“Streamlining the long list of local funding pots, reducing the need for costly funding competitions and allocating funds based on evidence of where crucial investment needs to go, has been a long-held ask of local government and the LGA.”
Responding to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove’s speech to the LGA Annual Conference, announcing a plan to reform and streamline the local funding system to make it easier for councils to navigate, Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chair of the Local Government Association’s People and Places Board, said:
“Making it easier to access vital funding is a valued move by government, which will boost levelling up and help reinvigorate our communities.
“Streamlining the long list of local funding pots, reducing the need for costly funding competitions and allocating funds based on evidence of where crucial investment needs to go, has been a long-held ask of local government and the LGA.
“Extra flexibilities on how councils can use their existing funding will also help them with rising inflation when it comes to delivering regeneration projects in their areas.
“We are keen to see this new approach to local funding replicated across Whitehall and support efforts to see all government departments take this step change, while also looking forward to helping shape the next round of the Levelling Up Fund.
“It is good to see pilot local authorities for the new funding approach and this needs to be rolled out quickly, if we are to realise the benefits of joined-up funding made available to every part of the country.”
