Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 17 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the suggestion in the paper, Scotland’s Future High Streets The Scottish Retail Consortium’s Manifesto for Town and City Centres, that a directly elected Provost should be established for Glasgow to help drive economic growth in the city.
Growing our economy is one of this Government’s top priorities. Scotland’s regional economies, and Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs), are key to delivering this, and we are committed to enabling effective regional decision-making.
We have worked closely with Glasgow City Region’s REP to deliver significant regional investment, including through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund (EVIF), the £160 million Investment Zone, and the £2 million Maritime Skills programme.
In addition, the Scottish Government committed £500 million over 20 years to the main strand of the Glasgow City Region Deal, the Infrastructure Investment Fund, when it was signed in August 2014. The Deal has received £60 million (combined from the Scottish and UK Governments) for projects this financial year.
Funded projects are making significant progress across the region, with the Renfrew and Govan-Partick bridges opening and celebrating their respective millionth crossings. These new links connect communities, create opportunities, and have the potential to support over 1,400 jobs.
The Scottish Government is working with COSLA on the Local Governance Review to consider how powers and resources should be shared between national and local government and with communities. From the extensive engagement to date, there have been no specific proposals to introduce directly elected provosts.
If any changes were to be made to local government structures or governance arrangements, they would be informed by the views of local government. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s commitment to respecting local government’s democratic mandate, as set out in the Verity House Agreement.