BRITISH Chancellor Philip Hammond made no announcement in the budget on a City Deal for Derry.
There had been an expectation that he would announce a deal for the city in a bid to boost the North West region.
The Chancellor told the House of Commons that he had approved a city deal for the Belfast region which will mean £350m of additional funding over 15 years.
But Mr Hammond added that a City Deal for Derry was still in progresss and would now open negotiations with the council.
The bid by Derry City ans Strabane Council had been lodged with the Chancellor later than Belfast City Council’s bid.
Mayor John Boyle tweeted: “Welcome news today by @PhilipHammondUK in his autumn budget that he is opening negotiations for a #CityDeal for #Derry #londonderry & Strabane.
“A city deal will provide us with the mechanism for delivering the objectives set out in our Growth Plan.
Sinn Fein Foyle MP Elisha McCallion tweeted: “British Chancellor announcing that they are in discussions on a City Deal for Derry is some progress but there was absolutely no reason why an announcement on funding and or negotiations for NW could not have been made today as well as Belfast, small step forward but more to go!”
Derry City and Strabane District Council said “significant progress” had been made advancing its city deal proposals following the chancellor’s visit to the city in July.
It said it has had detailed engagement with senior officials from the Northern Ireland Office and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, including a delegation to London in September, where the city deal vision and outline bid proposal was formally submitted.
“This is a detailed document which encompasses all the projects being developed as part of the city deal and which will transform the city region,” the council said.
“The feedback has been very positive and as part of the ongoing engagement, council will submit detailed cases for each of the catalyst projects in November 2018 with a view to quickly securing a formal city deal agreement.”
