After being delayed by months of Tory chaos, the second phase of levelling up funding has finally been announced.
Cash-strapped councils whose bids were successful will be rightly pleased.
I’m delighted that my own council, Telford and Wrekin, was awarded £20 million to improve culture and higher education, through a remodel of our Place Theatre and a new digital skills hub.
But many other councils, of all political control, were left empty-handed.
Is pitting councils against each other to compete for short-term pots of money really the way to reduce regional inequality?
This ‘Hunger Games’-style system, which returns one-off funding of just £2.8 billion – a fraction of the £15 billion cut from council budgets every year –ensures that someone always loses.
Do the Conservatives really expect us to be grateful for this partial refund on the money they have stripped from our communities?
“The distribution of levelling-up funding should be led by evidence of where crucial investment is needed”
Questions have also been raised about fairness, with compelling need across towns, counties, boroughs and cities alike rejected, but cabinet ministers’ communities winning the day.
The distribution of levelling-up funding should be led by evidence of where crucial investment is needed, rather than a system whereby ministers play judge and jury.
From West Midlands Mayor Andy Street to Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy and council leaders from across the sector, we all agree this cannot continue.
The Labour Party offers a clear alternative to this ‘sticking plaster’ politics.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer’s ‘Take back control’ bill would allow town halls to make decisions for themselves.
Councils would no longer be forced to go cap in hand to Whitehall, but would instead be given the tools, resources and backing to develop long-term, local growth plans.
Labour recognises that those in local government know best the powers they need to harness the skills in their area to drive growth, and is committed to the biggest ever transfer of power out of Westminster.
The current system is broken, and we need a Labour government to fix it!
