Council leader calls for better share of Tay Cities Deal money

The leader of Perth and Kinross Council has called for a fairer share of Tay Cities Deal money, suggesting the amount earmarked for the region appeared to be shrinking.

An announcement on the £1.8 million windfall is expected in the coming weeks.

It will detail how much the UK and Scottish governments will provide to support projects that could create thousands of new jobs and transform the economies across Tayside and north-east Fife.

The money will be distributed between Perth and Kinross, Angus, Dundee and Fife.

Questioned on the deal by councillors, local authority leader Murray Lyle said the predicted amount for the area seemed to be slipping “south”.

“At the moment every time I have heard a prediction it is south of the one I have heard previously so it’s time we recharged our batteries and tried to get more for the Tay cities,” he said.

“It’s still a significant amount of money and will have significant benefit to all of the regions involved but it is important that we try to lever in as much money as possible.”

The comments came during an update on the much-anticipated deal, given at the strategic policy and resources committee.

Mr Lyle added that he has met Scotland secretary David Mundell and Lord Ian Duncan, parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Scotland Office, twice in the last month to fight the case for Perthshire.

He has also offered to host leaders of the three other council leaders, as they join forces to bid for the biggest lump sum.

“At the moment we are trying to pull everything together and we hope to have a meeting with all of the councils,” he said.

“I have said we would be happy to host that within the next two weeks to formalise our priorities and try to extract more funding than is projected.”

Several local projects, including the Cross Tay Link Road, will rely on Tay Cities money.