The £1.3 billion ‘city deal’ powering economic growth for Edinburgh and the south-east of Scotland has been credited with creating 30,000 jobs.
The deal, which launched in 2018, is at the halfway point in its 15-year delivery timeline and has already contributed £3.6 billion in economic growth.
The scheme is supported with £300 million each from the Scottish and UK governments and over 5,000 businesses have engaged directly with the deal through partnerships or collaborations on training and skills development, innovation, and jobs. More than £1 billion in additional funding has been secured for Deal-related projects.
From Fife to the Scottish Borders, the Deal is delivering investment across housing, transport, innovation, culture, and skills and employment.
Highlights include seven new innovation hubs to increase links between university research and industry, housing developments that have so far delivered almost 8,500 new homes, and two industrial innovation zones.
Councillor Jane Meagher, chair, Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Joint Committee, said: “The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal is delivering real results. Now worth £1.7 billion, it generates the greatest additional investment of any Scottish city region or growth deal.
“The programme is driving economic growth, improving the services and functions the city relies on and creating sustainable communities, while ensuring benefits reach all of the region. To date, it has created over 29,000 jobs and built more than 8,000 homes and supported over £3.6 billion in Gross Value Added. The jobs created and skills improvements ensure that local people can access high-quality, better-paid work and benefit from the prosperity created by the City Region Deal.
Garry Clark, chair of the Deal’s Regional Enterprise Council, said: “Businesses across Edinburgh and South East Scotland will rightly judge the City Region Deal by the difference they can see on the ground. The Deal set ambitious targets from the outset, and it has consistently delivered measurable results.
“In Fife, for example, small firms are benefiting from new industrial units that fill a vital gap in the local property market, and East Lothian’s new Innovation Hub is already home to a diverse group of businesses. Across the region, employers now have access to a stronger talent pipeline thanks to the award winning Integrated Regional Employability and Skills programme.
“The deal is helping strengthen partnerships between industry, the third sector, and academia—collaboration that would be far harder to achieve in isolation. It has also helped build a resilient local supply chain, ensuring that local businesses and local skills have been central to the delivery of each project.”
“Whether it’s a new concert hall for Edinburgh, delivering a national centre for robotics and AI at Heriot-Watt University or supporting Scotland’s largest brownfield regeneration project at Granton Waterfront, these investments will shape this region for generations to come,” said Kate Forbes, Scotland’s deputy first minister.
