A Nottingham MP says the city should not have to compete for 'scraps of money' as a report criticises Government funding programmes for causing 'resentment between communities'. Since 2019, the Conservatives have launched several programmes that involve councils bidding for the Government to fund local projects.
Of all the different schemes, the Levelling Up Fund is the Government's flagship project. In Nottinghamshire, the most recent round of the fund saw the county get £57 million for projects including the transformation of an empty Mansfield shopping centre.
But the Levelling Up Fund has also seen several major projects across the UK being rejected for funding, with the continued redevelopment of Nottingham's Broad Marsh having failed twice to get any support. All three of the city's Labour MPs called for the fund to be structurally changed after Nottinghamshire Live revealed that the city council spent £250,500 putting bids together for the most recent round - all of which failed.
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Now, a report has been published by a cross-party group of MPs who have been reviewing the Government's approach to local funding. The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee is made up of six Conservative MPs and five Labour MPs - one of them being the Nottingham East Labour MP Nadia Whittome - who say that there has been "mismanagement" of funding schemes.
The Levelling Up Fund was introduced as part of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's aim to 'level up' the UK. Broadly, the aim is to boost productivity, improve public services and restore a sense of local pride to areas that have been lagging behind London and the South East.
The report, published on Friday (May 26), says the aim of levelling up is "laudable", but that it is unlikely to be successful as it stands. The MPs say this is because the Government's approach is currently "characterised by one-off short-term initiatives".
Concerns raised by the committee include a lack of rigorous data being used by Government when it is deciding which projects to fund and which ones to reject. The cost of making bids, the competitive nature of the funds and inadequate feedback are also among the concerns raised.
Nadia Whittome said: "This report highlights that short-term levelling up funding is no replacement for the significant cuts to local authorities' budgets in recent years, with Nottingham City Council receiving £100 million less in central government grant funding compared to a decade ago. We need long-term, flexible funding that prioritises local needs.
"Places with high levels of deprivation, like Nottingham, should not have to compete for scraps of money, so the committee's recommendation for those areas most in need of levelling up to be allocated funding is particularly important." In terms of the money Nottinghamshire has received from the Levelling Up Fund, Newark had a project supported during its first round in 2021.
Nottingham also had £18 million allocated for road improvements in the first round, but was unsuccessful in its bids for the Broad Marsh and Island Quarter. The city council then failed to get any bids supported in the fund's second round, which would have benefitted Bulwell's town centre, alongside the Broad Marsh and Island Quarter again.
The second round did see Worksop, Mansfield, Sutton and Kimberley receiving £57 million collectively for a range of projects. But the rejection of Nottingham's Broad Marsh bid for a second time caused anger among local leaders.
This increased in February when the £250,500 cost of Nottingham's failed bids was revealed. Across both rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, Nottinghamshire councils have spent £830,000 on making bids to it.
The cost of applying for funding is one of the key concerns raised in the new report, with the committee writing: "It was made clear by our witnesses that competitive bidding is a resource intensive and costly activity. This can create barriers for stakeholders and communities in need of funding."
In terms of the nature of schemes such as the Levelling Up Fund, the report says: "The nature of competitive bidding can result in resentment between communities and similar neighbouring authorities across the country. Communities and local authorities should be encouraged to work together, and the Government should be mindful of any adverse effects caused by competitive bidding.
"It is important that competitive bidding does not pit communities or local authorities against one another for finite resources." A third round of the Levelling Up Fund is expected this year, with the Government saying it will shortly set out how it will approach it this time.
It was recently revealed that Nottingham City Council has been given £125,000 by the Government to help it in bidding to the Levelling Up Fund in future. In terms of the areas that should be prioritised next time, the report from the MPs says: "Competitive bids for additional funding should in no way be a replacement for the funding that local authorities have historically received and should continue to be allocated.
"We suggest that transparent data collection processes and calling on the support of local government would have prevented the perverse situation of deprived areas... missing out from the first round of funding." Finally, given the number of funding streams operating at the same time, the MPs say the Government needs to "get to grips" with which ones are actually contributing to its aim of levelling up the UK so that progress can be "clearly monitored."
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) says it has allocated nearly £10 billion since 2019 to support around 1,000 projects across the country. The department says it is working to simplify its funding schemes, but says councils are responsible for their own financial management when making bids.
A DLUHC spokesperson said: "Levelling up is a long-term programme of reform that sits at the heart of our ambition as a Government. It is breathing life into long overlooked communities, whether it is record investment in town centres and high streets or devolving more money and power out of Westminster to the regions."
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