Regeneration funding across England, announced as part of the Government’s long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, is “very small beer”, Labour MP Lisa Nandy has argued.
The shadow levelling up secretary said the Government’s approach is “downright insulting”, adding that the White Paper “frankly doesn’t appear to be worth the paper that it’s written on”.
Wolverhampton and Sheffield will be the first of 20 areas selected to benefit from a “radical new regeneration programme” launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
The chosen locations will be prioritised for a £1.5 billion Brownfield Fund made available from April 2022.
Pressed on where the money is coming from, the department clarified to the PA news agency that the cash to fund the work was allocated by the Treasury last year.
It is part of a £1.8 billion sum for brownfield regeneration promised by Chancellor Rishi Sunak at the last Budget.
I think there is a profound sense that the Government has really missed the point with the very small beer that they’ve given us this morning. They’ve got to get money back into people’s pockets
Ms Nandy told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: “We welcome the small pots of money that have been announced for 20 places today; that’s a small refund on the amount that we’ve lost since the Prime Minister took office, and I think those 20 places will be glad to have any penny back that they can get, because any penny counts.
“But I think there is a profound sense that the Government has really missed the point with the very small beer that they’ve given us this morning. They’ve got to get money back into people’s pockets.
“Right across this country, town centres are not thriving, high streets are falling apart because not only have we seen good wages, good jobs, depart from many parts of the country over recent decades, it’s been turbo-charged in the last 10 years and right now energy bills are going up, shopping prices are sky high and people are about to face a tax hike.”
Ms Nandy branded the plans “regeneration on the cheap”.
She told Times Radio: “King’s Cross-style regeneration they’re calling it, but King’s Cross cost £3 billion to redevelop, the Government’s stake in it alone was worth more than three times as much as the money that has been allocated to a few parts of the country this morning.
“Essentially what they’re saying is you can do regeneration on the cheap while we (plough) large sums of your money into one very small corner of the country.
“That’s not just missing the point actually, that’s downright insulting to people who have a contribution to make, who have huge ambition for their communities, but are watching their town centres fall apart and their young people have to get out in order to get on.”
The work will be spearheaded by the Government’s housing agency Homes England, which will be “refocused” to deliver on the levelling-up agenda.
The DHLUC said the areas will benefit from developments combining “housing, leisure, and business in sustainable, walkable, beautiful new neighbourhoods”.
At the last Budget in October 2021, Mr Sunak announced an extra £1.8 billion to bring 1,500 hectares of brownfield land into use.
The DLUHC said the newly-available £1.5 billion Brownfield Fund will form part of this allowance.
This huge investment in infrastructure and regeneration will spread opportunity more evenly and help to reverse the geographical inequalities which still exist in the UK
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said earlier: “This huge investment in infrastructure and regeneration will spread opportunity more evenly and help to reverse the geographical inequalities which still exist in the UK.”
A separate £1.5 billion Levelling Up Home Building Fund will also be launched next week.
It will provide loans to small and medium-sized builders and developers to deliver 42,000 homes, with the vast majority going outside London and the South East.
The DHLUC said the cash for this fund was first announced in 2020.
Meanwhile, the department has announced seven Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) which are set to benefit from £120 million of funding “to transform derelict brownfield sites into vibrant places where people want to live and work”.
The seven MCAs – West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Liverpool, South Yorkshire, North of Tyne, and Tees Valley – stand to gain 7,800 homes, the DHLUC said.
The department added that, as with the £1.5 billion Brownfield Fund, this £120 million pot formed part of the £1.8 billion sum pledged by Mr Sunak last year.
