Tay Cities Region Deal Programme Mid-Term Review
Perth and Kinross Council · 7 May 2025
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality ___________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Perth and Kinross Council Date of Meeting: 7 May 2025 Report Title: Tay Cities Region Deal Programme Mid-Term Review Report Number: 25/111 Report Author: Alison Seggie – Service Manager – People, Partnerships and Funding Organisational Lead: Serge Merone – Strategic Lead – Economy, Development and Planning 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide Council with: a) an overview of the annual report produced for the Tay Cities Region Deal, covering the period from October 2023 to September 2024; b) a brief summary of the delivery of the programme as it reaches the halfway stage; and c) an outline of the agreed approach by the Partnership to review and reshape the Deal. 1.2 Sections 1. Purpose 2. Recommendation(s) 3. Background 4. An Approach to re-shaping the Deal Programme 5. Conclusion 6. Impact Value Assessment 7. Appendices
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2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Council: 2.1 Welcome the TCRD Annual Report which provides an update five years into the Deal delivery, recognising good progress and successful delivery of a number of projects across the region, including those within Perth and Kinross. 2.2 Ask the Strategic Lead for Economy, Planning and Development to review projects not yet delivered, to ensure best use of funding in the final half of the programme period; actively participate in the review process outlined in Appendix 2 and report back to the Council at a future meeting. 3. Background 3.1 Context 3.1.1 The Tay Cities Region Deal was signed on 17 December 2020 by the Tay Cities Region Partnership and both the UK and Scottish Governments. The Deal is a combined investment of £150m each from the Scottish and UK Governments over a 10-year period, to March 2030, with an opportunity to deliver all benefits over a 15-year period, by March 2035. The Joint Committee is currently chaired by Dundee City Council and the Perth and Kinross Council members are Councillors Grant Laing, Eric Drysdale and John Duff. Depute Provost Andrew Parrot is also a member of the Joint Committee in his capacity as the regional transport partnership, TACTRAN, representative. 3.1.2 The Tay Cities Region Deal continues to deliver in supporting business growth, developing innovative technologies, enhancing productivity, developing skills, and creating jobs. With the Deal now in Year 6, over half of the £300m Government Investment has been claimed, and the following benefits have been realised: 152M Government investment released 2,451 new and construction jobs created, or jobs protected; and, £180M leverage secured for the region, of which £160M has been received. 3.1.3 This has been achieved through continued strong partnership ambition, collaboration and drive to promote the best that the region has to offer. 3.2 Status of the Fund, Programmes and Projects 3.2.1 The Deal is comprised of: - 1 Fund (the Angus Fund); - 3 Programmes (Tourism & Culture; Skills & Employability; and a proposed Manufacturing Programme); and
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- 38 individual named projects. Within the Programmes and Fund, there will be additional Projects emerging as the Deal progresses. Table 1 below shows an overview of the projects which have fully drawn down their TCD funding. Table 2 shows the projects currently in delivery, and Table 3 shows the projects currently in development. In addition to the main Deal, further funding of £40m was allocated by the Scottish Government to the Cross Tay Link Road project. The £150m Destiny Bridge and the New Kingsway were officially opened on 31 March 2025 marking a significant milestone in the transport and active travel infrastructure for Perth and Kinross. Table 1: Projects which have been delivered/drawn down their TCRD Funds Project Lead Area Theme