottish Executive — Finance and Public Services and Communities – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:15 pm on 8 March 2007.

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Photo of Des McNulty Des McNulty Labour 2:15, 8 March 2007

I am aware of the problem, which exists not just in Dumfries but in Paisley and many other places throughout Scotland. The Executive cannot do a huge amount directly through compulsory purchase orders, but we can help local authorities to work out a strategy for dealing with vacant properties and set a framework within which they can be brought into alternative use.

We need to consider the problem carefully, because it is a structural problem in town centres. We need an approach that has been carefully thought through, rather than our simply saying that it can be solved easily. If it could be solved easily, it would have been solved before now.