THE council has welcomed clarification that Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) funding is not being frozen.
On Friday afternoon, the future of local deal projects – including the Mourne Mountains Gateway Project and the Southern Relief Road – appeared to be thrown into doubt when an Executive statement voicing ‘grave concern at the decision by the UK Government to pause City and Growth Deals until the spending review’ was released.
With confusion around the issue growing, further political statements followed over the weekend, during which Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald said that funding for the BRCD and its equivalent in Derry City and Strabane was expected to remain in place, leaving two regional planned growth deals in Northern Ireland – Mid South West and Causeway Coast and Glens – at risk.
A council statement, issued on Monday, said that, as a BRCD partner, it welcomed ‘the clarification received today from the Department of Finance, following communication between the NI Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) and HM Treasury in relation to the continued commitment to the BRCD, signed in December 2021’.
It also welcomed a statement made by Dr Archibald in the Assembly on Monday, in which she said that Mr Benn had “confirmed late last night that, following communication with Treasury, nothing has changed on the status of the BRCD”.
The council statement added that BRCD was ‘the result of a strong and established partnership’, and highlighted that it is ‘now well into delivery phase, with 15 outline business cases approved, 12 legally executed contracts for funding signed, totalling approximately £600m, 15 ICT (integrated consultancy team) contracts awarded, two projects in construction and a number of projects already in operation’.
‘It is a delivery vehicle that is clearly fit for purpose,’ it read.
‘The BRCD is already creating more and better jobs in our centres of excellence, leveraging additional external funding, supporting the delivery of crucial skills pipelines and developing inclusive growth and social value.
‘Our deal will create a wide range of opportunities for local SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), innovators and entrepreneurs to deliver inclusive innovation and to address regional challenges, including sustainability, resilience and net-zero, as well as the health and wellbeing of our communities.
‘The BRCD partners remain focused on fully implementing our deal and on maximising the wide range of benefits this investment will bring to our region and the people who live here.’
The statement also urged the government to lift the pause on commitments made in the two regional growth deals.
‘The four deals together offer significant growth potential for Northern Ireland as a whole,’ it concluded