The Angus Fund is part of the Tay Cities Deal, which comprises the local authority areas of Angus, Dundee City, Perth & Kinross and the north east part of Fife along with the Scottish and UK governments and the private, academic and voluntary sectors.

The UK Government has agreed to invest up to £5.6m to promote North Angus and Montrose as a clean growth zone where new technologies can be used to improve energy efficiency. This includes support for developing a Drone Port at Montrose which will benefit the emerging offshore wind developments and create a regulated testing area to attract companies from across the UK.

A further £5.9m will be invested into low carbon projects across the region, such as utilising electric and hydrogen vehicles as low emission transport methods, and reducing the carbon impact of housing.

An additional £15m of UK Government funding will support the development of agritech, which will support the region’s vital agricultural sector. This will develop technologies that can increase sustainable crop production, improve food security and nutrition, and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint with the aim of achieving net zero, or carbon-negative, production systems.

UK Government minister Iain Stewart said: “These are an exciting set of proposals for Angus with the ability to transform the region into a powerhouse for clean growth and green jobs.

“From the outset the UK Government was determined that the Tay Cities Deal should deliver for the people of Angus, and our £26.5m investment will do just that.

“We have now committed more than £1.5 billion to City Region and Growth Deals across Scotland to create opportunities and secure the future of our economy.”

The funds will be used to stimulate the Mercury Programme, Angus Council’s visionary £1bn partnership programme across the Tay Cities region between government, public, private and community sectors.

Angus Council leader, Cllr David Fairweather, said: “This is welcome and exciting news for the people of Angus and the projects being developed within the Angus Fund will be innovative and showcase Angus assets. We had already committed to the Mercury Programme in our Council Plan at the last Full Council meeting, but this funding will ensure a strong start and increased pace of growth.”

The purpose of the Mercury Programme is to increase productivity through clean growth, protecting places for future generations to live, work and visit.

Angus Council seeks to achieve this by becoming a sustainable, low carbon region that leads the development and implementation of innovative clean technologies.