Following the commitments set out by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, at LGA Conference last week, the new leadership of the new LGA Conservative Group has backed plans from DLUHC to streamline funding to local government.
Following the commitments set out by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, at LGA Conference last week, the new leadership of the new LGA Conservative Group has backed plans from DLUHC to streamline funding to local government.
The plans released by DLUHC last week include the creation of a new ‘Simplification Pathfinder Pilot’ to test capital funding delivery across some local authorities. In addition, changes to the Levelling Up Fund, Town Deals and Future High Streets Fund, which will give Councils more flexibility around changing projects.
The LGA Conservative Group has for many years now been lobbying hard for funding to local government to be more streamlined, recognising that applying for separate pots of grant funding is becoming a resource and capacity issue for several local authorities. We very much welcome therefore the decision of Government to implement some of our calls.
Commenting Cllr Kevin Bentley, Leader of the Conservative Group, said “When Conservatives work together as one family, we can achieve great things for the communities that we serve. Although more needs to be done on streamlining local government funding, this is absolutely a step in the right direction, and I am convinced that the selected councils that will pilot the Simplification Pathfinder will demonstrate to Government the benefits of streamlining funding to Government”.
Cllr Abi Brown, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group, said “We all welcome the investment put into improving our towns and cities over recent years by the Conservative government, however understanding eligibility and also how the various schemes can fit together are key to truly levelling up communities. The additional impact of inflation means councils are increasingly looking for flexibility to ensure every penny is well spent, and the government’s support in enabling this to start to happen is very welcome.”