Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Committee took evidence on three significant levelling-up grants to local government.
Conclusion
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (the Department) about three significant levelling-up grants to local government.1
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the committee's foundational observation, and in response, provides detailed statistics on the distribution and spending of Levelling Up Funds, Towns Fund, and UK Shared Prosperity Fund, including the number of projects underway or completed.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented Following the setting of a Budget at Spending Review 2021, the distribution of Levelling Up Funds can be seen in four stages: • The announcement of the global figure at Spending Review for the full lifespan on the fund, • The allocation or awarding of funding to a local authority (in most cases), • The transfer or release of funds to that local authority (LA), once it is ready to receive them, and • The spending of money by the LA. Figures cited by the Committee compare the amount spent by LAs to the total announced at Spending Review for the lifespan of the funds, less than halfway through the Spending Review Period. However, it is unsurprising that the £1 billion allocated to local authorities in November 2023 had not yet been spent. The government considers a fairer measure of success to be the amount of money spent by LAs compared to the funding released to them. This avoids a situation where future funding – or money yet to be received by LAs because of the Spending Review profile – is used to judge performance. To date, the government has released £4 billion to local authorities across the three funds and LAs have spent £1.45 billion. Based on forecasts received by LAs, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC, the department) expects them to spend 70-86% of funding transferred to them in 2023-24. Exact amounts can be confirmed when monitoring returns are received this summer. The latest Monitoring Report provides a snapshot of delivery as of September 2023: • The Levelling up Fund has offered 342 projects funding, of which 330 are underway and 8 complete. • The Towns Fund has offered 837 projects funding of which 717 are underway and 79 complete. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund delivery model is substantively different. LAs have discretion to initiate and cancel projects: as such the government does not monitor project data in the same way. As the National Audit Office (NAO) report recognised, wider economic factors have caused delays to projects. The department is working closely with LAs to support sure up delivery as set out in section 2.