V&A Dundee: Swinney pledges extra £10m of funding

An extra £10m has been pledged by the Scottish government towards the construction of the V&A Dundee Museum.

It emerged on Friday that the cost of the project had almost doubled to £80m.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the additional funding, which increases the government's capital contribution to £25m, reinforced its commitment to the "iconic" development.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy said ministers had to "get a grip on the spiralling cost" of the project.

Mr Murphy outlined a five-point plan for securing economic and cultural success for Dundee during a visit to the city.

He said the city needed to fully exploit the potential of the planned design museum, along with its £100m digital industry, and called for more affordable and accessible sports facilities, greater educational attainment and a focus on attracting oil industry decommissioning jobs.

The cost of the V&A project had previously been estimated at £45m.

A council report published on Friday revealed that the authority has been in tender negotiations with BAM Construction for several months, and the two have now agreed a fixed price of £76.16m for the construction of the building.

Work on the design museum could begin in March if councillors approve the funding strategy set out in that report.

The plans included seeking £22m of extra funding from the Scottish government, as well as £4.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £6.6m from private fundraising.

The new museum would form the centrepiece of Dundee's £1bn waterfront regeneration project

The remaining sum of £6.5m would be drawn from the council's capital budget for 2015-18.

Announcing the extra government funding, Mr Swinney said: "V&A Dundee will be an iconic statement at the heart of the Dundee Waterfront development.

"The signature building will create local jobs and contribute significantly to the regeneration of Dundee and its waterfront, giving the city and Scotland a world-class design museum and visitor attraction."

The finance secretary said, when completed, the museum was expected to generate more than 270,000 visitor engagements per year and contribute an extra £11.6m annually to the local and national economy.

He added: "The £25m capital funding we have allocated to this iconic project underlines the Scottish government's firm commitment to working with the project board to ensure its delivery, success and long-term sustainability."

The delivery of the V&A Museum in Dundee was among initiatives Scottish Labour focused on as the shadow cabinet convened in the city.

The party's leader Mr Murphy said there were "vast" opportunities open to Dundee.

He said: "When built the V&A museum will be a breath-taking sight anchoring the new waterfront development.

"The Scottish government needs to get a grip on the spiralling cost of its production but the building is vital to Dundee's efforts to attract tourism from all over Scotland, the UK and the rest of world."