£50 million for Falkirk Growth Deal announced

Investment of up to £50 million by the Scottish Government in the Falkirk area will drive inclusive and sustainable economic recovery and growth across the region as part of the Falkirk Growth Deal.

The funding, to be invested over the next decade, will finance targeted economic development activity across a range of themes, including infrastructure, transport, innovation, energy transition and skills.

It will also help support the region’s strong chemical manufacturing industry at Grangemouth, securing local jobs and driving forward innovation as we move to a low carbon economy.

Regional Growth Deals are agreements between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and local government designed to bring about long-term strategic approaches to improving regional economies. The UK Government is investing £40 million in the Deal. The funding from the Scottish Government matches that and provides an additional investment of £10 million which has been committed to support Falkirk’s ambitions for the green economy.

Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Economy Secretary, said: “The Falkirk Growth Deal demonstrates our commitment to supporting the region and delivering long-term benefits to the local communities and businesses. We will continue to work with our partners in Falkirk and the UK Government, supported by our enterprise and skills agencies, to help them to consider proposals that will unlock investment and drive inclusive growth across the area, creating a fairer, greener and more inclusive wellbeing economy. The Scottish Government has now committed more than £1.8 billion to City Region and Growth Deals and related investments across Scotland.”

The Falkirk growth deal is the 11th UK deal in Scotland. To date, the deals have set out support for numerous sectors across Scotland, including: north-east Scotland looking to become a global centre for expertise on decommissioning and sustainability; the Borders region boosting tourism through the mountain biking centre; Inverness Castle being transformed; robotics and forensics attracting cutting-edge tech businesses to Scotland’s universities; and Scotland’s engineering legacy being reborn through new advanced manufacturing and aerospace clusters.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “We know that City Region and Growth Deals will be vital to Scotland’s economic recovery from coronavirus. The Falkirk Growth Deal will enable the regional economy to innovate, boosting investment and providing sustainable, high-quality jobs.

“The pandemic has called for extraordinary economic measures, and the UK Government has done everything we can to support jobs and businesses. We have supported 900,000 jobs in Scotland with our furlough and self-employed schemes, including 18,500 in Falkirk. This new deal brings the UK Government’s investment in growth deals across Scotland to £1.46 billion. We look forward to working with our partners in Falkirk and the devolved administration in Scotland to develop innovative and effective proposals.”