The second round of the Government’s Levelling Up fund will soon close with borough across the region vying for a slice of the £4.8billion pot.
The deadline for applications was scheduled for July 6, but there has since been delays with setting up the online portal for submissions, which was set to go live on May 31. It is now expected there will be a two week extension for applications to be submitted.
The scheme was introduced by the Government on the back of one of its 2019 campaign pledges to reduce the level of disparity between areas across the country. Local authorities, which are ranked in terms of priority, can bid for funding for projects such as supporting town centre and high street regeneration, local transport projects, and cultural and heritage assets.
READ MORE: Two Merseyside towns and two different levelling up realities
The first round saw roughly £20m awarded to both Liverpool Council and Wirral Council for two projects focussed on either side of the Mersey waterfront. A portion of the funds awarded to Liverpool are to go towards the businesses case for what was initially billed a new ‘Beatles museum’, later adapted to an arts and culture centre with the working title of ‘The Pool'.
However there was frustration as Knowsley, an area seen as the highest priority for investment, was overlooked in its bid centred on the regeneration of Huyton Village centre. Sefton, which is seen as the lowest priority, also didn’t receive backing from the first round of the fund.
The decision from the first round led Knowsley council leader, Cllr Graham Morgan, to label the fund as a “beauty contest” and questioned whether levelling up was merely a “political slogan” given areas with less priority receiving funding.
However, Knowsley will be submitting three new bids in the second round of the fund, one of which will hope to further Huyton’s regeneration through £20m worth of development. Other Knowsley bids will focus on Halewood, with a joint bid with St Helens focused on Prescot.
While Sefton saw its bids rejected in the first round of the levelling up fund, the ECHO understands preparations have been in the works to submit new bids for the second round. It is understood that these bids will be focussed on Bootle and the south of the borough.
However, when speaking to the ECHO earlier this year, council leader, Cllr Ian Maher, outlined his frustration at Sefton remaining category three for funding, an area seen as the lowest priority. While areas like Wirral were moved to the highest priority alongside Liverpool and Knowsley, Sefton remained listed as low priority alongside areas such as Windsor and Cambridge.
Having been successful in the first round, Liverpool Council has confirmed it will be submitting a number of bids for the second round of the fund. While Knowsley has made its plans public, a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said the authority “will await their outcome before commenting on the detail”.
Similarly Wirral Council, having secured nearly £20m in the first round of funding, can be expected to submit bits for the second round of the fund. The authority would however not provide details on how many or what it will be bidding for, with a spokesperson stating that “Wirral Council will look at every opportunity to bring in investment and grants for the benefit of the communities across the borough”.
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