MORE than one in five units in Dunfermline town centre are empty – and the count took place before the most recent lockdown dealt another blow to businesses.

An economic profile report was presented to councillors last week and while some figures were better than the Fife and Scottish averages, it also showed the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in this area had gone up by more than 72 per cent in a year.

At the City of Dunfermline area committee, Peter Corbett, Fife Council's lead officer for economy, business and employability, said: "In terms of the impact of COVID we've seen, in line with other key town centres across Fife, a slight increase in vacancy rates."

He said tourism, hospitality and the food sector "have been the worst hit" by the pandemic and added: "Of course, the headline in recent times has been the closure of Debenhams which was a key store within the town centre.

"We've been supporting local businesses in some of their health and safety adaptations, to deal with COVID and try to get them back up and running, and we've got a lot activity ongoing now to try and help that restart process."

Mr Corbett said there was a "time lag" and many of the figures in the report were pre-pandemic, although there were some more up-to-date statistics too.

A visual count in June last year showed that 21.3 per cent of town centre units were empty, higher than the Fife average of 19.4 per cent.

Only Kirkcaldy, Kincardine and Lochgelly had higher vacancy rates.

Two of the largest employing sectors in Dunfermline – wholesale and retail and accommodation and food services – have been the worst-hit by the pandemic while, between March 2020 and February 2021, the number of people in the area claiming out-of-work benefits increased from 1,235 to 2,130.

On the plus side, Dunfermline has a significantly higher employment rate and lower economic inactivity rate than those for Fife and Scotland as a whole, and a number of partnership groups are carrying out improvement projects to upgrade and promote the town centre’s townscape and heritage.

People living in the area have the highest average weekly earnings in Fife, there is a "large proportion" of micro-businesses – those employing fewer than nine people – and tourist money has been awarded by Visit Scotland to further promote the area.

There's huge investment in place from the Scottish Government and Fife Council and plans submitted for the £180 million 'super campus' at Halbeath, for two new high schools and a college, and proposals for new business units at the nearby Fife Interchange North, with money coming from the Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal.

Councillors were told that 66 grants of £100 each were awarded to town centre firms, through the Small Business COVID Safety Grant Scheme, to help them re-open after lockdown.

In more good news, a new economy adviser for Dunfermline, Sunil Varu, has also been appointed, shopfront artwork is brightening up Bruce Street, a new £300,000 enterprise hub will soon open on Maygate and the CCTV in the town centre has been upgraded, with new high-tech cameras to catch and deter thieves.

Councillor Helen Law, convener of the committee, said: "We're in very difficult times but it's heartening to see Dunfermline is doing pretty well comparatively. The downside of that is we often don't qualify for some of the monies available to other areas,

"However, we can't take away from the fact Dunfermline has done well and the numbers in this report shows that."