City Deals

This note provides an overview of City Deals, with details on the 31 that have been successfully negotiated since July 2012.

City deals are bespoke packages of funding and decision-making powers negotiated between central government and local authorities and/or Local Enterprise Partnerships and other local bodies.

Between July 2012 and August 2014, 26 City Deals were agreed. The first wave, completed in July 2012 covered the 8 largest English cities outside London; the second wave, completed in July 2014 covered the next 14 largest English cities and their wider areas, as well as the next 6 English cities and areas with the highest population growth between 2001 and 2010.

In a one-off deal in August 2014, Glasgow and the Clyde Valley became the first area outside England to agree a deal.

In 2016, deals were agreed with Aberdeen, Cardiff and Inverness.

In 2017, deals were agreed with the Swansea Bay area and Edinburgh and South East Scotland.

In 2018, a deal for Stirling and Clackmannanshire was finalised.

Funding has been confirmed for deals in Tayside and the Belfast City Region.

The 2018 Budget saw the government commit to begin negotiations for a deal covering a Derry City and Strabane District Council area – as yet, a Heads of Terms agreement detailing specific funding for city deal projects has not been published.