The North East has been the biggest loser from a key Government levelling up fund, new research suggests.
Analysis of the Community Renewal Fund by academics from Health Equity North (HEN), the University of Manchester and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) found that the North missed out on funding by £21m, with more than £13m of that shortfall being seen in the North East.
The Community Renewal Fund provided grants for councils and other bodies to prepare programmes for the wider UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Government’s replacement for European funding. Allocations from the fund were supposed to be based on measures of economic resilience so that funding went to places most in need.
Read more: people in North leading harder and shorter lives, study finds
But the study’s authors argue that funding allocations did not match those areas of greatest need, with the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber all receiving less than they should have, while areas in the south and the Midlands received more than expected.
Report co-author Dr Luke Munford said: “There are deep-rooted, persistent regional inequalities in health and wealth across England. People in the North live shorter lives and have higher rates of bad health, disability and economic inactivity. These inequalities have widened during recent decades and will continue to do so without effective policies put in place by government.
“While investment like the Community Renewal Fund is very welcome, the methodology for distribution of the funding doesn’t add up and has the potential to further widen the North-South divide. Despite committing to targeting people and places most in need, our research shows the imbalance that remains when it comes to investing in areas that face worse inequalities.”
A total of 12 schemes in the North of Tyne, County Durham, Gateshead and Sunderland received funding from the scheme, including a £550,000 project to revive Riverside Park and an area around the Dunston Staithes in Gateshead. But 29 schemes from the region were turned down, and the Health Equity North study estimates that the region’s £7.7m allocation was £13.4m less than it should have been.
The Community Renewal Fund is not the first levelling up fund to come in for criticism. A number of organisations, including IPPR North and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, have hit at the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for not meeting the Government’s manifesto commitment to replace lost EU funds for areas like the North East.
A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “The UK Community Renewal Fund helped communities in every corner of the UK unleash their potential and instil pride, in preparation of taking full advantage of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) – which will provide over £2.6bn for local investment by March 2025. The UKSPF is a central pillar of our Levelling Up agenda to radically transform the United Kingdom and reverse this country’s regional inequalities.
“With funds allocated across the country, the UKSPF empowers communities to identify and build on their own strengths and needs at a local level. The UKSPF will positively transform overlooked communities in the North of England by providing funding to those who know their places best.”
