£820m city deal clash

Opposition councillors have been thwarted in a bid to have a say on the terms of the £826 million Tay Cities Deal.

Scottish Labour councillor Alasdair Bailey raised an objection just as the full council was about to grant authority to its leader Murray Lyle and its depute chief executive Jim Valentine to agree the heads of terms of the deal, should the UK and Scottish Government announce when the cash will become available shortly.

His objection came after Councillor Dave Doogan, the leader of the council’s SNP group, alluded to talks he had held with Councillor Lyle before last week’s full council meeting during which he said he received an assurance from Mr Lyle that he would attempt to convene a meeting with him and other elected members before signing any agreement.

Confirming that discussion took place Councillor Lyle told the room he would make “every effort possible” to convene a special sub committee meeting to communicate the heads of terms to other councillors and failing that he would attempt to communicate the terms with “appropriate” elected members before he signed anything. He said only if he was unable to do either of the aforementioned would he simply agree the heads of terms himself.

However Councillor Bailey signalled at this juncture he was unhappy with that arrangement arguing the sub committee Mr Lyle had in mind - the executive sub committee