Tag: Levelling Up Fund

Levelling up projects in Scotland awarded £177 million

TEN projects across Scotland receive grants from round two of the UK Government’s flagship Levelling Up Fund

A new ferry for Fair Isle, restoration of Kilmarnock’s historic Palace Theatre, and regeneration in Stirling are just some of the transformational local projects across Scotland awarded a share of £2.1 billion from the UK Government’s landmark Levelling Up Fund.

Major UK Government investment will benefit people across Scotland by spreading opportunity and breathing new life into historically overlooked areas.

A total of 10 projects in Scotland have been allocated more than £177 million from round two of the Levelling Up Fund. The projects will create jobs, drive economic growth, help restore people’s pride in the places where they live and spread opportunity more equally.

This will drive forward the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy by levelling up and provide the foundations for building a better future in communities across the UK. By working together the UK is better able to collectively tackle the individual challenges faced by every region and nation across the country.

Grants include nearly £27 million for a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle. There is also £20 million to fund the refurbishment of Kilmarnock’s 163-year-old Palace Theatre and Grand Hall, and a new park near the town square, as well as more than £19 million towards the regeneration of the Forthside area in Stirling.

In Aberdeenshire, £20 million will transform Peterhead’s disused Arbuthnot House into a new museum, library and cultural hub, while the popular marine aquarium in Macduff will be modernised and expanded.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Through greater investment in local areas, we can grow the economy, create good jobs and spread opportunity everywhere.

“That’s why we are backing a number of projects with new transformational funding to level up local communities in Scotland.

“By reaching even more parts of the country than before, we will build a future of optimism and pride in people’s lives and the places they call home.”

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: “We are firing the starting gun on more than a hundred transformational projects in every corner of the UK that will revitalise communities that have historically been overlooked but are bursting with potential.

“This new funding will create jobs, drive economic growth, and help to restore local pride. We are delivering on the people’s priorities, levelling up across the UK to ensure that no matter where you are from, you can go as far as your talents will take you.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “It’s fantastic to see real momentum gathering as we level up across Scotland. This latest round of UK Government funding will see more than £177 million invested into 10 exciting projects which will breathe new life into communities across Scotland.

“Working with local partners we are boosting culture and leisure in Aberdeenshire, Galloway and Kilmarnock; improving connectivity in Shetland and Dundee; regenerating Greenock and Cumbernauld town centres; unlocking huge swathes of land for green development in East Lothian and Stirling; and helping communities in Fife connect with nature.

“We must and will continue to invest in initiatives that will make a difference to communities and help grow our economy. So far we have announced more than £2.26 billion – including the two Freeports confirmed last week – to bring prosperity and growth to Scotland that is crucial as we tackle the challenges associated with rising energy prices and the increased cost of living.”

Projects in Scotland awarded Levelling Up Fund grants in round 2:

  • nearly £27 million has been guaranteed for a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle. The service is a lifeline for the island, supporting its residents, visitors and supply chains, and without its replacement the community will become further isolated.
  • in Aberdeenshire, £20 million will transform Peterhead’s disused Arbuthnot House into a new museum, library and cultural hub, while the popular marine aquarium in Macduff will be modernised and expanded.
  • there is £20 million to fund the refurbishment of 163-year-old Palace Theatre and Grand Hall, and a new park near the town square in Kilmarnock.
  • in Dundee, £14 million will go towards redeveloping a dated multi-storey car park into a sustainable transport hub, creating 350 electrical vehicle charging points, car share spaces, and an e-bike hire scheme.
  • nearly £20 million will help demolish and reroute the A78 dual carriageway to reconnect and transform Greenock town centre into a modern, vibrant hub based around public squares and green spaces.
  • in Stirling, more than £19 million will go towards the regeneration of the Forthside area, helping to create 1,000 new jobs.
  • more than £19.4 million to accelerate the regeneration of Riverside Park in Fife and improve access to the River Leven with new walking routes.
  • in Cumbernauld, more than £9 million will support the demolition and regeneration of two failing shopping centres and a vacant office block, helping to bring education, employment and homes into the heart of North Lanarkshire’s largest town.
  • in East Lothian, nearly £11.3 million of funding will help free up land at a former coal fired power station for future, green regeneration.
  • almost £18 million will help Dumfries and Galloway turn redundant spaces and buildings into exciting new cultural and leisure opportunities.

