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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
What’s this then? Millions of pounds down the back of a sofa in Whitehall? That’s handy.
It's great news that grants worth a combined £211m have been retrospectively handed to 16 regeneration projects across England - including in Salford, Tameside and Wigan. Schemes in Stalybridge, Ashton-in-Makerfield and Eccles will receive £19.9m, £6.6m and £5.4m respectively. Each of these bids was previously rejected.
Meanwhile, an extra £20m is being allocated to a previously unsuccessful bid for a new community hub in Marple via the ‘Capital Levelling Project’. And Rochdale and Oldham are to be included in a £400m funding pot designated for 'levelling up partnerships'.
But it does rather make you wonder where the money was hiding in the first place, doesn’t it?
Budget documents say funding it being 'targeted towards the left-behind places' and projects have been 'assessed as high quality and will commence delivery later this year'.
Certainly there’s an urgency within the official assessment explanation from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), which notes the unallocated departmental funding ‘must start to be delivered in 23/24’. They say the department has opted not to run a further open bidding process ‘which would also be disproportionately burdensome for places given the funding available’.
The DLUHC says it has chosen bids on the round 2 shortlist because this contains ‘a pipeline of rigorously assessed bids which have been judged as value for money and deliverable’.
The urgency is something a cynic might view with a raised eyebrow. We know from the FT’s Jen Williams that a quarter - £2.5bn - of funds for UK levelling-up projects has gone unspent and that Michael Gove was ‘banned’ from funding new projects without Treasury approval. Before February, his department could sign off capital spending up to £30m - a discretion since removed. Ministers are querying why. Is this retrospective spending Mr Gove’s way of getting money out of the door?
And there are, of course, questions as to how the previously unsuccessful, now successful projects have been picked.
As Jack Shaw, of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, explains below - the Levelling Up Fund is managed by the Department for Transport, the Department for Levelling Up and HM Treasury. And we know there were three broad themes to the bids - regeneration, transport and culture.
This latest regeneration investment is not from the Levelling Up Fund and the department can only support submissions related to town centre regeneration. Jack believes that means bids linked to transport and culture were not considered.
DLUHC did not offer further clarity about the decision process when asked by The Mancunian Way. But Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove today told the Commons his department is using ‘unallocated departmental budgets’ to fund the Stockport scheme and has ‘identified further funding’ to support regeneration and town centre bids.
Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy has welcomed the extra funding for our region, but questions the process.
“Any investment in areas that have suffered from years of underinvestment is of course welcome, but the process by which some areas were chosen and others not is utterly chaotic,” she told this newsletter.
“This is why Labour has long called for an end to the Hunger Games-style competitive bidding system that pits communities against each other. Communities should have control of their own destiny, not have their future decided at the whim of a minister in London who has found some spare cash down the back of the sofa. This is no way to run the country.”
Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds says he is ‘absolutely delighted’ to see money allocated to his constituency. But admits to being a little bewildered by the process.
“I have never seen anything like this before where you suddenly get this letter saying ‘We have now just found some more money’.
“Stalybridge’s bid was very strong bid and the government said as much, and that it matched its strategic priorities, but it wasn’t successful. I’m delighted that it’s now been successful - Stalybridge needs regeneration and it’s great for the town. But as a process, I’ve never seen anything like this.
“I really welcome the money. But I don’t think any council could say to another ‘This is how successful bids work’ because there’s no real pattern to it.”
Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett has welcomed extra funding for Eccles, but says it was ‘much-needed’ last year and admits the team who put the bid together were ‘extremely disappointed’ when it was rejected.
“This is long-overdue funding and I’m glad the town centre is now getting the support it badly needs. It is right that the needs of Eccles and its residents and local businesses have been re-evaluated under the new Capital Regeneration Projects initiative,” he says.
Taking control of the trains
As we discussed yesterday, the SpringBudget was of particular significance to Greater Manchester as details of the region’s ‘Trailblazer’ deal were announced.
That devolution deal - more than a year in the making - gives the region more control over transport, housing and technical education with block funding handed to Andy Burnham in a similar way to the current situations in Scotland and Wales.
Local democracy reporter Joseph Timan has more detail on the technicalities here. Perhaps most interesting is the way trains will now be integrated into the Bee Network. It’s long been an ambition of the mayor to create a London-style transport network and he’s well on track by bringing the buses under public control.
Now trains too will be brought into the local system with passengers able to tap-in and tap-out for simpler fares. Local leaders look set to have more control over commuter train services in Greater Manchester under a new partnership - though the bigger pan-Northern routes which serve the wider region are not part of the deal.
The new devo deal also gives Greater Manchester new powers and more funding to build homes - including £400m for affordable housing - to retrofit old houses, making them energy efficient and to crack down on rogue landlords.
What's the mayor doing in the US?
City to city relationships are ‘key’, said Andy Burnham while sitting in a New York television studio smiling politely at four different presenters this morning.
