Tay Cities Deal Benefits for Dundee

Economic benefits which have been delivered in Dundee through the Tay Cities Region Deal are set to be discussed by councillors.

A report will also look forward at how a reshaping process will help to ensure that success continues into the second half of the 10-year deal.

The Tay Cities Region Deal (TCRD) was signed in December 2020 and includes capital funding of £150m from the UK Government, and £150m from Scottish Government, and was designed to lever in an additional £400m to create a total investment of £700m within the region.

The TCRD brings together public, private and voluntary organisations in the council areas of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross to deliver a smarter and fairer region.

Now entering the sixth year of its 10-year programme, to date the Deal has enabled investment of £155m of the approved funding, leveraged a further £180M of external Investment and supported 2,451 jobs.

Achievements in Dundee to be highlighted to councillors include:

• Growing Tay Cities Biomedical Cluster (£25m) University of Dundee

• CyberQuarter (£11.7m) Abertay University

• 5G Digital Test Beds (£2M) Dundee City Council

• Dundee Airport (Revenue) (£1.45m) Dundee City Council

• Discovery Point Transformed (£2.5m) Dundee Heritage Trust

Meanwhile, good progress is identified in several regional projects that sit within the Skills & Employability Programme led by Dundee & Angus College including Skills for Life Sciences (£1.975m) and SME Skills (£2.47m).

Councillors will hear that deal delivery has faced a number of issues including the pandemic and inflationary pressures, which are continuing to present challenges for the second half of the deal.

Recognising this, the Deal Partnership has undertaken a process over the last 18 months to assess the deliverability of all projects, programmes and funds within the Deal. In March 2025, TCRD Joint Committee formally adopted a mid-programme Reshaping approach to assess all ongoing projects across the Deal. This review will conclude with a refreshed programme which will be agreed with by the Joint Committee and both Governments, in Autumn 2026 for the final years of the Deal.

The report will be considered by the meeting of the Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee on Monday September 22.

Committee convener Cllr Steven Rome said: “The great achievements of the Tay Cities Regional deal are to be celebrated, but we cannot be complacent as we move forward into the second half of the deal.

“We have seen some truly innovative work going on to help make our city and region a fairer and smarter place.

“I am keen that we continue the momentum and keep investing this money into projects such as those upskilling people for jobs of the future.”