The Tay Cities Region Deal (TCRD) Annual Report for October 2022 - September 2023 has been published today, Thursday 28 March 2024, highlighting the key achievements for the year and celebrating a further successful 12 months in delivering growth and accelerating investment across the entire region.
UK and Scottish Governments along with the Partnership, have approved £231million of Government investment from the full £300million Deal.
This equates to over two thirds of the overall Deal funding. Furthermore, a leverage of £145.8million of additional investment for projects within the Deal has been secured, as well as over 1,400 jobs being created since the Deal was signed.
This year’s milestones also include; the official opening of the International Barley Hub Field Centre and Mylnefield Farm Hub Buildings at The James Hutton Institute, starting the refurbishment of the MedTech Research & Development Unit at the University of Dundee and the approval of full business cases for Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Mercury Drone Ports, Aero Space Kinross, and the Regional Skills & Employability Development Programme – Digital Skills.
The Tay Cities Region Deal is a partnership between UK and Scottish Governments, along with public and private organisations across Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross to promote sustainable and inclusive prosperity for the region.
Working collaboratively to attract over £700millon of investment by 2035, the Deal will help transform the region into a place where businesses can continue to grow, develop innovative technologies, enhance productivity, develop skills and create jobs.
On behalf of the Tay Cities Partnership, Chair of the Joint Committee in 2023, Cllr Grant Laing, Leader of Perth & Kinross Council said: “The progress over the past 12 months has been phenomenal, with new jobs and investment flourishing across Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross.
"It is testament to all those involved and demonstrates that by working together with outstanding focus and drive, you can create new opportunities and growth at a time of unprecedented need.
“We have achieved some incredible milestones over the past year, from launching the International Barley Hub at the James Hutton Institute to working with NHS Tayside on trialling a drone delivery service with Mercury Drone Ports.
We’ve also had the pleasure of witnessing Abertay CyberQuarter welcoming its first founding partners as well as seeing the first glimpse of how the new Angus Rural Mobility Hub could look.
"It’s been an exciting year with many a triumph and 2024 looks to be equally exciting, with many key moments on the horizon.
“The challenging economic situation that we currently face makes the success for the Tay Cities Region Deal more important than ever before, and we will continue to strive towards creating a fairer, smarter Tay Cities Region.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland, John Lamont, said: "The Tay Cities Region Deal has achieved remarkable milestones in the past year. We are now seeing the benefits the projects bring to the region through breakthroughs in innovation, the opening of new research institutes, and developments in infrastructure.
"The UK Government's £150 million investment continues to support the deal to deliver sustainable economic growth to the region, as part of more than £3 billion to level up across Scotland."
Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Secretary for Scottish Government, Màiri McAllan, said: “The Scottish Government is contributing £150 million towards the Tay Cities Region Deal to support economic development and this report highlights some of the remarkable progress that has been achieved since 2020.
“The regional partners have overseen innovation projects at the James Hutton Institute and the universities of Dundee, St Andrews and Abertay, investment in culture at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Hospitalfield House in Arbroath and initiatives demonstrating the potential for 5G across the region. These sit alongside our commitment to a skills programme to complement the capital works.
“Delivering more than 1,400 jobs and over £145 million investment is a great achievement and I look forward to seeing what else we can achieve in years to come.”
Full and further information on the progress the Deal has made to date on securing investment and jobs, can be found within the Annual Performance Report located on the publications page.
