Tories spent only a quarter of money allocated to levelling up

Michael Gove gives a speech on levelling up at the Scottish Conservative conference in March. Photograph: Duncan Bryceland/Rex/Shutterstock

The Conservatives spent only a quarter of the money they allocated to levelling up, according to freedom of information requests that underline how Michael Gove’s flagship regional spending scheme failed to live up to expectations.

The previous government allocated £10.6bn to the three main schemes under the levelling up programme, which provided funding for regeneration projects as diverse as leisure centres and local transport networks.