The mayor is in the US launching the Beyond Music Festival with New Order at SXSW festival and visiting North Carolina with Manchester Council leader Bev Craig. They met with Governor Roy Cooper to discuss a trade and investment partnership agreed by the UK government that will lay ‘a framework for increased cooperation’ in areas including clean tech and energy infrastructure.
Mr Burnham is currently in New York where he’s due to host a reception - organised by the British Consulate General and sponsored by Manchester Airport Group - aimed at boosting the visitor economy.
And he was on MSNBC this morning talking about his US jaunt. After some gentle ribbing about his football allegiance - "I'm surprised they didn't make you switch" - he aimed to dispel myths of the ‘grimy’ factory-filled Manchester of old. “We’re really on the move,” he said, while drawing comparison between Manchester, Charlotte and Austin.
The mayor told presenters on the Morning Joe show (who struggled to pronounce his name) that the future of politics is ‘all about city to city’. “We are the football capital of the UK, we are the music capital of the UK but we really are a global centre now for digital tech, life sciences, low carbon. The message is quite simple - look beyond London. Manchester is actually the place where it’s all happening.”
Asked if the future of UK trade after Brexit could be done with city leaders on things like trade, culture and climate change, Mr Burnham said: “That’s where the action is as far as I’m concerned.”
He added: “I came here to meet Mike Bloomberg when I first got elected and that’s the message he gave me - it’s all going to be about city to city. It takes the politics out of it.
“At national level there’s always tension between states and countries. You get to the city level and it’s all about ‘get things done’. I think the city to city relationship is the key thing.”
New pay offer for NHS staff
Unions have suspended further strikes by ambulance and other NHS staff and will recommend acceptance of a new pay offer to NHS workers.
The breakthrough follows days of talks with the Government over the long-running dispute over pay which has led to a series of walkouts by nurses, ambulance crews, paramedics, hospital porters and other health workers in recent months.
Ambulance members of Unison and Unite were due to strike next Monday and physiotherapists were going to walk out later this month but the action has been called off. Unison said the offer to NHS workers in England includes an additional one-off lump sum for 2022-23 that rises in value up the NHS pay bands. This is worth £1,655 for staff at the bottom of band two (for example porters, cleaners and healthcare assistants), £2,009 for staff at the top of band five (nurses, midwives, physiotherapists), £2,162 at the top of band six (paramedics, health visitors, senior occupational therapists) and £3,789 for staff at the top of band nine.
There will be a permanent 5 per cent pay rise on all pay points for 2023-24. Ministers said they could guarantee there will be no impact on frontline services as the result of the pay offer. There will be further discussions between DHSC and the Treasury over how it will be funded, the PA news agency reports.
Union members will now vote on whether to accept the deal.
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Weather etc
- Friday: Cloudy changing to light showers by early evening. 14C.
- Road closures: M67 Eastbound entry slip road closed due to long-term roadworks at J2 St Annes Road (Denton). Until December 1, 2025.
- Trivia question: Which football team does Andy Burnham support?
Manchester headlines
New neighbourhood: A £450m plan to transform a Manchester neighbourhood and create almost 2,000 jobs have been revealed. Land in Upper Brook Street, Ardwick, has been earmarked for the proposed development which would feature new life sciences space and student accommodation. The plans could create 1,900 jobs and apprenticeships while the team behind the development, McLaren Property, Property Alliance Group (Alliance), Moda Living and Kadans Science Partner, have said the scheme could provide a £138m economic benefit. More here.
Green belt: Controversial plans to build a 'new community' of 3,500 homes on largely green belt land around Elton Reservoir have been put forward by a developer. Housebuilder Peel claim they want to invest £500m in community facilities, new primary schools, transport links, and a new public park at land west of Elton Reservoir. The area has long been earmarked for major development but previous outline plans drew much opposition, with many Bury and Radcliffe residents vehemently opposed to development on the area, which has a long history of being a place for people visit to enjoy the outdoors. More here.
Historic hall: A fresh bid has been launched to save an abandoned historic hall that has fallen into serious disrepair. Grade II* listed Woodbank Hall, is a Georgian villa that was donated to the people of Stockport in the early 20th century, together with its surrounding parkland. Dating to 1814, it was once home to the industrialist Peter Marsland, and later used as a museum and council offices. But despite its historical importance it has effectively been abandoned since 2009, falling into such a state of disrepair it was added to the Save Britain’s Heritage’s ‘buildings at risk’ register. And while a developer revealed plans to convert the hall into apartments in 2021, the scheme did not come to fruition. But now the council has launched a fresh bid to find a long-term use for the building, starting with ploughing £250,000 into desperately needed repairs. Details here.
Worth a read
If nostalgia is the disease that Tony Wilson claimed it was, then declare me very unwell - because I love it.
I particularly enjoyed this piece by Lee Grimsditch about Greater Manchester's former children's television stars, including Paul Nicholls, Yvette Fielding and Geoffrey from Rainbow.
Although I must admit I had no idea Timmy Mallett was from Manchester. Had I known his reign of mallet-related terror was unfolding near my home I might have upped sticks.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Everton - a fact he was teased about by US television presenters this morning.
