Secretary of State for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities
(): I am delighted to announce
that £1 billion will be allocated to 55 projects as part of the
third round of our flagship Levelling Up Fund.
Listening to feedback from parliamentarians and local government,
including in relation to the first two rounds of this fund, we
decided not to run an additional competition. We received 529
bids in round 2, of which 111 were awarded funding at the time,
with a further 19 projects funded separately at Spring Budget.
For round 3, we have drawn on this impressive pool of existing
bids which we were not able to fund earlier in the year but were
assessed as high-quality and ready-to-deliver. We will work
closely with local authorities to ensure that the projects
allocated funding can make a difference to communities as quickly
as possible.
We have targeted funding at the places most in need across Great
Britain, as assessed through our Levelling Up Needs metrics,
which take into account skills, pay, productivity and health. We
have also taken care to ensure that every part of Great Britain
benefits from this round of funding, from Bolton to Elgin, and
Newcastle to Rhyl.
Since 2021, the Levelling Up Fund has played an important role in
driving prosperity and pride in place in communities across the
country. Across the first two rounds of the Fund, £3.8 billion
has been awarded to 216 projects which are well underway. The
Levelling Up Fund also continues to play a key role in helping to
reduce geographical disparities across the United Kingdom. Over
the lifetime of the Fund, we have exceeded our original
commitment of awarding £800 million to Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland.
To this end, the third round of the Fund will see £122 million
awarded to six projects in Scotland, such as £14 million to
improve Dumfries and Galloway transport and £15 million to
regenerate Drumchapel Town Centre in Glasgow. In Wales, we have
awarded a further £111 million to seven projects, including £20
million to regenerate Barry town centre and £27 million to Neath
Port Talbot across two projects. In England, Yorkshire and Humber
and the North West will receive the most funding per head, with
exciting projects like the £48 million upgrade to the Penistone
Rail Line in West Yorkshire, and the £20 million Town Centre
Improvements and Civic Square Development project in Chorley,
receiving funding in this round.
In Northern Ireland, given the current absence of a working
Executive and Assembly, the Government is not proceeding with
this round of the Levelling Up Fund at this time. We will
continue to work closely with projects and places in Northern
Ireland that were awarded a total of £120 million in the first
two rounds of the Fund.
A full methodology note has been published for the third round of
the Fund and we have notified all relevant local authorities of
their awards. I will place a copy of the methodology note in the
House library.