International Barley Hub (£35M) James Hutton Institute P&K Innovative, International Advanced Plant Growth Centre (£27M) James Hutton Institute P&K Innovative, International Eden Campus (£26.5M) St. Andrews University Fife Innovative, International Stretch Dome Simulator (£300K) St. Andrews University Fife Innovative, International Perth Museum (£10M) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Culture & Tourism Rural Angus & Rural P&K Highspeed Broadband (£2M) Perth & Kinross Council A/P&K Connected Tay Pitlochry Festival Theatre (£10M) Pitlochry Festival Theatre P&K Culture & Tourism Biomedical Cluster (£25M) Dundee University D Innovative, International Low Carbon Travel Hub – Broxden (Phase 1 - £790K) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Connected Tay
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Table 2: Projects currently in delivery Project Lead Area Theme Skills Programme Manager (£516K) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Empowered & Inclusive Digital Skills Ph.1 (£1.539M) Fife Council Reg Empowered & Inclusive Skills – Life Sciences (£1.975M) Dundee & Angus College Reg Empowered & Inclusive SME Skills (£2.47M) Dundee & Angus College Reg Empowered & Inclusive Tay Cities Engineering Partnership (£2M) Dundee & Angus College Reg Empowered & Inclusive Angus Fund (£26.5M) Angus Council A International, Innovation CyberQuarter (£11.7M) Dundee University D International, Innovation Eden Campus (£26.5M) St. Andrews University Fife International, Innovation Culture & Tourism Programme phase 1(£27M total) Dundee Council/Angus C Reg Culture & Tourism Hospitalfield (£5.5M) Angus Council A Culture & Tourism Discovery Point (£2.5M) Dundee Heritage Trust D Culture & Tourism Table 3: Projects Currently in Development Project Lead Area Theme Hospitality Skills (£2M) Fife College Reg Empowered & Inclusive Targeting Hidden Talent (£3.81M) Dundee Council Reg Empowered & Inclusive Skills Pathways (£2.925M) Perth & Kinross Council Reg Empowered & Inclusive Aviation Academy (£8.1M) UHI Perth P&K/D Empowered & Inclusive Digital Skills Ph.2 (£2.968M) Fife Council Reg Empowered & Inclusive Angus Fund – various projects (£26.5M) Angus Council A International, Innovation JustTech (£15M) Dundee University D International, Innovation
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Perth Innovation Highway (£5M) Perth & Kinross Council P&K International, Innovation 5G Digital Testbeds (£2M) Dundee City Council Reg International, Innovation Tay Adventures £13.3M (incl. £1.355M for Inner Tay Visitor Accommodation/Po ntoons) Various Reg Culture & Tourism HMS Unicorn (£5.7M) The Unicorn Preservation Society D Culture & Tourism Low Carbon Travel Hub Active Travel (Ph.2 -£1.3m) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Connected Tay Low Carbon Travel Hub – Hydrogen (Phase 3- £1.4m) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Connected Tay Perth Bus & Rail Interchange (£15M) Perth & Kinross Council P&K Connected Tay Dundee Airport (£9.5M) Dundee City Council D Connected Tay Studio Dundee (£3M) Dundee City Council D International, Innovation Advanced Manufacturing Programme (£8M) Scottish Enterprise Reg International, Innovation Project Beacon (£5.2M) Ecoideam/Bin n Eco Park P&K Innovative, International Innerpeffrey Library (£100K) Innerpeffray Library P&K Culture & Tourism Crieff International Highland Centre (£1M) Crieff Highland Games P&K Culture & Tourism Aerospace Kinross (£1.6M) Aerospace Kinross P&K Culture & Tourism 3.2.2 Within Perth and Kinross significant progress has been made in implementing a number of key projects including the two projects at the James Hutton Institute (£62M); a major refurbishment of Pitlochry Festival Theatre (£10M), and three Council led projects, namely the new Perth Museum (£10M), phase 1 of the Low Carbon Travel Hub (£790K) and a joint project with Angus on High Speed Broadband infrastructure (£1M for Perth & Kinross) which have all delivered significant benefits to Perth and Kinross and the wider region.
