Moray Conservatives have welcomed an announcement from the Chancellor that the Moray Growth Deal will be fast-tracked.
In his Spending Review speech today, Rishi Sunak said the UK Government will bring forward investment in the £100million agreement.
Moray MP Douglas Ross has raised the issue for months including at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons last week following calls from Moray Business Forum to speed up the process from a 15-year period to 10 years or fewer.
The Moray Growth Deal is a joint UK and Scottish government initiative that will invest £40.6million to create two Moray College/UHI growth hubs, £31.1million for culture, tourism and town centre regeneration, £7million for a manufacturing innovation base, £7.5million on housing, £5million for digital advances in public health, £5million to boost STEM skills and £4.3million on public transport improvements.
Scottish Conservative MP for Moray Douglas Ross said:
“This is excellent news for Moray. I’ve been working hard to get the timescale of the deal reduced so we can see the benefits far quicker.
“The Chancellor’s announcement today will speed up the delivery of the Moray Growth Deal, along with three others in Scotland. It was great to see Moray mentioned specifically in the statement and shows the priority this deal is getting from the UK government.
“The projects involved in this deal will bring huge benefits to Moray as we work to rebuild our economy after the Coronavirus crisis.
“These benefits will be even greater now that the UK Government has agreed to spread its contribution over a shorter period.
“Michael Urquhart and the Moray Business Forum made a strong case for the investment period to be reduced and I’m pleased their efforts have been rewarded with this positive news.”
Scottish Conservative council group leader Tim Eagle said:
“The Moray Growth Deal will deliver genuine improvements for the Moray area and will provide a huge boost to our local economy.
“This is a welcome commitment from the Chancellor and exactly what local business leaders have been calling for.
“The projects involved in the £100million deal are really exciting.
“We can all now look forward to seeing this all come to fruition in the coming years to help Moray build back better after the Covid-19 pandemic.”