Dismay over dip in Tay Cities cash
Wishart and Swinney express disappointment
Lord Duncan of Springbank Perthshire SNP politicians have reacted with dismay to recent remarks made by a minister indicating the amount of cash coming to the region through the proposed Tay Cities Deal could be much less than had originally been sought.
Scotland Office minister Lord Duncan told the PA last week councils across Tayside may only see around £400 million come from the Scottish and UK governments as part of the delayed deal instead of the £763 million local authority leaders had been hoping for.
The deal, as originally envisaged by those involved in drafting it, would have seen sums commuted to councils to cover some of the costs of projects such as the long talked about construction of the Cross Tay Link Road.
But it now seems likely at least some of the projects contained in the deal will not be funded at all.
Lord Duncan said last week: “The figure the Scottish Government are using is £200m and they’re hoping that we’ll match it, so it would only be £400m - those are the numbers we’re using at the present moment.”
Nationalists Pete Wishart MP and John Swinney MSP have since expressed both their disappointment with the minister’s remarks and their increasing frustration with the delay in getting everyone involved in the deal to agree what projects will and will not be funded.
“It is vital that the Tay Cities Deal is delivered,” Mr Wishart told the PA. “It has been 18 months in planning and we were way ahead of other deals. It now seems like we are at the end of the queue.
“There is a need to see sufficient funding to bring about transformative change to Tayside and I, along with my colleagues, have written to the Prime Minister to urge the UK Government to match the Scottish Government’s commitment.
“The figures seem to keep diminishing and I doubt we’ve heard the last of this yet.”
Mr Swinney added: “The UK Government’s unwillingness to commit to funding the Tay Cities Deal should trouble all those across the region.
“The Scottish Government expected funding for this project to be matched on a 50/50 basis. Swinney MSP Lord Duncan’s recent indication that the UK Government would potentially provide only 30 per cent of the finance is thoroughly disappointing and a betrayal of the local area.
“It is now up to the Tories in Westminster to prove their commitment to Tayside and Scotland as a whole.”
Ahead of the summer recess, Perth and Kinross Council leader Murray Lyle stressed he was striving to strike a deal which would see “as much money as possible” coming to Perth and Kinross.
Pressed on what progress had been made on delivering the deal back in June he conceded the sums involved had gone “south” of what he had hoped for, but added: “It is still a huge amount of money and it will be of significant benefit to all the regions involved.”