The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Transformatory deal close to being secured
Deal will boost Scotland’s third-largest economic area and help drive job creation
A key milestone will be reached within the next few weeks on the Tay Cities Deal, which aims to bring more than £1 billion of fresh investment and thousands of new jobs to the area.
Agreement is expected imminently on the deal’s heads of terms, which will set out what projects the UK and Scottish governments would support financially and what match funding commitment would be required from local councils, universities and the other partners.
There are currently around 50 potential projects that could go ahead in the next decade or so, but some may be deferred for now on affordability grounds.
Business, higher and further education, local government and the third sector are to work closely together in the Tay Cities Deal to create growth quicker and sustainably.
The total cost of the proposed investment programme is £1.83 billion, of which £763 million is being sought from the two governments and their agencies while the remainder would come from the deal partners.
Latest estimates are that up to 7,000 to 10,000 jobs could be created across sectors including tourism, aviation food and drink, creative industries, eco innovation, digital, oil and gas decommissioning, engineering, biomedical and health and care.
The head of the Tay Cities Deal is David Littlejohn, who was seconded from his role as head of planning and development at Perth & Kinross Council in September 2016, and returns to the post in August.
He told Business Matters one of the first projects to be supported could be the Cross Tay Link Road in Perth, as it is time critical.
Among the most expensive ventures on the list is one to grow the Tayside bio- medical cluster at a cost of just under £200 million over 10 years.
Mr Littlejohn said the Tay Cities Deal consolidates a decade of concerted public and private-sector effort to transform the economies of Dundee, Perth & Kinross, Angus and north-east Fife.
“The area is Scotland’s third-largest economic region with a population of 500,000 and more than 16,000 businesses – however, it significantly under performs. Economic participation – the number of people of working age actually in work – is below the Scottish average by 1.5%, or just under 5,000 people.
“Male unemployment, particularly in Dundee, is significantly above the Scottish average and the city has the highest per capita welfare cost in Scotland.
Rural in-work poverty is also a serious issue in Angus and Perthshire.
“Consequently, regional productivity is lower than it should be – a 13% gap with the Scottish average – and the inequality gap is not narrowing.”
Mr Littlejohn said that, without sustained investment over 10-15 years to shift the economy towards significantly more knowledge-based industries, these issues will only worsen.
He added Dundee has been named as one of the most at-risk cities in the UK to job loss through automation.
A 20-year regional economic strategy and the 10-year Tay Cities Deal to help deliver it were submitted to the Scottish and UK governments in March 2017.
Mr Littlejohn said the region has huge economic potential and the Tay Cities Deal is designed to unlock it.
“The deal is also designed to ensure inclusive growth, to ensure that the opportunities created are open to as many people as possible – particularly those not currently participating in the economy,” he said.
“Only by narrowing the gap between those in work and those not working – or those working but struggling with low wages – will inequality be tackled.”
Mr Littlejohn said Dundee University and the James Hutton Institute in particular have world-leading science with significant job growth potential in key areas of food production and biomedical innovation.
He added: “The V&A Dundee Museum of Design will provide a golden opportunity to consolidate and build a world-class tourism industry based around culture, food and drink, golf, heritage and scenery.
“With investment, and over time, other new economy sectors can be grown – advanced engineering, aviation, games, cybersecurity, forensic science and oil and gas decommissioning.
“The Tay Cities Deal has been designed to deliver more jobs for more people now, and to secure the investment we need to attract and retain knowledge jobs for the future.”