The £315 million Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal was formally signed yesterday, paving the way for the release of funding for three business cases.

The City-Region Deal sets out the areas where the Scottish Government will commit investment of up to £135m and the UK government will commit investment of up to £53.1m, which, together with £127m of further investment by the Highland Council and partners, will deliver a step change in digital connectivity, digital healthcare, skills, innovation and infrastructure.

Regional partners estimate that the City-Region Deal funding of £315m could unlock up to an additional £800m of investment by the private sector.

Yesterday’s signing means over £12m of funding will now be released for three approved business cases which will allow the project work to begin on the Science Skills Academy STEMD, the University of the Highlands and Islands School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences, and on Land Remediation in Inverness.

The investment will begin with the release of over a quarter of a million pounds in this financial year.

Economy secretary Keith Brown said: “The signing of the Inverness City Region Deal shows our clear and strong commitment to investing in Inverness and the wider Highlands region, and the crucial contribution they make to Scotland’s economic growth.

“Our £135m investment will improve access to jobs, education and healthcare which will deliver significant long-term benefits for the city, region and Scotland as a whole. This investment reinforces the Scottish Government’s commitment to bringing economic prosperity to all parts of Scotland.

“It’s fantastic to see the first tangible results of Scottish Government investment which will help to address the shortage of skills related to science, technology, engineering and maths/digital through the Science Skills Academy.”

UK government minister Andrew Dunlop added: “City Region Deals are a fantastic example of the UK and Scottish governments working together alongside the Highland Council and local partners to improve communities and drive economic growth.

“City Region Deals are all about unlocking the economic opportunities for a region and the UK Government is proud to play its part in the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal by investing more than £50 million.

“That’s why I’m delighted to be in the Highlands for the signing of the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal which I am sure will have a transformative impact on the regional economy.”

Science Skills Academy STEMD

£3 million has been approved by the Scottish Government for the business case of the Science Skills Academy (SSA).

The project is being led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to help engage more young people in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths/digital skills (STEM/D), in partnership with Highland Council, the University of the Highlands and Islands, Skills Development Scotland, and others.

SSA is designed to help ensure there are sufficient numbers of young people with STEM/D skills needed for future economic growth in the region. The academy is a long term, innovative and ambitious project which will increase the number of young people able to take advantage of the growing opportunities in life sciences, renewable energy and digital technologies.

SSA will operate from a hub based at Inverness Campus which will pilot a tailored approach for the Highlands. Learning centres modelled on the Norwegian Newton Rooms, delivering inspirational, practical STEM/D education in partnership with schools will be developed across the region. These are very well equipped science rooms providing students with state of the art educational equipment with a focus on hands-on experiments and practical activities. Five Newton Rooms will be in place by the end of 2019.

University of the Highlands and Islands School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences

The university has been awarded £9m from the UK Government, as part of the city-region deal to establish commercialisation, academic and clinical capacity to deliver projects in health, social care and life sciences.

A custom-built facility on the Inverness Campus will operate as a flexible open access unit supporting the interaction between the health service, the academic sector and commercial partners. Resulting projects will generate new products and services, business start-ups and licensing deals, as well as service quality improvements and new models for clinical delivery for the NHS.

The new facility will be collocated with a proposed NHS elective care centre and a new life science building owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Although it will be physically located on the Inverness Campus, it will support developments around the region.

A key focus is to expand the range and scope of the commercial life science sector in the Highlands and Islands, providing the infrastructure and personnel to draw in new investment and create jobs.

Development areas will be linked to the regional economy, demography and geography including disease management and prevention, rural health, digital health, integrated health and social care and technology assisted living.

This initial investment will help to recruit technical and business specialist staff to design and operate the proposed facility. At the same time, the university will work closely with NHS Highland to build capacity in clinically active research staff who will work in partnership with university research teams.

Recruitment of staff will begin immediately and will develop over the next two and a half years. The new facility should be occupied towards the end of 2019.

Longman Land Remediation (£250,000)

The first tranche of the £10 million business case for the Longman Land Remediation project, led by The Highland Council, has been released. This funding from the UK government will allow site investigations and monitoring of the land to assess suitability for economic development to progress.

The project aims to ensure that there is sufficient land supply to enable Inverness and the Highlands to expand its economic activity and productivity by bringing into use large brownfield contaminated sites. Through remediation of a redundant landfill site and carrying out site servicing works, the council will be able to release a strategic site to the market to meet the needs of both small and medium size businesses and the needs of larger inward investment companies. This will enable 18 hectares of development-ready land for light industry/commercial use to provide employment opportunities and ensure the continued economic growth and success of Inverness.