Local councils call for direct access to levelling up funding

Local councils are calling for direct access to levelling up funding, as they say many areas are not receiving the right support through the current bidding process. 

The National Association of Local Councils (NACL), representing 10,000 local councils, responded to a Levelling Up, Housing and Communities inquiry, stating that they should be given the same access to funding as principal authorities.  

The NACL also highlighted the current system for assessing deprivation which they say often misses the poorest communities in many parished areas.  

‘The English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) does not reveal all pockets of deprivation that exist,’ reads the NACL’s response to the inquiry. ‘This is particularly the case for towns within larger unitary authority areas (e.g. Weymouth in Dorset). Most funding appears to be directed at urban areas, yet rural and coastal poverty exists too.’  

Smaller local councils are said to struggle with applying to levelling up funds due to limited resources and application timescales which are too short.   

Additionally, the NACL said political differences between a local council and principal authority could mean that some funding is withheld to certain areas. 

Costs to prepare for a funding bid can also be too expensive, even for larger authorities with experienced bid writers.  

The NACL says allowing direct funding to individual towns and villages would help to ‘identify problems at a local level’ and address the needs of each area.  

Levelling up has been a key political slogan for the Conservative government, but there are doubts as to how effective the policy has been.  

In July, the Institute for Public Policy Research analysed public spending data across the UK and found spending in the north is lower than average. 

Photo by Lāsma Artmane