Perth and Kinross has been awarded £5 million of capital funding in the Spring Budget to support culture and regeneration projects across the region.

Welcoming the additional investment announced by the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, Alison Williams, Director of Economy, Place and Learning with Perth and Kinross Council, said: "We welcome this additional investment which will support our ambitious plans to transform the economy of Perth and Kinross.

"We submitted two strong bids to the Levelling Up Fund and while we were disappointed these were not successful, we are pleased the UK Government has recognised the value of our plans to regenerate our town centres and economy for the benefit of all our residents and visitors to Perth and Kinross."

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Perth and Kinross Council leader Councillor Grant Laing added: "I welcome funding from any source that can be used to support the transformation of the Perth and Kinross economy for the benefit of our residents.

"While I am pleased the Chancellor has finally recognised the value of investing in Perth and Kinross, it does seem like we are an afterthought and are losing out compared to what other Scottish cities received through Levelling Up Funding.

"The three rounds of Levelling Up Funding distributed in Scotland saw £471 million shared between 24 projects. Six other Scottish cities have shared funding worth a combined £92 million while seven other towns have received £20 million to support the regeneration of their town centres.

"Given those sums, I won't be the only one who thinks we have been short-changed and hope we are not forgotten in any future funding announcements."