Levelling up has been one of the biggest focuses for local authorities recently, but according to the Labour Party, central government has spent less than 10% of the funding that it has committed to levelling up, reports Public Sector Executive.
image: for illustration only – Open Government Licence v3.0
… only 8% of… funds out of the door…
Public Sector Executive writes:
… The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund was established by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities at the 2020 Spending Review, with the first round opening in March 2021. The first round of the funding saw £1.7 billion allocated to 105 projects around the UK, whilst the second round increased investment to see £2.1 billion allocated to 111 projects.
Whilst this would leave £1 billion of funding leftover for a third round, it was raised in the House of Commons yesterday that, despite allocating the majority of the contents of the Levelling Up Fund, only 8% has been spent.… Lisa Nandy MP challenged the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the funding. She said: “I have a document here that, even on his flagship levelling up policy, he has been able to get only 8% of… funds out of the door. He is good at getting press releases out the door – why not our money?”
Eight percent equates to only £392 million of spending being released for community projects around the country, a considerable difference to the amount of funding that the country would require to achieve its goals and, ultimately, inhibiting communities that have been allocated funding from being able to make a difference as quickly as they may like.
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