A legally-binding agreement on a promised £250million Scottish Government infrastructure funding package won’t be delivered, it was revealed yesterday.
Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing wrote to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon more than three weeks ago calling for a “heads of terms” agreement on the pledge when it was first announced.
She penned the letter on January 28 – the same day as the £250million City Region Deal heads of terms was signed.
But yesterday, the first meeting of the City Region Deal joint board heard from senior council officer Belinda Miller that no such agreement would be reached and instead a “memorandum of agreement” had been signed with Scottish Government chiefs.
At the meeting, the board appointed Ms Laing as its chairwoman and Aberdeenshire Council co-leader Martin Kitts-Hayes as its vice-chairman.
Their tenure will last one year while the city deal funds are delivered over a period of five to 10 years.
Last night a senior town house source said the memorandum “wasn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
The funds, announced by infrastructure minister Keith Brown, will include £200million to help improve journey times and increase capacity on rail links between Aberdeen and the central belt.
The board did not come to a concrete decision on whether the infrastructure funds would also be managed by the committee.
Last night Ms Laing said the funding had been announced several times before.
She added: “What we are working for is a legal agreement that will see these projects completed.”
But Mr Kitts-Hayes, who is in coalition with the SNP on Aberdeenshire Council, said: “At the end of the day I don’t see much difference as long as the money is managed effectively.”
Last night it emerged that Mr Brown had replied to Ms Laing.
His letter reads: “…the heads of terms agreement does not form a legally binding contract, the City Region Deal and the announcement that the Scottish Government will invest a further £254million signifies our commitment to support the region to help achieve the ambitions of regional partners.”
The board will meet again on April 22.