Spending Review 'a missed opportunity'

A levelling up fund announced by the Chancellor has been described as too small in scale and ambition to be effective by the North East England Chamber of Commerce.

In his Spending Review, Rishi Sunak said that while the health emergency of coronavirus was coming to an end, the economic emergency was just beginning. However, he made some funding announcements and they included a £4billion “levelling up fund”.

The pot, designed for investment in local infrastructure that is deliverable within this Parliament, will be open to all local areas in England and it will prioritise bids to drive growth and regeneration in places that have received less Government investment in recent years.

However, Jonathan Walker, North East England Chamb e r o f C o m m e rc e p o l ic y director, said: “On the face of it a levelling up fund sounds good, but is far too small in scale and ambition to be effective.

“The Government’s own documents recognise the particular impact Covid-19 has had on northern regions, but we fear £4bn won’t go very far if spread across the country. The lack of targeted funding is disappointing at a time when the Chancellor is at pains to stress how little money there is to go around.

“Our region needs a longterm commitment to address decades of under-investment, rather than short-term fixes which must be delivered during this Parliament.

“In contrast, the reform to the Treasury’s ‘Green Book’ funding rules is something we have long campaigned for and should, if implemented correctly, help to shift the balance of infrastructure spending in the long term.”