Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
There remains considerable uncertainty for Local Authorities around funding, structures and responsibilities for local economic...
Recommendation
There remains considerable uncertainty for Local Authorities around funding, structures and responsibilities for local economic growth. The Department extols the virtues of local plans for coordinating and achieving value for money from central government funding. However local authorities’ attempts at long-term planning have been frustrated by the timing, co-ordination, and unpredictability of the “alphabet soup” of funding pots to support regeneration in recent years. Unlike Whitehall departments, local authorities do not know what is coming next and have to dedicate time and resource to respond piecemeal to each new announcement, with no guarantee of success. Further uncertainty arises from delays in awarding some of this funding, and the patchy integration of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) into existing structures. While the Department is now consolidating funding and says there are now “indicative allocations” for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the scheme itself has yet to be announced. The Department plans to introduce Levelling Up Directors to improve relations between central and local government. However there is, as yet, no clarity on when they will be in place, and limited information on what they will be doing. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department and HM Treasury should set out how they intend to provide greater certainty to Local Authorities to enable them to plan the integrated capital, skills and community investment needed to drive growth in their areas.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: To be confirmed 4.2 The government has recognised that the local growth funding landscape has previously been complex and fragmented. That is why local growth funding has largely been consolidated into two funds – LUF and UKSPF. The Levelling Up Fund consolidated several others, including the Local Growth Fund and Towns Fund, whilst the UKSPF is the successor to EU structural funds. Each of these funds has set out clear rules, supporting planning for local authorities. 4.3 As announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, the government will set out a plan for streamlining the funding landscape this year which will include a commitment to help local stakeholders navigate funding opportunities. This review, will be guided by the principles of reducing the unnecessary proliferation of funding pots with varied delivery approaches, streamlining bidding, supporting greater alignment between revenue and capital sources, and tailoring investment and delivery to the local institutional landscapes of each place across the UK. 4.4 A new Levelling Up Cabinet Committee has also been established, which will bring in direct input from places to help the government to better understand local challenges and how these are impacted by national policy, including how funding is disbursed. 4.5 More broadly, across all local growth funds, the department maintains close working relationships with local stakeholders to ensure funding is aligned with the broader local economic strategy. One example is the Towns Fund, where the model of Towns Deal Boards offers an open and transparent way of developing and agreeing plans for growth funding in a local area.