North East £500m city deal investment confirmed by UK and Scottish governments

Over £500m is to be invested in the North East as part of a ‘City Deal’ for Aberdeen and the surrounding area, the UK and Scottish Governments will confirm today.

Prime Minister David Cameron visits the city today to formally announce the deal, which will see £250m invested in Aberdeen by the UK Government, with the Scottish Government expected to announce a further £254m for infrastructure in Aberdeenshire.

The agreement follows similar deals for Glasgow and Manchester, with potential deals lined up for Inverness, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

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The investment will support the oil and gas industry with a new innovation centre and pay for improvements to Aberdeen harbour.

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday David Cameron said the UK Government was committed to supporting oil and gas.

"We're going to help the sector export its world-class expertise. We're going to help the economies diversify.”

Ahead of today’s announcement Scottish secretary David Mundell said: “We need action which will help in the short, medium and long terms – building a bridge to the future of the North Sea; helping the UK’s oil and gas industry to export its world-class expertise around the globe; and encouraging diversification of the economy to create new opportunities in other sectors too.”

Mundell will visit Mozambique next month in an attempt to strike a formal oil and gas agreement between Aberdeen and the town of Pemba.

Meanwhile Cameron also said the Government was still “committed to examining” a city deal with Inverness, and the deals were a chance for the UK and Scottish Governments to work constructively together.