Fife Council has welcomed the signing of the Tay Cities Deal Investment, which aims to fund more than 20 major projects and create over 6,000 jobs across Tayside and Fife.

Under the deal £37 million of investment will be ploughed into local tourism and culture and some £25 million will be invested in St Andrews University's Eden Campus.

It commits both governments to work with the partners to deliver a Deal that will create a smarter and fairer Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross.

Representatives of the UK and Scottish governments joined council leaders and business and academic chiefs at Perth & Kinross Council HQ to sign the Heads of Terms last week.

Fife Council Co-Leader David Ross said: "This signing of the Deal is a significant milestone for North East Fife. This investment will enable all City Deal partners to deliver real and lasting economic benefit to the region, making it an even more attractive and inclusive place to live, work, visit and do business. The investment brings a range of opportunities across the whole region and the next steps include developing in-depth business cases for the funded programmes of work."

Cllr Karen Marjoram, Fife Council, said: "I am pleased that the Heads of Terms have been agreed by both the UK and Scottish Governments, and the councils involved. This is an exciting step forward for the Tay Cities Deal. Boosting the economy of the region will bring new jobs and infrastructure improvements to benefit everyone. There are many benefits to Fife of the Regional Skills Programme, Regional Culture and Tourism programme.

"This will be of real benefit to Fife. It supports our efforts to tackle inequality, develop a Fairer Fife where everyone benefits, and will support economic growth. As well as creating new opportunities for people currently without jobs to get into employment, it will also help those who are in work to progress. This will happen in a variety of ways and improve the lives of people across the whole area."

-- Advertisement --

Councillor Tim Brett added: "The Eden Campus development will create around 500 new jobs and enhance the reputation of the region as a leader in innovation, sustainable development and biotechnology. In partnership with The University of St Andrews, investment will see this former paper mill at its Guardbridge site redeveloped into a global research and innovation hub.

"The investment at the Eden Mill site in Guardbridge is great news and will hopefully lead to more employment opportunities as the site is developed. I also hope that the joint working with other three authorities will lead to closer working in the future, which will benefit us all."

• Investment in the Eden Campus of St Andrews University, Guardbridge - a 32.5 acre industrial site - will include: up to £7 million to develop a primary substation power upgrade at the site, up to £13.5 million for the Scottish Centre for Clean Energy Storage and Conversion – building on strengths in carbon innovation - and up to £4 million for the Eden Enterprise Hub.

• The Scottish Government will invest up to £2 million, alongside Fife Council, in Eden Enterprise to establish a commercially viable business incubator that caters for spin-out and start-up companies from the region’s universities.

Employability and Skills

• The Scottish Government will invest up to £20 million to support delivery of the Tay Cities Skills and Employability Development Programme to deliver Fair Work. This will reduce skills shortages and gaps as well as support reskilling into new career opportunities.

• New job opportunities for the people of Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus through research and innovation – from research and academic posts, to new start-up companies, expansion of existing companies and migration of companies to the region.

Developing a World Class Tourism Offer

• The Scottish Government will invest £37 million, subject to approval of a programme business case, to support a regional culture and tourism investment programme. This aims to build on current tourism offerings at St Andrews, Gleneagles and V&A Dundee.

Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing

• £10 million of investment from the Scottish Government in high value manufacturing. This includes £2 million to establish the Tay Cities Engineering Partnership, the first regional engineering and advanced manufacturing network in Scotland.

Building a World Class Renewable Energy and Decommissioning Industry

• To maximise the significant potential economic benefits of offshore decommissioning to the Tay Cities region, the Scottish Government is committed to working with Dundeecom and the regional economic development partners to maximise opportunities to build supply chain capabilities and new technologies.

• The Scottish and UK Governments will consider how best to support additional port infrastructure investment in Methil where this contributes to, and creates additional value, in the renewable energy sector.

Transport

• The regional transport model will help inform masterplanning across the region. Together with the regional transport partnership, TACTRAN, has commissioned a Tay Cities Regional Transport Model to help inform understanding of problems and opportunities and appraisal of potential strategic transport interventions.

An Empowered Tay – A New Regional Partnership

• Deal promises a "new approach to economic development, strategic planning and transport planning underpinned by a new approach to city regional governance".