The Government’s levelling-up policy has significant flaws and is unlikely to achieve its objectives for regions like the North East without a significant shift in approach, MPs have said.
A damning report by the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee found funding for short-term initiatives and a lack of transparency on allocations created barriers to progress in addressing regional economic inequality. Two of the politicians hoping to be North East mayor have criticised the levelling up project, saying the new report shows shortcomings in the Government’s approach to boosting the North East economy.
The committee found that the absence of the “substantive” long-term funding necessary to help councils deliver economic growth threatens to condemn levelling up to “failure”. Highlighting how council budgets have faced a 56% reduction in revenue grant funding between 2010 and 2020, the committee highlighted that the focus of levelling-up funding on short-term capital projects meant councils lacked the capacity to invest in local priorities.