The major investment announced follows the allocation of £1.7 billion to 105 projects from round one of the Levelling Up Fund in 2021– taking the total allocated so far from the fund to £3.8 billion. In Scotland there was an allocation of £172 million to 8 Scottish projects from round one of the Levelling Up Fund in 2021– taking the total allocated so far from the fund to £349 million. The UK Government’s levelling up projects across Scotland can be explored on this map.

The UK Government has also confirmed there will be a further round of the Levelling Up Fund, providing more opportunity to level up places across the UK.

City Centre at heart of heart of capital recovery plans

Muirhouse Community Hub and Granton gasholder put forward for Levelling Up funding

As Edinburgh’s economy faces the biggest challenge for more than a generation, the City of Edinburgh Council looks to forge a strong and sustainable recovery for Scotland’s Capital.

The Council has brought together key partners, stakeholders and business leaders to review the Edinburgh Economic Strategy to develop a refreshed approach that focuses on the city’s strengths, continued investment and collaboration, while responding to new pressures arising from both the pandemic and Brexit, and the long-term challenges identified in the 2018 Edinburgh Economy Strategy.

Agreed at yesterday’s Policy & Sustainability committee the report outlines key priorities, while also highlighting the importance of the city centre to Edinburgh’s long-term economic success – as a magnet for visitors, cultural activity, investment and innovation.

As part of the initial work that’s been done so far with key partners a series of actions have been proposed that the Council and other city stakeholder need to undertake to support the delivery of a strong economic recovery for Edinburgh.

These actions fall under five priorities which are:

  1. helping businesses to manage, adapt and innovate
  2. promote access to fair work and opportunities for progression
  3. lead a just transition to a net carbon zero economy
  4. create vibrant places for businesses and people; and
  5. maintain Edinburgh’s place as a global economy.

Focusing on specific actions needed to revive the economy of the city’s historic centre, The City Centre Recovery Plan has been developed as an accompaniment to the refresh of the city-wide Edinburgh Economy Strategy.

This plan proposes two core priorities for the Council and its partners over the next few years:

  • ‘support the city centre to adapt and thrive’ by taking action to provide high impact support to businesses of all sectors, as well as tailored, targeted support to businesses in areas or in sectors under specific pressure.
  • ‘build momentum for long term recovery’ by delivering strong programmes of promotion and marketing the city centre, as well as taking the steps needed to help people safely return to work in the area. Meanwhile look to enhance and repurpose the city centre to make sure it meets the post-pandemic needs of residents, businesses and visitors.

This will be underpinned by some of the largest and most significant retail, commercial, and tourism developments seen in any UK city centre.

It is hoped that these major investments will provide a catalyst for recovery of Edinburgh’s city centre, creating new job opportunities and building momentum needed to drive up footfall and turnover to the benefit of all businesses in the area.

These include:

  • the £1billion St James Quarter development opening this month;
  • Diageo’s investment in whisky tourism culminating in Johnnie Walker Princes Street opening later this summer;
  • a £40 million repair of North Bridge;
  •  the National Galleries of Scotland £22 million refurbishment project;
  • new uses on the way for key buildings such as the former BHS, Debenham’s shops, and the iconic Jenner’s department store
  • and in the west end of the city, the Edinburgh’s Haymarket project delivering a £350m development transforming the long-neglected brownfield site.

The new frameworks proposed for both the Economic Strategy and the City Centre Recovery Plan will now go through a consultation period with our citizen’s and partners from this month. Following this the final documents will be published in November this year.

