Deals already agreed for four major Scottish cities

There are now four City Region Deals in Scotland either at the delivery stage or having reached outline approval.

The current deals are focused on the cities of Glasgow (with £1.13 billion of public investment), Edinburgh (£1.1b), Aberdeen (£826 million) and Inverness (£315m), and their surrounding regions.

Two further deals for Stirling and Dundee, plus the wider areas in the central region and in Tayside, are being discussed.

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said the Scottish Government, which has committed more than £1 billion to the initiative, would continue to back the four agreed deals.

He added: “We remain committed to securing city region deals for Stirling and Clackmannanshire and for the Tay Cities, as well as delivering regional deals for Ayrshire and for the Borderlands.”

Overall, 83% – 4.5 million people – of Scotland’s population live in the areas covered by existing or planned City Region Deals.

The deals, which have seen a £3.3 billion investment in Scotland so far, were first introduced by the UK Government in England as a way of encouraging local economic growth and moving economic decision-making away from central government.

They were extended to Scotland in 2014.

But Mr Brown said city region deals were only one economic lever.

“We are focused on improving the economic prospects of every region in Scotland and will work to ensure that all areas benefit from regional economic partnerships, which provide opportunities for local communities and businesses to engage in regional economic planning and development,” he added.