Almost all UK councils have not spent total share of levelling-up fund

A woman walks past a ‘levelling-up' poster in Tunstall in Stoke on Trent. Across the UK, 43% of £429m received by councils was not spent. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

A multibillion pound fund designed to boost levelling up and replace crucial EU funding is being left unspent by the vast majority of councils, the Observer can disclose.

The main reasons for a significant underspend in the shared prosperity fund were money being handed over too late to spend, a lengthy and bureaucratic process and a hollowing-out of council expertise.