Costal town with people walking, seagulls flying, and businesses open along the shorefront
Costal town with people walking, seagulls flying, and businesses open along the shorefront

New University of West London report argues levelling up funding is Boris Johnson’s legacy

Three of the UK's most deprived areas - Hastings, Middlesbrough and Rochdale – received nothing

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UWL’s Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up (CEILUP) has launched a new report this week looking at how the government has distributed its flagship Levelling Up Fund.

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Last month saw the government distribute the final round of levelling up funding, bringing its total investment in spreading opportunity more equally across the UK to £4.8bn. The report, "Funding levelling up – who did well and who missed out?", follows on from CEILUP’s earlier work looking at the first two rounds of funding.

The new report argues that the money has been distributed in a way that is consistent with ex-prime minister Boris Johnson’s vision of levelling up, which he laid out after winning the 2019 general election.

Johnson saw it as a way of redressing the balance between the North and South of England through physical regeneration projects in towns and cities in the North.

A poorer residential area showing rows of terraced housing.

Key findings:

  • The majority of the most deprived areas in the country did receive some funding, but three of the 20 most deprived received nothing: Hastings, Middlesbrough and Rochdale
  • Nearly 70% of the money has been invested in regeneration projects such as leisure centres and libraries, building new town centre retail and business space, etc
  • Over 60% of the projects are less than £20m in value and over 90% less than £30m
  • While the money was focused in the North, some did make its way down south and 46% of local authorities in England received some levelling up funding

By focusing on physical building projects in the North, the Levelling Up Fund reflects both the ex-prime minister’s fondness for building things and the original focus of levelling up as being to support areas of the North that have been left behind. But by also trying to give money to enough areas so no-one feels totally left out, it also reflects Johnson’s desire to please everyone while also prioritising some.

As lead author of the report Professor Graeme Atherton, Head of the Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up at UWL, states:

The Levelling Up Fund has supported a wide range of projects that will give a welcome regeneration boost to many areas that need it. But there are some areas missed out who shouldn’t be and we need to monitor progress in how the monies allocated are now being used."

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