4 Dunfermline projects at risk as £5m promise under review

These cultural and community improvements were all supposed to benefit from pledges Labour says were just headline-chasing gimmicks from the last Tory government.

By Alasdair Clark

September 13 2024, 1:40pm

Dunfermline's Fire Station Creative was one of the projects set to benefit from the cash. Image: Steve MacDougall/DC Thomson.

Four cultural and community projects in Dunfermline could miss out on £5 million of funds.

The levelling up money is at risk while the new Labour government reviews “unfunded” Tory promises made before the election.

The pledge was hailed as a “significant contribution” to improving the area.

Projects include a new cultural space at St Margaret’s House, the Victorian villa shuttered after Fife Council vacated its offices.

The new Dunfermline Learning Campus was also to receive some of the funds.

The plan was to create an outdoor amphitheatre that could host performances by school and college students.

Councillors had agreed to fund a new cultural space at the Tower House youth hub.

And improvements were planned at the successful Fire Station Creative art gallery on Carnegie Drive.

an aerial shot of the Dunfermline Learning Campus under construction — Some of the levelling up money was to be used for an outdoor amphitheatre at the Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image: DC Thomson.

A decision is now expected as part of the new government’s budget statement in October.

Fife councillors had hoped to use the £5 million to capitalise on Dunfermline being awarded city status in 2022.

Council leader David Ross had said it would be used to support “ambitious plans” for the city.

‘Headline-grabbing gimmick’

Labour Scottish Secretary Ian Murray blamed the uncertainty on the £22 billion budget blackhole he blames on the Tories.

He said: “Everything is under review because a lot of the stuff that was promised didn’t have any cash attached to it.

“We’re trying to be honest with the public and say look, some of these projects are under review, and some may or may not happen depending on where the Chancellor goes on October 30.”

Dunfermline SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville walks down a corridor at Holyrood — Dunfermline SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville. Image: PA

New MP told to stand up for Dunfermline

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Sommerville called on the city’s Labour MP Graeme Downie to stand up for Dunfermline and ensure the £5m is delivered in full.

“If he will not fight for our city to protect £5m in funding, then people will rightly be left wondering – what is he actually offering as my MP?” she said.

Mr Downie said: “What we now know is that the last Tory government made that commitment with no actual funding attached to it.

“It literally wasn’t worth the paper the press release was written on.

“That kind of financial competence is only matched by the SNP who just this week sought to break their own manifesto promise on delivering free school meals after 17 years of financial mismanagement at Holyrood.”