Finance and Sustainable Growth Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney MSP, was welcomed to Inverclyde by Council Leader Stephen McCabe yesterday.

Mr Swinney's visit was part of a programme of visits by Ministers to Councils around Scotland to meet councillors and senior council officials. While in Inverclyde, Mr Swinney also signed off the Single Outcome Agreement agreed between the Council and the Scottish Government.

Councillor McCabe took the opportunity to update the Cabinet Secretary on the regeneration and transformation of Inverclyde and discuss the budget challenges facing Inverclyde Council over the next few years.

Councillor McCabe said: "I was very pleased to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to Inverclyde and thank him for signing our Single Outcome Agreement. We had the opportunity for discussions about the future of the area and the challenges we face in realising our vision for Inverclyde.

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"Over the last couple of years, the Council and its partners in the Inverclyde Alliance have achieved a lot that we are very proud of. The Urban Regeneration Company Riverside Inverclyde has been established, our schools estate programme has progressed, and we have transferred our housing stock.

"I hope that during his visit to Inverclyde, Mr Swinney was able to see for himself the excellent progress being made by the Council and its partners to improve the area."

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney said: "The Concordat we signed with Cosla last November sets out a new relationship with local government; one that recognises the role of councils and councillors as leaders of their local communities.

"The Single Outcome Agreement I have signed today with Inverclyde puts the local authority and their partners at the heart of local democracy, with locally elected representatives directly accountable to their electors. The SOA reduces unnecessary reporting and monitoring, and allows the local authority and their community planning partners to deliver the services people want and need."

(GK/JM)