A UK minister has said Theresa May supports the roll-out of more city deals despite the lack of a firm commitment for the Tayside area.
In his final days as Prime Minister, David Cameron said he wanted to find the cash for the Tay Cities Deal, which would unlock hundreds of millions of pounds of funding, but said he could not speak for his successor.
Mrs May has yet to publicly back the Tay Cities Deal in principle as Prime Minister, or to give direct assurances to Andrew Dunlop, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland, who visited Dundee on Monday.
Lord Dunlop, who took a tour of the V&A and the UK Games Fund, said Mrs May revealed her support for the extension of city deals throughout the UK during the Conservative leadership campaign.
“That is a clear statement of intent from her. For my part, we want to press ahead with taking forward the Tayside Cities Deal,” he told The Courier.
Asked if Mrs May had told him she wanted to advance the Tay Cities Deal and others in Scotland, he said: “As I have said this is a bottom-up process.
“What we want to work with the Tayside city region is on developing that robust plan, that we can then take to the Treasury – and the Treasury to get behind that.
“But the first thing is to get the robust plan. We are committed to helping in every way we can to develop that plan.”
The Tay Cities Deal would see Angus, Dundee, Perthshire and North East Fife receive up to £400 million to take forward specific infrastructure projects which could boost the region.
Opposition politicians fear the UK Government is leaving wriggle room to drop or delay the city deal for the Tayside area in the wake of financial pressures from the Brexit vote.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, the Perthshire SNP MP, recently said she was “very concerned” about statements from Scottish Secretary David Mundell and Mr Cameron, who she said had warned the funding “may be in jeopardy following the referendum to leave the EU and the installation of Theresa May as the new Prime Minister”.
Local authorities are preparing business plans to present to the UK and Scottish governments to secure the funding. Sources have indicated the plans are nearing completion.
Meanwhile, Lord Dunlop said as far as he was aware the £5m found in the last Budget for the V&A Dundee was the last cheque that would be handed over by the UK Government, because the project’s fundraising is on track.
He said the waterfront redevelopment will provide a “huge boost for the whole of Dundee and the whole Tayside region”.
“I think the region has now got a package of attractions that will be a real magnet to draw people into this region,” he said.
He also met figures from the city’s video games industry at the UK Games Fund, which distributes cash to help developers get their projects off the ground.
But the minster poured cold water on the prospect of games tax relief, which gives tax breaks to firms, being devolved to Holyrood.
He said there is a “huge logic to having those on a UK-wide basis”.
