News EditorSolicitors Journal

Committee finds plans to level up the country risk failure due to funding concerns

Committee finds plans to level up the country risk failure due to funding concerns

Substantive funding necessary to support local councils

The House of Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee published its report on funding for levelling up on 26 May, which warns that the government’s aim to level up the country risks failure unless long-term substantive funding is provided to local councils to help them deliver economic growth for their communities.

The Committee’s report, which focuses on the government’s flagship Levelling Up policy, concludes that the policy is complex and challenging and, ultimately, likely to be unsuccessful given the government’s current approach to funding. The report sets out concerns surrounding the funding, delivery, allocation and funding methods, and the competitive bidding processes involved in the allocation of levelling up funds. In addition to this, the report is critical of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which is said to have limited strategic oversight and has failed to coordinate the relevant funds across departments.

Among the recommendations put forward in the report, the Committee recommends that the local authorities that are most in need should be allocated money through revenue to achieve objectives in line with their local circumstances and that the government should change its approach when it comes to funding for levelling up to ensure that local authorities are given the flexibility to use allocated funds in the most effective way possible.

Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, Clive Betts, said: “There is cross-party consensus in tackling the regional and local inequalities that are holding back communities across the country. But the complexity of the levelling up challenges mean they cannot be remedied by the Government’s current approach of one-off short-term initiatives. The Government should heed the lessons of projects such as German reunification which were accompanied by long-term funding and internationally recognised for the benefits delivered in terms of long-term, substantive growth. The levelling up policy requires a long-term and substantive strategy and funding approach, elements this policy currently lacks. Without this shift, Levelling Up risks joining the short-term Government growth initiatives which came before it. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is primarily responsible for delivering levelling up but is currently failing to drive forward the policy across Government. It’s concerning that DLUHC does not even appear to know which pots of money across Government contribute towards levelling up. The lack of strategic oversight from DLUHC of how levelling up is delivered across Whitehall raises doubts about whether the policy can be successfully delivered.”

 

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement
Latest News

Legal job numbers increase but applications decline

Fri Sep 29 2023

BARBRI candidates outperform SRA average by 13%

Fri Sep 29 2023

Justice delayed as thousands of cases wait more than two years to be heard

Thu Sep 28 2023

Solicitors warned over immigration services

Thu Sep 28 2023

New report highlights the transformative effects of domestic abuse training on family lawyers

Wed Sep 27 2023

Asylum seekers stranded on Diego Garcia win challenge against return to Sri Lanka

Wed Sep 27 2023

UN and coalition of NGOs write to Unilever to voice deep concern regarding victims of violence at Unilever tea plantation

Tue Sep 26 2023

Live Facial Recognition: How to Stay Within the Law

Tue Sep 26 2023

Ethics Institute launches taskforce to examine legal services to oligarchs and kleptocrats

Mon Sep 25 2023
FeaturedThe Law Society intervention ensures liberal approach to dealing with concurrent problems on legal aid
The Law Society intervention ensures liberal approach to dealing with concurrent problems on legal aid
Jeanne Kelly elected President of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce
Jeanne Kelly elected President of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce
Families continue to be victims of a broken justice system
Families continue to be victims of a broken justice system
Call for compensation scheme extension to help more abuse survivors
Call for compensation scheme extension to help more abuse survivors
SJ Interview: Hannah Ambrose
SJ Interview: Hannah Ambrose
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?