Both reports will also look to deliver on the Council’s broader approach to recovery from the pandemic and meet its core priorities to end poverty, become a net zero city, and ensure wellbeing and equalities are enhanced for all.

Welcoming the update on the new frameworks, Council Leader, Adam McVey, said: “Recent indicators like city centre footfall and investments bringing opportunities for people in the Capital show Edinburgh in a strong position for a successful recovery.

“Oxford Economics suggested that Edinburgh is the most resilient economy in Scotland, driven by our digital connectivity and the diversity of our economy. But the challenges for businesses of Covid-19 and Brexit can’t be underestimated.

“By channelling our strengths, we can overcome the challenges and continue to make our City a greener and fairer place to live, work and do business.  Key growth sectors like data-driven innovation and strong sectors like technology, finance and business tourism are all collectively working together as a city to build a bright future for Edinburgh with opportunities for all our residents.

“I’d like to thank our partners and stakeholders for their support and insights in getting our next Economic Strategy to this stage. Through this next phase of wider engagement with the City we will have a robust plan of actions to support businesses, protect and create jobs and continue to make progress.

Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “A strong recovery for Edinburgh’s economy as a whole requires a strong and vibrant city centre and by developing The City Centre Recovery Plan, in tandem with the refreshed Economic Strategy, we’re making sure that this vital area of our city continues to thrive.

“In parallel with the development of the priorities we’ve set out, we have also committed to delivering many innovative and regenerative schemes across the city that are at the heart of our communities.

“We agreed on six key projects to be put forward for UK Government Levelling Up Funding including the Granton Waterfront, the North Edinburgh Art’s MacMillan Hub in Pennywell, Wester Hailes and other key priority programme for the city. I’m hopeful that we’ll be successful in our bids for this funding and look forward to seeing these projects benefiting our citizens in future years.”

Funding regeneration

Alongside this, as part of the city’s wider ambitions for the economy, the need to help fund and deliver key regeneration and infrastructure projects was also on the agenda at Thursday’s Policy & Sustainability Committee. 

Six projects were agreed and will now be put forward for the 2021/22 funding round of the new UK Levelling Up Fund.

The Levelling Up Fund was announced by UK Government at the 2020 Spending Review as a £4.8bn package of funding to provide capital investment in local infrastructure projects over four years, from 2021-22 to 2024-25.

All Scottish Local Authorities will receive a flat amount of £125,000 in capacity funding to support bid development. This funding is expected to be made available in late June 2021.

The six projects are:

  • North Edinburgh Arts – a proposed new creative and community hub at MacMillan Square in Pennywell;
  • Granton Gas Holder – restoring the gas holder structure and remediating the wider site, forming a key catalyst to delivering phase one of the wider waterfront regeneration programme;
  • Wester Hailes Regeneration – a comprehensive, phased regeneration plan for the next 10 to 15 years and will incorporate the aspirations as set out by the community in the Local Place Plan;
  • Inch Park Regeneration – a proposed project for the development of a sports and community hub in Inch Park;
  • Craigmillar Town Centre Regenerations – a regeneration plan for the area to complete years of housing led investment to deliver wide ranging community led improvements;
  • City-wide active travel – building on the vision and objectives set out in the City Mobility Plan, the active travel investment programme will deliver on of the UK’s most ambitious safe, attractive and coherent walking, cycling and wheeling networks.

Building international partnerships

Taking an international perspective and continuing to build relationships across the globe to attract investment and strategic links will be an important part in growing Edinburgh’s economy.

How Edinburgh maximises its global connections and partnerships was set out in an updated Edinburgh International Framework, developed in collaboration with members of the Edinburgh International Group.

Refreshed in response to changing context and challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, as well as new developments in city wide priorities, the approach ensures international activity promotes the Capital’s equality and diversity objectives.

As part of the new framework, Councillors also agreed that the Council will support the University of Edinburgh in joining the World Innovative Cities Co-operation Organisation to develop civic links and support innovative collaborations with partner cities.