CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has announced £1 billion in funding for 45 towns across the UK as he vowed to ‘level up’ the country.
Around half the Budget funding will go to areas in the north of England, many in so-called ‘red wall’ seats taken by the Tories at the last election.
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Announcing the funding, Mr Sunak told MPs today: “Redrawing our economic map means rebalancing our economic investment.
“I am announcing today over £1 billion for 45 new towns deals, from Castleford to Clay Cross, from Rochdale to Rowley Regis and Whitby to Wolverhampton.”
The Towns Fund was initially launched in 2019 to invest £3.6bn into 100 towns as part of the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda to help economic growth in struggling areas.
Funding is provided to local councils to spend on cultural and infrastructure projects.
The extension of the scheme came as the Chancellor announced the Treasury will move employees to a new economic campus in Darlington, Co Durham.
He said: “Our future economy demands a different economic geography… that starts with the institutions of economic power.
“We will establish a new economic campus in Darlington.”
45 towns to receive £1bn funding
A TOTAL of 45 places will receive a share of the funding, with the majority in the north of England.
North East – Middlesbrough, Thornaby-On-Tees
North West – Preston, Workington, Bolton, Cheadle, Carlisle, Leyland, Southport, Staveley, Rochdale
Yorkshire and the Humber – Wakefield, Whitby, Scarborough, Grimsby, Castleford, Goldthorpe, Scunthorpe, Morley, Stocksbridge
East Midlands – Newark, Clay Cross, Skegness, Mablethorpe, Boston, Lincoln, Northampton, Mansfield
West Midlands – Wolverhampton, Kidsgrove, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, West Bromwich, Burton-on-Trent, Nuneaton
East of England – Lowestoft, Colchester, Stevenage, Great Yarmouth, Ipswich, Milton Keynes
South East – Crawley, Margate
South West – Swindon, Bournemouth
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Mr Sunak, unveiling only his second Budget since being appointed Chancellor last year, said he would extend a range of measures including an extension of furlough, stamp duty cuts and more to get the nation back on its feet.
He promised to help struggling Brits with “more support to get people through to the other side of the crisis”.
He told the House of Commons: “Much has changed. But one thing has stayed the same. I said I would do whatever it takes; I have done; and I will do.”
Earlier today the Chancellor addressed Cabinet alongside the PM, saying that “the coronavirus pandemic has hit our economy hard”.
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But he admitted that he was “optimistic about our recovery” and promised that the Budget today would “begin the work of building our future economy”.
Yet he stressed the nation must not forget how much cash has been borrowed “on an extraordinary scale – equivalent only to wartime levels”.
He insisted: “As a Conservative Government, we know that we cannot ignore this problem and it wouldn’t be right or responsible to do so.
“We will rise to that challenge”.
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He added however, that “repairing long term damage will take time”.
Mr Sunak also warned today that the time to get the nation’s books in order is rapidly approaching.
Only once the economy is on a better footing will he start his plans to fix the public finances in earnest.
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