Item 09 - Glasgow City Region City Deal - Update
West Dunbartonshire Council · 29 October 2025
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Chief Officer – Regulatory and Regeneration Council: 29 October 2025 Subject: Glasgow City Region City Deal - Update 1. Purpose 1.1 To provide an update on the Exxon Infrastructure Project and on matters being discussed by Glasgow City Region. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that Council: i) Notes the update on the Exxon Infrastructure Project. ii) Notes the progress of the Glasgow City Region programme. 3. Background 3.1 The Glasgow City Region City Deal Infrastructure programme equates to a £1.13bn investment over the period 2015-2035. Projects are progressing and have reached various stages of development. 4. Main Issues 4.1 This report provides information on City Region progress and includes the latest position on Exxon site infrastructure project development. Exxon Infrastructure Project 4.2 Since reporting to Council on 5 June, the main construction works have continued to progress well and remain on programme. Quarterly newsletters continue to be prepared and shared on the Council’s website with July’s edition now available. 4.3 The marketing approach for the site continues to be progressed and soft market testing is underway. The outcome of this will help inform the Project Board of the best approach to take. A report on this will be brought to a future meeting. 4.4 The western under-bridge pre-construction work started in late April 2025 and is on target for the installation in December 2025. Network Rail have confirmed the earliest alternative date to carry out the eastern overbridge deck demolition is the 22 November 2026. The revised date proposed by Network Rail was considered by the Project Board. The Board asked for opportunities to be considered to secure a possession date closer to the ITEM 9
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original date of 4 April 2026 but none have been identified. Therefore the 22 November 2026 is the agreed date. ‘This date introduces a number of risks as the work will be carried out during winter, when working conditions are more challenging and there is further planned evening works required to safely rebuild the bridge deck. The overall programme completion is not affected at this stage but will need to be closely monitored Glasgow City Region - General Update 4.5 A Glasgow City Region Cabinet Meeting was held on 19 August. Items on the agenda included updates on Investment Zone, the National Wealth Fund and Glasgow City Region Strategic Partnership and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 4.6 The Glasgow City Region Investment Zone update paper confirmed a draft of the Gateway 4 submission was submitted to the UK and Scottish Governments on 4 July. The paper also summarised the work undertaken by the region to reduce the overall programme by £40m to meet the £160m funding allocation. This included asking each project bidder to review and reduce their project budget requests . This resulted in a reduction in the overall programme budget to £181.95m. 4.7 To bridge the remaining gap, Scottish Enterprise provided a ‘letter of commitment’ that states their plan to contribute, ‘£22-25m of capital funding from Scottish Enterprise over the next ten years towards gap funding for the six key Investment Zone advanced manufacturing projects’. This commitment has enabled the Glasgow City Region to continue progress towards the final Gateway 4 submission at the end of September 2025. An update on this progress will be presented to a future Council meeting. 4.8 The National Wealth Fund and Glasgow City Region Strategic Partnership update set out the ongoing work to connect regions with central government and industry expertise to help support and unlock private investment and boost local growth. As part of the early work, the Glasgow City Region engaged with member authorities to identify potential projects that could benefit from the National Wealth Fund services. Across the region, 37 projects were presented to the National Wealth Fund to review and prioritise. The following five projects were prioritised for inclusion in the initial pipeline of support: Glasgow City Region Investment Zone Glasgow City Region Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project Clyde Metro Climate Investment, including low carbon projects in multiple local authorities Clyde Gateway Innovation Project
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4.10 The UK Shared Prosperity Fund Update report confirmed the UK government would provide, ‘targeted, long-term local growth funding to support regional growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.’ The UK Government Spending Review confirmed 2026/27 to 2028/29 funding for Scotland will be at the same level in cash terms as under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund 2025/26. However, it was also confirmed that, in Scotland, there would be two ‘trailblazer’ Plan for Neighbourhoods funding allocations to Glasgow City and Fife. Each receiving £2m/year over a 10-year period. It is expected this funding will be from the Scottish Regional Growth and Devolution (formerly UK Shared Prosperity Fund) allocation. 4.11 In addition, there is expected to be a further 12 neighbourhoods identified by the UK government for the 10 year Plan for Neighbourhoods funding. If this is also taken from the approved budget, this would result in a further £20m/year from Scotland’s overall allocation. The report to the Glasgow City Region Cabinet set out the understanding that the remaining budget will be available for the Pride and Place and Local Growth Fund themes. The paper confirmed this is likely to result in a significant reduction in funding towards wider Economic Development activity. 4.12 All member authorities were asked to consider the impact this reduction in Economic Development funding might have. They collectively reported that over 100 jobs could be lost across internal council departments and partner providers due to the reduced budget. This would likely lead to a loss in capacity and member authorities would be required to reduce key services. 4.13 Glasgow City Region Cabinet was asked to note the potential impact of the planned budget changes, and the Chair of the Cabinet wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland highlighting the impact on wider economic development activity across the region. An update on Scottish Regional Growth and Devolution (formerly UK Shared Prosperity Fund) will be brought to a future Cabinet meeting. 5. People Implications 5.1 There are several senior officers involved in the Glasgow City Region wider programme as noted at City Region Update paper at Council on 26 August 2021. 6. Financial Implications 6.1 Spend to date on the Exxon Infrastructure Project for financial year 2025/26 is £7.250m. Overall expenditure to date is £18.618m. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 There are several project risks associated with the development at the Exxon project site, and these are contained within the project risk register
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and updated by the Project Board on a regular basis. The Project Board is made up of senior officers from all key services. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment 8.1 Previously completed. No further assessment is needed at this stage. 9. Consultation 9.1 Consultation with all key stakeholders is progressing as we continue to work as part of the Glasgow City Region. 10 Strategic Assessment 10.1 At its meeting on 26 October 2022, the Council agreed that one of its main strategic priorities for the Strategic Plan 2022 - 2027 is ‘A Strong local economy and improved employment opportunities’. 10.2 The proposals within this report are specifically designed to deliver on this priority. Alan Douglas Chief Officer: Regulatory and Regeneration Date: 14 October 2025 Person to Contact: Elaine Troup elaine.troup@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendix: None Background Papers: UK Shared Prosperity Fund Report to Housing and Communities Committee 22 August 2022 Glasgow City Region City Deal- Council 13 August 2014. “City Deal Initiative” Clyde Valley Investment Fund-Council 30 April 2014 (Memorandum of Understanding). Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership – City Deal Initiative – Council 28 August 2013. Wards Affected: All