The UK Government has launched a new £1.6 bn Stronger Towns Fund. The fund, which was announced yesterday, will be targeted at places ‘that have not shared in the proceeds of growth in the same way as more prosperous parts of the country’. Opposition parties say the new fund amounts to little more than a ‘Brexit bung’.
The Stronger Towns Fund will be used to create new jobs, help train local people and boost economic activity – with communities having a say on how the money is spent.
To be launched this year, the fund is part of the Westminster government’s ‘commitment to build a more prosperous economy that works for everyone’.
A total of £1 billion will be allocated using a needs-based formula. More than half this share (£583 million) will go to towns across the North with a further £322 million allocated to communities in the Midlands. Communities will be able to draw up job-boosting plans for their town, with the support and advice of their Local Enterprise Partnerships. Cynics have pointed out that many of these areas supported Leave in the EU Referendum
Another £600 million will be available through a bidding process to communities in any part of the country.
Local communities will be encouraged to come together to draw up proposals to restore pride and create new jobs in their area.
The government will also seek to ensure towns across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the new funding.
This will build on the success of the government’s City and Growth Deals initiatives.
Announcing the Stronger Towns Fund, Prime Minister Theresa May said: “For too long in our country prosperity has been unfairly spread. Our economy has worked well for some places but we want it to work for all communities.
“Communities across the country voted for Brexit as an expression of their desire to see change – that must be a change for the better, with more opportunity and greater control.
“These towns have a glorious heritage, huge potential and, with the right help, a bright future ahead of them.”
Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said: “We have listened to people who are concerned by momentous changes to their communities and I am determined to provide the support they need to create a more prosperous future beyond Brexit.
“This major new fund builds on more than £9 billion in City and Growth Deals we have delivered since 2010 to help hard working people reach their full potential and to build an economy that works for everyone.
“I look forward to working closely with local leaders to take forward their encouraging proposals and to hear what more they propose to bring benefits to their communities.”
John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, said the fund “smacks of desperation from a government reduced to bribing MPs to vote for their damaging flagship Brexit legislation”, while the SNP called the initiative a ‘grubby Brexit bung’. SNP’s Westminster Economy spokesperson Kirsty Blackman urged Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell to ensure Scotland receives a comparable share of a £140 million budget increase being handed to Northern Ireland.
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