Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal

Funded by the UK and Scottish Governments, Stirling Council, Clackmannanshire Council and the University of Stirling, the City Region Deal will invest more than £214 million over 10 years. The deal is also expected to unlock private investment of over £640 million and deliver over 5,000 new jobs.

The ‘city region’ consists of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire local authority areas. It has a combined population of around 140,000 people and contributes approximately £3.3 billion to the UK economy each year.

The regional economy is rich with significant assets across education, cultural and built heritage, natural assets, and a strong business base. We are well connected – to each other, the rest of Scotland, the UK and the global community.

But, like many areas, we face challenges around access to opportunities for all. For example, not all our communities share high levels of wealth, health, education and employment.

The City Region Deal will help us deliver transformational change that will address these challenges. It will allow us to develop initiatives that will help reduce the inequalities that exist between communities. By focusing on the needs of those with the greatest disadvantages, we will increase prosperity within a fairer economy.

The City Region Deal will help us create a digitally and physically connected infrastructure that enables higher value, skilled jobs to be retained within the region. By enhancing our cultural, heritage and tourism offering we aim to attract more people from all over the world to visit and enjoy our spectacular region.

We have agreed on four strategic outcomes for the City Region Deal. These are:

• inclusive economic growth – by creating conditions for businesses to thrive locally and globally
• higher-value jobs – by investing in clean, green innovations and digital entrepreneurship
• sharing prosperity – by removing barriers to engagement and supporting inclusion
• inclusive skills ecosystem – widening access to opportunity through targeted, inclusive skills pathways

We recognise that there are significant challenges to achieving Inclusive growth for our region. We have identified the region’s core inclusive growth challenges that hold back the spread of wealth and opportunity for our communities. The City Region Deal investment has a pivotal role in addressing them.

Throughout the deal, each proposed investment project will undertake a robust assessment that will allow us to identify how it will contribute to achieving inclusive growth and help to tackle the challenges we face.

Office (RPMO) will produce a quarterly Risk and Performance Monitoring Report outlining their performance against the milestones highlighted in the Implementation Plan, in addition in to the financial performance to date. Where risks are identified, change recommendations will be made. This will be considered at Joint Committee meetings

An overall Programme Risk Register and Performance Monitoring Report will also be considered by the Chief Officers Group and Joint Committee every quarter

City Region Deal Project and Programme Leads will work in collaboration with the RPMO, in consultation with both Governments, to develop a City Region Deal Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. This is an important document for the City Region Deal as it establishes the framework for Government to monitor activities and progress towards securing outputs and outcomes. It will incorporate indicators from the Scottish Government’s inclusive growth outcomes framework published on the SCRIG website and it will be subject to Government approval.

You can read about our review of the first year of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal and a look forward to the year ahead in our yearly report.  This document highlight the progress made and issues faced.   This is the second annual conversation document that underpins the strategic discussion between partners and government that took place on the 24th March 2022. 

Previous Annual Reports:

• Annual Report 2021
• Annual Report 2020/21

While the City Region Deal is still in its infancy, we have already made progress with several key projects. These include the following developments.

Transport, connectivity and low-carbon

We’re creating 2 walking and cycling routes from Stirling city centre to Forth Valley College and to the University of Stirling.

£200,000 of capital funding has been allocated to provide a regional energy masterplan for the city region that will produce a prioritised programme of future low-carbon energy projects.

Digital

We’re creating new, high-quality business spaces that will allow companies in the digital sector to start up and grow locally, creating new and exciting job opportunities.

The Cowie hub is currently under construction, with hubs planned for Callander and Clackmannanshire.

A Stirling digital hub will also provide additional space for businesses and individuals to work in the heart of the city.

Culture, heritage and tourism

We have funding to develop our culture, heritage and tourism assets and to build a national tartan centre that will showcase the power and iconic nature of the tartan brand.

National Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Hub and Scotland’s International Environment Centre

We’re supporting 2 major technology infrastructure initiatives from the University of Stirling.

Ministry of Defence land at Forthside

We’re investing in the eastern area of Forthside, providing the opportunity to unlock a substantial area of highly accessible land for a mix of housing and commercial development.