Earlier this week the UK Government announced a list of eleven projects in Wales that had qualified for £208m from its Levelling Up Fund. As would be expected with only half of the local authorities in Wales receiving this funding, the decisions were seen as controversial to say the least.
Some have argued that headlines such as “new cycle routes and historic monuments will benefit from a multi-million pound Levelling-Up boost” suggest that it is difficult to envisage how the majority of the projects will make a real difference to the Welsh economy going forward.
Yes, all the projects are worthy in their own ways, and one cannot blame local authorities for putting forward projects they believed could win under the narrow criteria set for the fund.
