Welcome to Scotland's Towns Partnership
STP is the go-to body for Scotland’s towns; a hub for promoting all things towns, and a hive of activity to help you learn, connect, find practical support and advice, and share good practice and knowledge. It is a repository for a wealth of intelligence around the Town Centre Action Plan and other policy conversations. You can read an overview of STP and the towns policy agenda in Scotland here.
Our deep rooted knowledge of the towns landscape and our extensive range of services supports the Scottish Government's ongoing commitment to secure a positive future for Scotland's towns. Our work ensures better informed policy makers, more effective practitioners, better connected governance mechanisms, better value investment decisions, and critically, more sustainable and attractive towns across Scotland. STP is Secretary to the Cross Party Group on Towns and Town Centres which helps profile the issues relating towns.
Scotland's Improvement Districts
Scotland’s Towns Partnership is also responsible for Scotland's Improvement Districts, which was launched in Autumn 2018. Supported by the Scottish Government, the organisation’s role is to foster the development and continued success of Improvement Districts (formerly Business Improvement Districts) across Scotland. Visit the Scotland's Improvement Districts website here.
History of Scotland's Towns Partnership
The Town Centre Regeneration Fund, which found unanimous support in the Scottish Parliament (Town Centre Regeneration: TCRF Case Studies Report), led to the National Review of Town Centres led by the External Advisory Group. In 2012 the Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP) formed STP as a spin out organisation, to support the National Review and report on the Scottish Government’s response to the review - the Town Centre Action Plan in November 2013.
STP was officially launched as the go-to body for Scotland’s towns in 2014. The Town Centre Action Plan : One Year on report can be access here. The Town Centre Action Plan: Two Year on report can be viewed here.
Further Reading
Sparks, L. (2019). Towns and Town Centres in Scotland: Reflections Six Years on from Fraser (Stirling Retail)
Scotland's Towns Partnership (2017). Briefing: STP and the Towns Policy Agenda in Scotland
Sparks, L. (2016). From the Scottish Government’s National Review of Town Centres to the World Towns Summit (Stirling Retail).
Supporting Scotland's Towns