NEW Levelling-Up-style funding for Scottish towns would have a "greater impact" if invested through the Scottish Government, a spokesperson has said.
While the Scottish Government has welcomed the funding, the package is deemed politically contentious because the funding goes over the head of the devolved governments, which is meant to allocate funding for local councils.
The cash, up to £20 million for 10 Scottish towns, will be spent on regenerating high streets, parks and other cornerstones of local communities.
The scheme follows on from the long-term plan for towns under Rishi Sunak’s government, which had similarly pledged funding for the same areas across Britain and Northern Ireland.
Under the “plan for neighbourhoods”, the selected areas will all be handed up to £20 million each and will have a local board set up – comprised of residents, businesses and campaigners – who will get to decide how money is used, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Scottish towns which will get the money are:
- Arbroath
- Elgin
- Orkney Islands
- Peterhead
- Dumfries
- Irvine
- Kilmarnock
- Clydebank
- Coatbridge
- Greenock
Of these, six are in seats currently represented by Labour in Westminster. There are 75 areas that have been selected to get the money over the next decade.
Boards will decide how the money is spent, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner saying that locals would be put “in the driving seat of their potential, having control of where the Whitehall cash goes”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While it is welcome this commitment made by the previous UK Government to 10 towns in Scotland has been honoured, we have been clear the funding would have greater impact if invested through the Scottish Government’s well established mechanisms.
“This funding was formerly known as the Long Term Plan for Towns programme under the previous UK Government - of which some work is already underway. We will continue to work to ensure it meets Scotland’s needs.”
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: “In this new era of partnership working as part of our ongoing resetting of relations we will continue to respect the devolution settlement and strengthen collaboration with the Scottish Government and local partners to ensure this investment has maximum transformational impact on communities.”
