Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted
Department allocates additional £65 million funding for local support and expert procurement.
Conclusion
In addition to the support already mentioned, the Department told us it had an additional £65 million of funding to provide further support to local places and procure expert support. The funds were split across: £6 million for Delivery Associates; £38 million in direct grant support to local areas; £11 million to mayoral combined authorities; and some funding to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for specific heritage support.56 The Department explained the delivery associates were specialist experts in, for example, procurement or commercial negotiation.57 Evaluation
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, describing the existing Delivery Associate Network which provides expert support to local authorities. It commits to use lessons learned from the overall support offer to inform the design of future capacity and capability support by Summer 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2025 5.2 The Delivery Associate Network, which was launched in January 2024, provides local authorities in receipt of Levelling Up funds with access to a network of delivery experts with the skills and experience to support in the delivery of DLUHC-funded projects. 5.3 At present, the Delivery Associate Network works with local authorities and wider delivery partners to identify delivery issues and provide expert advice on effective solutions. 5.4 Along with these targeted interventions, the Delivery Associate Network also offers broader, topic-based support, including group learning sessions, webinars, newsletters and a ‘Knowledge Hub’ website, available for all local authorities to access. 5.5 These interventions are already shoring up delivery of individual projects. For example, delivery experts have unblocked a project finance issue for a direct grant recipient in Northern Ireland, resulting in the department flexing its approach to payments to ensure the recipient could get the best deal from contractors. 5.6 The department will use lessons learned from the overall support offer, from its programme evaluations and from general engagement with local authorities to inform the design of future capacity and capability support.