Recommendation 14

Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund was run as an allocation to some of the unsuccessful bids that were submitted in Round 2. We challenged the Department that this disadvantaged some local authorities who might have wanted to submit a bid in Round 2 but decided not to, because they did not think they would be able to deliver their projects within the Round 2 timetable. They could have achieved it within the Round 3 timetable, but they did not get a chance to bid, because Round 3 was announced without any bidding.33 We were told by the Department that there was still a role for competition, but following feedback from local authorities that competitions required significant effort, the Department felt it was more appropriate to restrict the allocation of Round 3 funding to unsuccessful Round 2 bids, rather than run another open bidding round.34 The Department accepted this would have consequences for local authorities but on balance ministers had taken the view that the chosen approach was the better way forward.35