The Aberdeen City Region Deal is the agreement between the UK Government and the Scottish Government with Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Opportunity North East (ONE) as one delivery mechanism for the Region’s economic vision which focuses on transformational investment supporting the evolution of the region's key sectors, sustainable business growth and creating green jobs for the future. It follows the signing of a Heads of Terms Agreement in January 2016.
The Deal stimulates diversification of the economy into new areas of activity and markets through programme areas of: Innovation; Digital; Transport; and Inclusive Economic Growth.
GOVERNANCE
The Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee drives and governs the implementation of the City Region Deal programme and its links to the Regional Economic Strategy. It works to maximise the economic benefits of the Deal. It is made up from three Aberdeen City Council Councillors, three Aberdeenshire Council Councillors and three Opportunity North East Board Members.
ANNUAL REPORT
The 2021/22 Annual Report produced for the Joint Committee and UK and Scottish Governments, highlights the continued investment by industry and regional partners taking the deal value to over £1Billion.
Details of all the projects in the scope of the City Region Deal can be found in more detail within the annual report and at each projects website below.
Seedpod
SeedPod is a £21million investment in the food and drink industry to create a centre of excellence for manufacturing and production in North East Scotland that will deliver regional and national growth ambitions.
CityFibre Network
"Going up from 33 to 900 Mbps will make such a huge difference to my working day!" ~ Local resident
Digital Connectivity
75% of City residents have access to CityFibre with at least four ISP’s, stimulating the market, and driving down costs, making good connections accessible and affordable
BioHub
The new-build project is a flagship addition to Aberdeen’s Foresterhill Health Campus, one of Europe’s largest integrated clinical, research and teaching sites for life sciences and medicine
The Deal
The Aberdeen City Region Deal has hosted 6 student placements, 7 apprenticeships, 17 Internships, 5 Career Ready students and 2 UK Government Kickstart schemes
Full Fibre project
In 2021/22 the Deal Full Fibre project won the Social Value Category for procurement in the “Go Awards” (Social Value Category)
Transport
Development of proposals for innovative transport pilot projects aimed at providing inclusive transport connectivity, including Transport Mobility Hubs supported by Digital Applications
BioHub
The BioHub main construction phase provides more than 100 jobs in the city and creates inspiring career pathways for young people
NZTC
TechX start-ups have raised £28m in investment since graduating from the accelerator programme to continue to accelerate their tech/business
Aberdeen South Harbour
The Port of Aberdeen’s expansion project at Aberdeen South Harbour will add 1,400m in quayside length and accommodate vessels of up to 300metres.
The Port of Aberdeen’s expansion project at Aberdeen South Harbour will add 1,400m in quayside length and accommodate vessels of up to 300metres. The new facilities will create new opportunities for energy transition activities, including renewables and decommissioning, attract new cargo to the port and generate increased tourism through cruise traffic around the North Sea.
The Bio-therapeutics Hub for Innovation (BioHub) is a transformational investment to accelerate the growth of pioneering life sciences companies in Aberdeen. The £40million project, led by Opportunity North East, made significant progress. Entering its main construction phase, securing £2million of additional funding, delivering an economic boost for the construction sector and creating career pathways for young people.
SeedPod, a project led by Opportunity North East, is a beacon for the sector’s entrepreneurial spirit and ambition. The £21million industry growth hub to be built at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) campus at Craibstone, on the outskirts of Aberdeen, will support the sector to evolve and embrace new opportunities. It's combination of facilities, infrastructure, support programmes and connections will make the region a leader in low carbon food production and environmental sustainability, process and product innovation, premium market development and create high-skill green jobs.
In 2021 the OGTC rebranded as the Net Zero Technology Centre. New name, same purpose!
The new name more accurately reflects its purpose and reinforces its technology vision; A vision that aims to reduce emissions from existing facilities, unlocks the full potential of an integrated energy system, propels the energy industry towards a digital, automated future and accelerates clean energy start-ups to build a thriving supply chain.
The Aberdeen City Region Deal is supporting an increased delivery of ultrafast fibre connectivity. The city network extension project connected remaining Aberdeen City Council’s corporate and public sites to fibre, as well as extending the duct network for traffic management purposes. The Full fibre project is connecting Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and NHS sites to gigabit capacity connectivity. During the pandemic these projects have continued to work helping to keep the economy alive and help to attract commercial investment to the City Region for improved digital connectivity.
The Strategic Transport Appraisal is taking a 20 year strategic view of the transport implications of the investment unlocked by the Deal across all modes of transport including road and rail.
The External Links to Aberdeen South Harbour is focussed on delivering the most appropriate road, public transport and active travel measures to improve wider linkages to the Aberdeen South Harbour Development at Bay of Nigg and support the Energy Transition Zone. Building on the improvements agreed as part of the original planning process for the harbour, work to date has followed Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) to identify the most appropriate options, and work is now moving into the design phase.
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