Progressing Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Enterprise, the body being formed from the amalgamation of the Scottish Development Agency (SDA) and the Training Agency (TA), will become operational on 1st April 1991. Its likely impact has been considered elsewhere (for example Moore, 1989; Hayton, 1989; Danson et al, 1989). The purpose of this article is to look at progress in setting up the new organization and to consider the characteristics of those who will be directing the activities of the Scottish Enterprise “core” and of the 13 Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) that will be responsible for delivering a range of economic development and training services.
Changing Partners: The Experience of Urban Economic Policy in West Central Scotland, 1980-90
The central argument in this paper is that the concept of partnership in urban economic policy, as it affected west central Scotland, significantly changed during the 1980s. In summary, the decade began with the public sector commonly taking the lead role, with more evidence of the rhetoric of private-sector involvement than the reality of genuine commitment from the business community. The shift that occurred as the decade progressed has been characterised as one of a simple redirection of responsibility and resources towards the private sector, in particular the transformation of the Scottish Development Agency into Scottish Enterprise and the private sector's control over the Local Enterprise Companies. Such an assessment potentially ignores the complexity of agencies and organisations that evolved during this decade; has the danger of underplaying the continuing role of different levels of government and of minimising the increasingly important part played by non-profit, community and voluntary organisations. Before documenting and analysing the shifting strands of partnership, the paper introduces the historical context that, it is argued, has played an important role in shaping the style of urban economic policy in Scotland, and in particular discusses economic policy initiatives that shaped the urban landscape of west central Scotland. The paper ends with an assessment of the critical ingredients of partnerships that emerged during the decade and a tentative evaluation of their impact on the economic, social and physical environment of west central Scotland.
Labour Market Policy
Introduction - the evolution of the Manpower Services Commission 1973-88 labour market economics the labour market education and training search and mobility in the labour market discrimination unemployment wage fixing, social insurance and taxation.