The communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced today a new £1.6bn Stronger Towns Fund for England aimed at creating employment, increasing training and skills and boosting growth.
£1bn of the new money will be allocated on a needs-based formula, with the remaining £600m available through a competitive process.
The formula for the needs-based allocation targets funding towards areas with economies performing less well than the English average, where incomes are lower, and where there is a low level of skills.
These coincide with Labour strongholds, many of which voted Leave in the referendum, and whose MPs’ backing prime minister Theresa May is seeking ahead of the vote on her revised Brexit deal.
The North West with £281m, the West Midlands with £212m, and Yorkshire and the Humber with £197m are the biggest gainers.
There was no money for London, and the East of England has to make to do with £25m.
