Innovation and Investment Hubs scope and focus: FOI release
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
FOI reference: FOI/17/02893
Date received: 28 November 2017
Date responded: 27 December 2017
Information requested
Your request:
for the business case and criteria that the Scottish Government uses when choosing to locate a new SDI business and investment hub
for documentation showing how each of the five currently proposed or active hub locations (London, Dublin, Berlin, Brussels and Paris) performed against this criteria
for any business case and performance targets available for each of the hubs in the previous, current and next financial year; and
to ask if the hubs have a role in promoting the Scottish Government's position on the UK negotiations on exiting the EU and for any documentation connected to this.
Response
The Scottish Government is committed to establishing Innovation and Investment Hubs in Dublin, London, Brussels, Berlin and Paris as an integral part of wider work across the Scottish Government, partners and businesses to support trade, investment, innovation and inter-governmental relations. Innovation and Investment Hubs provide a platform that brings together Scottish Government and its agencies, with partners and businesses to promote Scotland's interests, increase exports and attract investment to Scotland. Where the information is available, the answers to your requests are provided below.
1. Each Hub will have a different scope and focus, depending on their locality, and specific opportunities will be tailored to each location. You have already been provided with documentation in relation to the overarching business case for the Hubs programme in FOI/17/02892 - Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to provide you with information if it is reasonably accessible to you.
2. As at 1. above, each Hub will have a different scope and focus depending on their locality and specific opportunities will be tailored to each location
3. You were provided with information relating to business plans and performance targets for the existing Hubs in Dublin and London in the response to your FOI enquiry dated 10 October 2017 (ref FOI/17/02302). Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to provide you with information if it is reasonably accessible to you.
The transition to Hub status of the current presence in Brussels is in progress, and I attach at Annex A the Operational Plan in that respect. Plans and performance targets do not currently exist for our hubs in Berlin and Paris, which are not yet operational.
We are currently developing a framework to assess more formally the contribution hubs make to trade, investment and other outcomes though it will be challenging to fully separate out the specific impact of each Hub from wider trade and investment activities.
4. All areas of Scottish Government, including Innovation and Investment Hubs, have a role in promoting the Scottish Government's position on the UK negotiations on exiting the EU. Scottish Government's current policy in this respect is encapsulated in the document 'Scotland's Place in Europe' which is accessible via the attached link:
About FOI
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Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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