Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy today hits out at the Tories for only handing back £1 for every £4 they have taken from local communities.
Rishi Sunak announced £2.1billion of levelling up funding last week to much fanfare but received a furious backlash from local authorities which did not get any.
And he ended up with a £100 fine for not wearing a seat belt while out and about trumpeting his generosity.
Although the North East has got more money per head of population London and the South East received more overall provoking more anger.
And according to Labour, the PM’s own Yorkshire constituency snaffled £19million of the money.
Writing in the Mirror, Ms Nandy says: “It takes extraordinary arrogance for Tory Ministers to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have taken from us.”
Of 151 local authority areas, 143 of them are still worse off than they were in 2018 despite the extra money.
And Ms Nandy says councils have had to waste £8.4million putting applications in which have been rejected.
She added: “Labour will end this absurd process and undertake the biggest ever transfer of power out of Westminster.”
'Hard-pressed councils spent £8.4m preparing applications which ministers chucked straight in the bin'
By Lisa Nandy, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary
“Crackers”, “flawed” and “a begging bowl culture” – that’s just the way Tory Mayors and civil servants describe the Government’s chaotic levelling up programme three years after the general election.
Even if it was no more than a slogan, for many people ‘levelling up’ spoke to a sense that for too long large parts of our country have been written off and written out of our national story.
Places that were the engines of British industry have been denied the backing to make that contribution again despite having no shortage of ambition.
But three years on, regional inequality is widening, the cost-of-living crisis is widespread and the Levelling Up Fund has been beset by allegations of cronyism.
Only 5% of the money promised fifteen months ago has been handed over.
And communities across the UK are paying a high Tory premium for the last 13 years.
New analysis shows that of 151 council areas in England, all bar eight are worse off – even after receiving Levelling Up funding – by an average of £66 million.
It takes extraordinary arrogance for Tory Ministers to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have taken from us, which has cost us decent buses, childcare and public services.
It is time to end this Hunger Games-style contest that pits communities against each other while arrogant Whitehall ministers pick winners and losers.
In this round of bidding alone, hard-pressed councils were forced to spend £8.4m preparing applications which ministers chucked straight in the bin.
That’s why Labour has said we will end this absurd process and undertake the biggest ever transfer of power out of Westminster.
Our Take Back Control Act will hand local leaders the tools to invest in the people, infrastructure and assets in their communities so we can drive growth everywhere and deliver on people’s priorities.
This week it was reported the Tories want to replace their election slogan. Call it levelling up, stepping up or gauging up - in reality, time is up for this failed, arrogant Tory programme. It’s time to hand real power to our regions and build a country that works again.
