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Some of England’s most deprived areas missed out on regeneration fund, government watchdog finds
Left-behind areas in England have missed out on access to £3.6bn of regeneration funding due to inconsistencies in the selection process, according to a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO).
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) selected 101 towns that were invited to apply for the £3.6bn Towns Fund by outlining a plan to increase investment in areas such as regeneration, improved transport, skills and culture.
MHCLG ranked 1,082 towns across England against a range of criteria and published a list of selected towns in September 2019 but did not publish the basis on which they were selected.
The NAO report, released today, found that in some cases low-priority towns, such as Cheadle in the North West, were selected but the reasons given by ministers did not match the criteria used by officials to score the towns.
Additionally, officials suggested that ministers should consider ruling out places which were in principle eligible to benefit from City Deals, but the largest towns with City Deals were not ruled out of the selection process.
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Among possible uses for the funding was demolition and redevelopment of dilapidated buildings.
Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said the report showed that some of the most deprived towns will be left behind “once again”.
She added: “Nine out of 10 towns were ruled out with no explanation before they even reached the competition’s starting line, while some relatively affluent towns are still in the running.
“Ministers relied on flimsy, cherry-picked evidence to choose the lucky towns. Those that lost out have not yet had the chance to make their case.”
The findings have sparked anger from the Labour Party, which has suggested the allocations were made for political gain.
Steve Reed, shadow communities and local government secretary, said on Twitter: “Robert Jenrick must explain how decisions were taken about this £3.6bn funding and publish the advice he received from officials – this is public money not Tory Party election funds.”
A spokesperson for MHCLG said: “It is completely untrue to suggest that nine out of 10 towns were ruled out with no explanation. This claim completely ignores the NAO’s detailed report, which shows that the government put in place a robust process to identify towns for Town Deals.
“There were many factors to consider in the selection of towns and inevitably some will feel disappointed, but we are confident the process we took was comprehensive, robust and fair. We will deliver on our commitment to level up this country.”
Update at 15:40 21/07/20: The story was updated to include a government response.
