MPs meet with minister over Growth Deal plans
Ayrshire’s Members of Parliament met with the Government’s leading business minister to discuss the possibility of an Ayrshire Growth Deal.
The deal, a joint venture between South, East and North Ayrshire Council, aims to secure £ 350 million of funding from the Scottish and UK governments to develop projects across the region.
The cash would go towards works including Prestwick Airport’s Spaceport plans, a £ 53 million redevelopment of the Ardeer Peninsula and Irvine Harbour and £ 130m to develop manufacturing sites in Kilmarnock.
Philippa Whitford, MP for Central Ayrshire, secured the meeting with the UK Secretary of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark MP, in a parliamentary questions session before the House of Commons rose for Christmas.
Dr Whitford, along with Kilmarnock and Loudoun MP Alan Brown, North Ayrshire and Arran MP Patricia Gibson and Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock MP Corri Wilson, met with Mr Clark earlier this month to take forward the Ayrshire Growth Deal plan.
She said: “I am pleased to have had the opportunity, along with my fellow Ayrshire MPs, to have met with the Secretary of State for what proved to be a very productive meeting.
“He was very positive about the proposal, particularly the collaborative approach of the 3 councils, and because it is the first non- city growth deal to be submitted, with plans to develop rural and semirural as well as industrial areas.”
“As well as being supportive of the AGD on its own merits, Mr Clark was also interested in how the Ayrshire proposal could feed into the UK Government’s overall Industrial Strategy and generate new approaches that could be applicable to other areas.”
The plan has been in the works for a number of months, and a business plan was put forward last year.
The plan hopes to secure funding similar to that given to Glasgow and Aberdeen and their outlying areas.
Dr Whitford said: “Going forward, the Secretary of State plans to arrange a meeting between UK Government and Scottish Government Minsters to discuss the proposal in more detail. With Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown having already indicated his support, hopefully the Growth Deal can make progress in the coming months.
“Meantime, my fellow Ayrshire MPs and I will be showcasing the AGD, including Ayrshire’s life sciences, aerospace and space sectors, at an event we are hosting in Westminster on 8th February, to which Mr Clark is hoping to come along.”