I was delighted to see the heads of terms of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Deal being signed a week last Thursday.

When I was elected a year ago there were no Westminster projects being proposed as part of the overall City Deal. So last summer, I committed to bringing projects to the county, meeting with UK Government ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as well as officials at Clackmannanshire Council (including members of the SNP administration), community groups and businesses to ensure Clackmannanshire got its fair share when the final proposal was being considered.

We pushed hard to secure investment, so I was pleased to see the hard work pay off, with more than £45million of the overall package coming directly from the UK Government to be spent in the region.

I am particularly proud to see the International Environment Centre being included in the City Deal as this was a proposal that my team and I put the hard yards in to see through, directly intervening when the University of Stirling were going to build in Stirling instead of Clackmannanshire. I was disappointed to the SNP desperately trying to play politics and claim all the credit. However, if our actions forced the devolved administration in Edinburgh to dip into their pockets after 11 years of missed opportunities and invest into Clackmannanshire the way the UK government is, it was worth it.

I was also delighted to see the DWP skills initiative for low income families being included in the deal, as well as a further £8m to be assigned for further projects over the coming year.

This shows that the work my Conservative colleagues and I are doing to raise the profile of our constituencies and put Scotland at the heart of the UK is paying off, and proves that when the different levels of government in our country work together, it is far more beneficial for our community than constantly trying to divide us.

There are also several projects which I have been working on which did not make it into the final City Deal agreement. However, this does not mean that those conversations now stop. I will continue to work hard over the coming year to ensure that this additional £8m is fully and effectively utilised and I hope to be able to announce more exciting investment developments coming directly from the United Kingdom government to Clackmannanshire in the coming year.

These investments will be focused on generating economic activity, creating sustainable jobs and skills for our county. One such project was geothermal energy – a clean and renewable energy. This is a project I have been championing, so I was pleased to lead a debate on the floor of the House of Commons on ‘Geothermal energy in Clackmannanshire’ just last week.

I used the debate to focus on the impact Westminster investment into Clackmannanshire would have on the local economy. By investing in the geothermal energy opportunities that exist in Clackmannanshire, the UK government would help bring high quality, skilled jobs, into an area which has a higher than average unemployment rate, the third lowest job density in Scotland, and the lowest rating of skilled qualification levels. While these discussions are still ongoing, any funding that I do secure from the UK Government on geothermal energy will be over and above the City Deal funds.

As always, if you have any issues/concerns please contact me at my office on 38 Primrose Street, Alloa or by email –luke.grahamoffice@parliament.uk