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In total including the £40M for the Cross Tay Link Road, the total investment to date in Perth and Kinross projects from the Deal is £124.2M. 3.3 Benefits for the Tay Cities Region 3.3.1 As highlighted in this report, the Deal is more than just the investment. Core to the objectives and ambitions of the region is the realisation of benefits to drive economic growth. This includes the creation of over 6,000 jobs and £400m leverage investment. Whilst the Deal funding is to 2030, the Partnership have the opportunity to realise the benefits by 2035. 3.3.2 The success of those Projects in delivery, as shown through the various case studies and Project updates in the Annual report, has led to the realisation of many social and economic benefits for the region. To date, over one third of the Deal’s job and leverage commitments have been realised within the first third of the Deal reporting period. 3.3.3 Since the Deal was signed, £180.258m of leverage has been secured by Projects to the end of September 2024. This equates to 45% of the overall leverage commitment. This is an increase of £34.4m since last year. 3.3.4 To the end of September 2024, Projects within the Deal have received £160.210m of the secured leverage, equating to 40% of the leverage commitment at Deal Signing. This is an increase of £64m since last year. 3.3.5 The Tay Cities Partnership continues to work collaboratively to ensure that Projects are delivering to benefit local and regional economy. In addition to the delivery of Projects and PR & Comms activity, the Partnership has also seen the following milestones met over the last year: Publication of the updated Tay Cities Benefits Realisation Plan in March 2024; PR and Comms Protocol annual refresh in Spring 2024; and, Partnership engagement for the refresh of the Regional Economic Strategy Prospectus. 3.3.6 Since the end of the Annual Report Period (September 24), a number of further Key Milestones have been delivered; including: Grand opening of the Crop Innovation Centre at the James Hutton Institute with Ministerial attendance – Oct.24 Life Sciences Project Launch Event at Dundee & Angus College – Nov. 24 Regional Skills Investment Plan workshops with Partnership – Dec. 24 Prospectus for Economic Growth approval – Dec. 24 Completion of the Growing the Tay Cities Biomedical Cluster project – Feb. 25 Formal opening of the James Hutton Institute Phenotyping System – Mar. 25
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4. An Approach to re-shaping the Deal Programme 4.1 Although overall progress has delivered clear economic benefits for the region, including Perth and Kinross, the Deal has seen a number of challenges and issues arise over the first five-year funding period. The impact of the Covid Pandemic and inflationary pressures has impacted on a number of projects and created challenges for many projects still be delivered. The main challenges identified include: - Availability & cost of materials General inflationary pressures on projects Delays in progressing Business cases The impact of the acceleration of some projects on the overall Deal - Pressures on resources within the partnership and with project leads 4.2 To manage these challenges and risks, the Partnership held a number of workshops over the last 12 months, and each local authority has been asked to assess the deliverability of all projects, programmes and Funds they are the lead for. 4.3 The most recent meeting of the TCRD Joint Committee on the 21 March 2025 agreed an approach to reshape the Tay Cities Programme at this halfway stage. This involves an assessment of all projects currently in development within each local authority area. This means confirming with project owners whether the project can be fully delivered as entered in the deal (Strand 1A), or with proposed revisions to the Business Cases and remain in the programme (Strand 1B). Where projects cannot progress, the local authority will propose an alternative project to deliver the same commitments, in close collaboration with project promoters and the relevant Thematic Board (Strand 2). Where projects cannot be taken forward at all, they will be put on a long list for future opportunities and funding released for new projects. A new refreshed programme will be agreed with Partners and Governments in June 2026 for the last four years of the programme. The process and the agreed timetable are outlined in more detail in Appendix 2 to this report. Officers will engage with partners and project owners over the coming months to assess the viability of projects to allow this to be fed into the overall review of the programme. Where it is deemed that they cannot be delivered then funding allocated will be redistributed as advised above. 5. Conclusions 5.1 The Tay Cities Region Deal continues to demonstrate a successful partnership between the UK and Scottish Governments, the local authorities of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross, the Higher and Further Education sector, business sector, third sector, Tactran, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.
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5.2 In April 2025, the Tay Cities Region Deal entered the sixth year of its 10-year lifespan. To date, there has been over £231m approved by Governments and the Partnership for investment from the full £300m Deal. With 2,451 jobs and over £180m of leverage secured to date, the Deal is undoubtedly delivering growth and driving investment into the area. 5.3 However, the Review of the Deal provides an opportunity to ensure that the projects supported in the years to March 2030 will continue to deliver the outcomes envisaged when the Deal was signed in 2020. 6. Impact Value Assessment 6.1 An Impact Value Assessment has been carried out and can be accessed here 7. Appendices 7.1 Appendix 1 – Summary extract from the Tay Cities Region Deal Annual Report The Full Annual Report can be accessed via this link. The Tay Cities Deal have also published some videos showcasing some of the projects delivered in the first phase, including a number in Perth & Kinross. https://www.youtube.com/@TayCitiesRegionDeal 7.2 Appendix 2 - Timetable for Tay Cities Region Deal Review Process