The Scottish Cities Alliance investment of £4M returns £40M

The investment by The Scottish Cities Alliance is delivering tenfold, Deputy First Minister John Swinney today revealed.

The Scottish Cities Alliance, a partnership between Scotland’s seven cities and the Scottish Government, has secured £10M of European Funding to support smart city initiatives which is included in the total of £40M of investment.

The Alliance is made of up the Scottish Government, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling.

The investments is part of a long-term approach to deliver major improvements to business connectivity, whilst providing better links between the cities and centres of economic growth.

Speaking today at the Scottish Governments Cities Convention in Perth, Mr. Swinney said: “The strength of our cities as drivers of growth is clearly indicated by today’s figures that show that the Scottish Cities Alliance, through a working partnership, has secured over 10 times the amount of investment provided by the Scottish Government. This is a good return by anyone’s standards and one which we can be proud of.”

The Convention brings together representatives from Scotland’s seven cities to discuss topics such as local empowerment and ways to ensure that each city is a great place to work, live and in advance of publication of the government’s refreshed agenda for the cities next year.

Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for cities, Keith Brown, said: “Our wider approach is one of partnership. We believe that the people who live and work in Scotland’s cities are best placed to make decisions about their future. That is why we passed the Community Empowerment Act earlier this year. Amongst other things, this enables Scottish councils to reduce business rates to reflect their individual economic development priorities”.

The investment of £4M from the Alliance has bought in £40M, which shows their success of working in partnership. Perth was the first city to reap the rewards with the £30M Mill Quarter investment being the first success of the Scottish Alliance’s Investment prospectus which details £10Bn of potential investment across the seven Scottish Cities.

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