Millions ‘to start flowing’ into 16 towns in region

Jenrick hails progress on ‘levelling up’

THE Towns Fund deals which will see up to £25m invested in 16 areas of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire will be signed this autumn and winter, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has said.

Mr Jenrick told The Yorkshire Post that Boris Johnson’s government was “starting to make good” on the promises made during last year’s general election campaign to “level up” the country.

And with the region having celebrated Yorkshire Day on Saturday, he said it was time to “look at the opportunities that lie ahead as we begin to move beyond the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic”.

One of the ways he said the Government would be boosting Yorkshire’s prospects was with the £3.6bn Towns Fund, which was announced shortly after Mr Johnson became Prime Minister.

In total, 101 towns across England were chosen to bid for up to £25m from the fund last September, with the amount of money ultimately awarded depending on the strength of investment plans drawn up locally.

The Government says the funding will help local leaders “transform their town’s economic growth prospects with a focus on improved transport, broadband connectivity, skills and culture”.

In Yorkshire, the areas chosen were Brighouse, Castleford, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Goldthorpe,

Goole, Keighley and Shipley, Morley, Rotherham, Scarborough, Stainforth, Stocksbridge, Todmorden, Wakefield and Whitby, plus Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.

But the scheme has come in

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick speaking about the new Towns Fund. for criticism after it emerged a number of areas in marginal seats in the last general election were chosen to take part despite scoring a low rating on criteria set by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

Labour says there “are now serious concerns that Ministers may have allocated funding for political gain” at the election.

One Yorkshire MP who represents a town that missed out on the funding said it showed that “the Tories have been playing political games to help their mates instead”.

Mr Jenrick told The Yorkshire Post that investment of up to £25m in each of the successful towns was designed “to boost confidence, and to begin the rebuilding of the economy postcovid”.

“I expect to be signing those deals with each of those 16 communities this autumn and winter so that money can start flowing into those towns,” he added.

The Cabinet Minister said other government policies benefiting Yorkshire included the £400m fund aimed at creating more homes on brownfield land, £67m of which is going to West Yorkshire because of the mayoral devolution deal signed earlier this year.

He said this would “fund enabling housing sites to be unlocked in the months and years ahead, rather than building on some of the beautiful green belt and greenfield land that surrounds cities like Leeds”.

I expect to be signing those deals this autumn and winter.