Bid shelved after levelling up ministers resigned
A MULTI-MILLION-POUND bid for funding by Halton Borough Council has been postponed due to the chaos engulfing Downing Street.
An extraordinary 48 hours witnessed a flurry of resignations in the Government’s top tier positions, including at the Department for Levelling up Housing and Communities, which was tasked with distributing cash and resources to northern areas as part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The man at the helm of the department, Michael Gove, was sacked by Boris Johnson on Wednesday night after calling on the PM to quit, with Downing Street insiders later branding Mr Gove a “snake”.
Housing minister Stuart
Andrew had resigned earlier in the afternoon, followed by Parliamentary Private Secretary Danny Kruger.
Boris Johnson himself resigned the following day.
Halton Council had been poised to submitted a £11.4m bid to the Govermment’s levelling up fund, but that has now had to be put on ice.
Cllr Mike Wharton, Halton Borough Council leader, said: “The Government is in disarray and that impacts Halton.
“Ministers responsible for levelling up have now resigned, and the desire of Halton Council this week to make an £11.4m fund application to the Levelling Up Fund have been delayed, with the deadline now being extended for bids.”
He added: “Throughout
Johnson’s time we have continued to see an overall reduction in the core grant to Halton Council, reducing our ability to provide services to our residents and I can but hope that the next leader will reverse this culture of forcing us to make budget savings.”
The Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill had been due to be discussed in a meeting in Parliament, but that too was postponed.
Cllr Wharton welcomed the decision of the Prime Minister to step down, but said it should have happened a “long time ago” as his behaviour had “fallen short” of what people should expect from his office.
He added: “I think this has been demonstrated repeatedly over the last few years to the point he became the first serving Prime Minister to be convicted of an offence whilst in office.
“At the same time I know so many Halton residents obeyed the rules and were separated from their loved ones during the lockdown, and it was appalling that he partied whilst local people in Halton were unable to visit relatives in care homes or enjoy family life.
“It reflects poorly on the Conservative Government that has had to implode in order to get him out of Downing Street.
“Conservative MPs had an earlier opportunity in a no confidence vote to remove him and they failed the country by not doing so.”
Halton spans the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, and some surrounding villages.