Salford is considered less in need of ‘levelling up’ than all other Greater Manchester boroughs - despite being one of the most deprived areas in the country.
The city is listed in category 2 on the Levelling Up Fund Index of Priority Places for the second round funding. All other boroughs in the region are classed in category 1 - first in line for funding and most in need of levelling up.
Worsley & Eccles South MP Barbara Keeley says the ‘lack of central support’ from the government for a city where constituents are having to choose between heating or eating is ‘appalling’. “In not prioritising Salford, Conservative Ministers are showing that they do not care about the people here and are only interested in making sure the areas they favour get better funding opportunities,” she says.
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While Salford and Eccles MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, called for the city’s status to be upgraded ‘urgently’ as she says much of Salford is in ‘desperate need’ of regeneration. “That Salford is the only Greater Manchester area not awarded levelling up category 1 priority is fundamentally wrong,” she says.
But the government says the system used to calculate the Index is ‘fair, robust and transparent’. They say the focus is on productivity, unemployment, skills, transport and commercial and dwelling vacancy rates when working out priority.
The government last week updated its list of areas in category 1 - considered most in need of levelling up and first in line for funding.
A few places, like Chorley, Wirral, Kirklees and Allerdale and Copeland, have been upgraded to category 1. Rishi Sunak’s constituency Richmondshire, in Yorkshire, is also in that category.
Salford however remains category 2 and is the only place in Greater Manchester that is not in the top category. That’s despite the area being the 18th most deprived local authority area in England, according to the most recent data for Indices of Multiple Deprivation. It’s also the third most deprived in Greater Manchester.
Mrs Keeley, says some families in Worsley and Eccles South have no food and are having to choose between heating or eating.
“It is shameful that the Government is forcing people into these conditions,” she says. “Conservative Ministers cannot talk of ‘levelling up’ when this crisis is happening on their watch in one of the most deprived areas in the country and take no action to change it.”
The veteran MP has accused the government of playing pork barrel politics. “It is wrong that Salford has not been deemed a priority for Government funding in their “levelling up” plans,” she says. “The Government's levelling up fund has been widely described as “pork barrel” politics, prioritising funding for relatively affluent areas with Conservative MPs while leaving areas like Salford behind.
“According to the Government’s 2019 Index of Multiple Level of Deprivation, Salford is classified as the 18th most deprived Local Authority in England with 30 percent of our population living in areas classified as highly deprived.
“Between 2010/11 to 2021/22 Salford City Council has had £232 million reductions in budgets as a result of cuts to the government grant and unfunded budget pressures, with an overall reduction in core funding from central government of 53%.”
Speaking about the impact the index priorities will have she added: “As Salford has not been placed in the priority category 1, this means the local authority does not get funding to pay for capacity to develop a bid. With the severe cuts to budgets since 2010, Salford City Council do not have extra staff needed to dedicate time to the complex drafting of bids to the scheme and this lack of central support from government is appalling.
“If the Government is serious about levelling up, it should be investing across the country. In not prioritising Salford, Conservative Ministers are showing that they do not care about the people here and are only interested in making sure the areas they favour get better funding opportunities.”
Salford and Eccles MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, also cited deprivation in the city.
She said: "Salford is the 18th most deprived local authority area in England and remains the third most deprived district in the Greater Manchester city region, with many areas in desperate need of urgent regeneration, transport connectivity, economic recovery and growth.
“That Salford is the only Greater Manchester area not awarded levelling up category 1 priority is fundamentally wrong and the Government must change Salford's levelling up status urgently."
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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities pointed to £6m funding awarded to Salford for early infrastructure works at Port Salford. It also stated that the Index has been updated for round 2 and no council has been allowed to move down to a lower category.
A spokesperson for the department said: “The metrics used to calculate the Levelling Up Fund Index is fair, robust and transparent and are published online. They fully consider the objectives of the fund, which are to invest in local transport, regeneration and growth to level up areas which need it the most.
“Salford has received £13.17 million from our Levelling Up Fund so far to help drive regeneration and boost the local economy. There will be further funding opportunities for Salford through the second round of the fund which will open shortly.”
