Promoting Inverness as one of Scotland's cities

The Highland Council has given its commitment to work with partners in the Scottish Cities Alliance to drive inclusive growth for Scotland.

Depute Provost of Inverness, Councillor Graham Ross signed the Statement of Intent at a meeting of the Scottish Cities Alliance on 6 September.

He said: “This is a time full of opportunities for Inverness and the Highlands. We have signed a City-Region Deal, we have a state of the art Campus and a thriving life sciences industry. Inverness is one of the UK’s top tourist destinations and we are continually adding new attractions, the latest being the new Castle Viewpoint and free wifi for the city. We have international air connections and are seeking to increase our connectivity with the rest of the UK and Europe. It is a fantastic place to live, work and do business. We are ambitious for Inverness and by growing the potential of our capital city, we increase opportunities for the rest of the Highlands.”

The statement is as follows:

“We, the Leaders of Scotland’s seven cities and Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work commit to work together through the Scottish Cities Alliance to drive inclusive growth for Scotland.

“Specifically we will have a focus on promoting our cities and Scotland to bring jobs and investment to our cities for the benefit of the whole Scottish Economy. To do this we will:

• Take an inclusive approach to partnership working across political boundaries seeking the common ground to collaborate and achieve inclusive economic growth
• Work together to develop and agree a four year operational plan which sets out our strategic focus and collaborative activity
• Be ambitious for our cities and for Scotland working closely with private sector partners
• Work together and with National Agencies to hone and promote Scotland’s investment opportunities, taking a Team Scotland approach, building on our strong national brand
• Continue our commitment to make Scotland’s cities, smart sustainable cities, making best use of data and technology to improve services and attract investment
• Work together to inform key policy discussions to ensure that Scottish Cities and their regions have the levers and collaborative working arrangements to allow them to compete, innovate and support inclusive economic growth”