THE City of Edinburgh Council and its regional partners are set to receive nearly £38m in funding from the UK Government’s Local Growth Fund (LGF).
The news, which will see £140m in total injected into Scotland’s local authorities was announced yesterday by Douglas Alexander and the Scotland Office.
The programme aims to fund regional infrastructure investment, business support, and skills development projects to “drive economic growth” and make “a real difference” to people’s prosperity in Scotland.
Nearly £38m of this fund will be distributed to Edinburgh Council and its partners in the Edinburgh & South-East Scotland (ESES) City Region – East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, Fife, and Scottish Borders councils.
The £37.8 million for ESES region will be split between Edinburgh, West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian, Borders, and Fife councils (C) Howard Lake / Flickr
Four other regions were selected for funding: Ayrshire, Forth Valley, Glasgow City, and Tay Cities, totalling 23 local authority areas in total.
Fife Council looks set to receive funding from both the ESES and Tay regions, finding itself on both lists.
Nine local authorities in the north and south of Scotland, including Orkney, Shetland, Aberdeen city and shire, and Dumfries & Galloway have been excluded from funding.
The LGF programme aims to provide targeted investment to boost economic growth in key areas and “improve living standards” by investing in regions that contain the areas with the lowest disposable income per household.
Funding has been allocated at the regional level, via Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs), to enable cooperation between councils and strategic, bigger-picture decision-making.
Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “I welcome any allocation of funding to Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region. Edinburgh has an unparalleled track record in delivering the growth that is essential to achieve our wider priorities of eradicating poverty and responding to climate change.
“Edinburgh and South East Scotland has an award-winning Integrated Regional Employability and Skills programme and it is essential that we use the Local Growth Funding to support jobs, businesses and to boost prosperity and skills both locally and regionally.”
REPs do not just consist of council leaders, however. They are also made up of local private sector, education, and skills luminaries.
Skills development is envisaged to be a key component of REP activity, and leaders from the skills development and enterprise sectors are important in the running of the partnerships.
Secretary of State for Scotland Douglas Alexander said: “The UK Government is today backing regional economies across Scotland with £140m of new investment.
“This new investment will allow local leaders to decide how best to use the funding, which could include projects to improve infrastructure, business support or skills development.
“The UK Government will now work with local partners to develop investment plans tailored to each region.
“By investing in local areas, reducing child poverty, and bringing down inflation, the UK Government is focused on delivering material change to people across the country – boosting living standards and improving public services.”
Funds from the LGF will be imbursed to councils over a three-year period from 2026 to 2029.
The LGF is one facet of the UK Government’s local authority investment strategy for Scotland.
It has pledged more than £2bn over the next 10 years for local and regional projects across Scotland.
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