A new report by the Local Government Association (LGA) has called for the competitive bidding system for individual funding pots to be replaced to help achieve levelling up in the UK.
The Levelling Up Locally Inquiry report highlighted the need for a “step change” in devolution, with greater powers and resources transferred to a local leaders as well as to end Whitehall funding competitions.
It stated that councils and combined authorities’ roles in promoting economic growth and prosperity should also be formally recognised, which should include being able to fairly keep and reinvest the proceeds of local growth according to local need.
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Kevin Bentley, chairman of the LGA’s People and Places Board, said: “Levelling up should be locally led and, as our report highlights, we need a step change in devolution if we are to bridge the gap between the government’s priorities and what needs to happen on the ground in our communities.
The report also suggested that single budgets should be rolled out under the leadership of local government, and local leaders should be given a formal role to help shape and accelerate delivery of the levelling up agenda.
Following the publication of the report, the LGA has called for the next round of the Levelling Up Fund to be allocated based on evidence of need, rather than bids between areas.
“Extra investment into our local areas has the potential to transform people’s lives and livelihoods and this needs to be accompanied by greater powers for councils, with the support of national and local partners, without needing to negotiate funding competitions,” Bentley added.
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