THE UK Government recently announced that Glasgow and its surrounding areas are to benefit from £500 million of funding as part of the City Deal partnership to support projects such as city centre-airport rail link, major improvements to roads and bus services, and the development of new employment sites.
The Scottish Government confirmed they will match the contribution while local authorities in the region will provide a further £130 million.
Glasgow plans to create a £1.1 billion infrastructure fund to support the ambitious proposal.
The UK Government said the vote of confidence in Glasgow would help generate private-sector money so businesses can flourish.
In exchange Glasgow will take active measures to further reduce unemployment and help move people in low-paid jobs into higher paid ones.
Glasgow is the first city in Scotland to benefit from a City Deal. Similar deals are already in place in English cities Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
Ed Monaghan, Chair of Construction Scotland, said, “Today has been a landmark one for the Scottish construction industry, and for Glasgow and its surrounding area in particular with this significant boost as part of the City Deals scheme.
“With the UK government pledging £500m to support projects – and Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon confirming that the Scottish Government will match this funding – the investment will impact on infrastructure, jobs and economic growth for years to come.
“This is exactly the level of investment that will make a real difference to a large proportion of the 31,000 businesses involved in the Scottish construction sector and I look forward immensely to seeing it come to fruition.”
