'Covid and Brexit impacts' on £315m city deal
At a glance
The £315m Inverness and Highland City Region Deal has reached its fifth year.
The latest annual report on the 10-year initiative said some of its projects have been "slowed" by Covid, Brexit and a legal challenge.
The worst affected of the projects is the rollout of superfast broadband.
Good progress, however, has been reported on the revamp of Inverness Castle.
- Published
Covid, Brexit and a legal wrangle have "slowed" some of the progress of the £315m Inverness and Highland City Region Deal, according to a new report.
Now into year five of the 10-year initiative, the deal is backed by £135m of Scottish government investment, £127m from Highland Council and £53m from the UK government. Projects include the redevelopment of Inverness Castle as a tourist destination, building new affordable housing, roads improvements in Inverness and also upgrading digital connectivity across the Highland region. The latest annual report on the deal said projects had shown "tremendous resilience in a challenging year". But it said delivery and spending on some projects had been slowed.
The worst affected of the projects has been digital connectivity, according to Highland Council's report.
It said the project was reliant on a Scottish government rollout of superfast broadband.
A new contract for the region had been signed off with BT, but the report said there had been a "period of delay" caused by a legal challenge.
The report added that the council was working with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish and UK governments to better deliver improved connectivity.
Among the projects that have progressed over the past year has been the redevelopment of Inverness Castle - a former sheriff court building.
The report said it remained on budget and there had been minimal impact from Covid restrictions.
Council leader Margaret Davidson said: "The start of this period was marked by truly exceptional and challenging events, which affected everyone globally and our own Highland region did not escape the impact.
"The pandemic and latterly Brexit have been seismic events, which have affected both our lives and the deal."
She said projects were recovering and were being adapted to fit a "changing environment and landscape".
The deal was formally signed in Invergordon in January 2017.
Highland Council said the investment would help the whole region, although councillors in areas such as Lochaber, Caithness and Sutherland said the deal would "predominantly benefit" Inverness.