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LocalGov.co.uk - Your authority on UK local government - Levelling up too focused on infrastructure, claims report localgov.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from localgov.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
'You can't level up everywhere', says Sigoma report | Local Government Chronicle (LGC) lgcplus.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lgcplus.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The government has finally published the prioritisation methodology for its £4.8bn levelling up fund, prompting protest from many who suspect it is designed to favour areas that are electorally important to the Conservative party. Experts and politicians have criticised the methodology for not incorporating social deprivation measures and giving a large weight to factors more common in rural areas. Since its announcement in the recent Budget, the fund has been heavily criticised for the way areas have been prioritised, with relatively affluent places such as chancellor Rishi Sunak’s constituency of Richmond given a higher priority than more deprived urban areas such as Barnsley, Hackney and Sheffield. LGC analysis found that three quarters of areas given the top priority have at least one Conservative MP. ....
Concerns have been raised that political considerations lie behind the selection of some areas that will receive new government support following yesterday s Budget. Leaders and chiefs in deprived areas that have been pushed towards the back of the queue for support under the new levelling up fund have expressed disbelief at their exclusion. Meanwhile it has emerged that almost 90% - 40 out of 45 - of the latest recipients of the towns fund which were announced yesterday have at least one Tory MP. Graeme McDonald, managing director of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers, tweeted: “Feeling hugely uncomfortable about the allocations from the Town Fund. Hope it receives and is able to stand up to the level of scrutiny it deserves.” ....
Councils were facing a Covid-driven funding gap of more than £2bn in 2020-21 even before the latest lockdown led to a further soaring service demand, LGC has learned, as expectation mounts that the gap between government funding and the cost pressures authorities are facing is widening again. Analysis of the sector’s latest financial returns to the government by the Local Government Association found total in-year Covid pressure projected by councils was around £9.7bn, made up of £6.9bn of cost pressures and £2.8bn of non-tax income losses. After taking account of additional funding provided by ministers, including via clinical commissioning groups for social care and an estimated £1bn from the sales, fees and charges compensation scheme, the LGA estimated the gap this year is almost £2.3bn. ....