A total of 111 projects across the UK have been selected to create jobs and boost economic growth, with up to £2.1 billion awarded today.

Projects awarded Levelling Up Fund money in Scotland include:

• Nearly £27m has been guaranteed for a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle in the Shetland Islands.
• £20m to help turn Arbuthnot House in Aberdeenshire into a museum and library as well as modernising Macduff Aquarium
• Refurbishment of the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock, costing £20m
• Re-routing of the A78 dual-carriageway to improve Greenock – £20m
• Regeneration of Riverside Park in Fife (£19.4m) and the Forthside area of Stirling (£19m)
• £14m Bell Street multi-storey car park redevelopment in Dundee
• More than £9m for regeneration work in Cumbernauld
• Nearly £11.3m to free up land at a former coal-fired power station
• Almost £18m to help Dumfries and Galloway turn redundant spaces and buildings into new cultural and leisure opportunities

The government has also confirmed there will be a further round of the Levelling Up Fund, providing more opportunity to level up places across the UK.

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove said: “We are firing the starting gun on more than a hundred transformational projects in every corner of the UK that will revitalise communities that have historically been overlooked but are bursting with potential.

“This new funding will create jobs, drive economic growth, and help to restore local pride. We are delivering on the people’s priorities, levelling up across the UK to ensure that no matter where you are from, you can go as far as your talents will take you.”

Fife Council leader, Cllr David Ross, said: “This funding will enable Fife Council, working with partners in the Leven Programme, to make the River Leven an exemplar for a green economic recovery to meet climate and nature targets, and a just transition to net zero.

“These funds take the first steps towards a vision of connecting Loch Leven to the Firth of Forth through an active travel route along the river. The schemes will have a key role in rejuvenating Glenrothes and Leven town centres, enhancing the attractiveness of Mid Fife as a place to live, work, learn, visit and invest.”