100 projects across UK to receive £2bn in funding – is your area included?

Published

3 years ago

January 19, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has announced that more than £2bn will be invested in over 100 projects across the UK through the levelling up fund – with £19m going to his own constituency.

Reinforcing his commitment to levelling up the country, the prime minister promised the latest round of funding would “build a future of optimism” by delivering economic growth and new jobs across the UK.

Labour criticised the fund, accusing the government of presiding over a “Hunger Games-style contest where communities are pitted against one another”.

A spreadsheet of the 111 successful bids released by the Department for Levelling Up shows that £19,008,679 has been granted to a project in Mr Sunak’s Richmond constituency after an application by the local district council.

The document says: “Richmondshire will receive £19m to transform Catterick Garrison town centre. This includes new routes for walking and cycling, a new town square, and a new community facility that will host new businesses and a community kitchen.”

Speaking to broadcasters in a visit to Accrington, the prime minister defended the decision.

“If you look at the overall funding in the levelling-up funds that we’ve done, about two-thirds of all that funding has gone to the most deprived part of our country,” he said.

“With regard to Catterick Garrison, the thing you need to know is that’s home to our largest army base and it’s home to actually thousands of serving personnel who are often away from their own families serving our country.

“It’s important that they have access to a town centre providing the amenities they need – that’s what that funding is going to deliver.”

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove also defended the funding allocations, telling Sky News the government had “objective criteria that govern where money is going”.

Among the other projects is the Eden Project North in Morecambe, which receives £50m for a regeneration project designed to transform the Lancashire town’s seafront.

Also on the list is the Cardiff Crossrail plan, which has been allocated £50m of government funds – and a new roll-on, roll-off ferry for Fair Isle in the Shetlands is to receive £27m.

The government said the £2.1bn in funding had been split between £672m to develop better transport links, £821m for community regeneration, and £594m to go towards restoring local heritage sites.

Mr Gove said: “These are areas which have been overlooked in the past by previous governments – but this government is absolutely committed to levelling up, to spreading opportunity and to investing in the future and making sure that people have, whether it’s investment in higher education here or investment in economic activity elsewhere, the opportunity to prosper in the future.”

Projects in London, however, have received more investment than those in Yorkshire and the North East combined, and projects in the South East have been allocated almost twice as much as those in the North East.

Levelling up funding has caused even more friction

Joe Pike

Political correspondent

@joepike

Over 13 years of Conservative governments, we have seen the transition from George Osborne’s “Northern Powerhouse” project (which some argue laid the groundwork for the Tories’ 2019 “red wall” wins) to Boris Johnson’s “Levelling Up” and now Rishi Sunak’s own interpretation of that policy.

Grumbles from MPs in the Conservatives’ southern heartlands have clearly been noted in Whitehall. Today the South East has received more cash than the North East, Yorkshire, or the East or West Midlands.

While a number of affluent areas benefit, there is also funding for deprived communities in the south like parts of the Kent coast.

Michael Gove points out, very fairly, that North West England is the biggest winner.

But that includes millions for marginal Tory-held seats in Blackpool, as well as Workington and Copeland in Cumbria. More than twice as many Conservative seats benefit than Labour ones.

Allegations of favouritism are not, however, Labour’s only critique of this £2.1 billion funding injection.

Lisa Nandy claims that 15 months after the first round of allocations, just 5% of the money has made it to the communities who were promised it.

She also says the Conservatives are effectively offering a “partial refund” for money stripped out of communities in recent years, and Labour’s devolution plan is a far better solution than an occasional round of government funding.

Whitehall sources point out both Ms Nandy and Sir Keir Starmer’s constituencies are benefitting to the tune of almost £30m.

Ultimately it is ministers who make the final decisions and today’s figures show you are more likely to get a grant if you have a Conservative MP.

‘Centralised system of decision making flawed’

Some Conservative MPs expressed dissatisfaction at their local communities not having been allocated funding in the latest wave.

Robert Largan said he was “bitterly disappointed” that High Peak Borough Council had once again failed to secure £20m in investment.

While Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street questioned why the majority of his region’s bids had been rejected.

“Fundamentally, this episode is just another example as to why Whitehall’s bidding and begging bowl culture is broken, and the sooner we can decentralise and move to proper fiscal devolution the better,” he said in a statement.

“The centralised system of London civil servants making local decisions is flawed and I cannot understand why the levelling up funding money was not devolved for local decision makers to decide what is best for their areas.”

‘Time to end this Hunger Games-style contest’

While Lisa Nandy, shadow levelling up secretary, criticised the fund more generally and accused the government of “extraordinary arrogance”.

“The Levelling Up Fund is in chaos, beset by delays and allegations of favouritism,” she said.

“It takes an extraordinary arrogance to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have stripped out of our communities, which has decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care.

“It is time to end this Hunger Games-style contest where communities are pitted against one another and Whitehall ministers pick winners and losers.”

But Mr Sunak said two thirds of funding was going to the north of England and denied the levelling up spending is an example of “pork barrel politics”.

“The region that has done the best in the amount of funding per person is the North,” he said.

“That’s why we’re here talking to you in Accrington market, these are the places that are benefiting from the funding.

“We’re delivering on what we said, we’re investing in local communities, this is levelling up in action.”

Ten projects in Scotland will share £177m of levelling up funding, including £20m to help turn Arbuthnot House in Aberdeenshire into a museum and library, as well as modernising Macduff Aquarium, and £20m to refurbish the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock.

Other investments granted include:

• £20m to Gateshead Quays and the Sage
• £5.1m to build female changing rooms in 20 rugby clubs across Northern Ireland
• £50m to create a direct train service linking Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth/Penryn in Cornwall
• £40m for a new Multiversity – a carbon-neutral education campus in Blackpool’s Talbot Gateway central business district

Levelling up was a key Tory policy under Boris Johnson when he was prime minister.

“The defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities,” Mr Johnson said as he unveiled the government’s levelling up white paper last year.

The latest successful bids follow the allocation of £1.7bn to 105 projects from round one of the levelling up fund in 2021.

The government confirmed last year that round two funding would match round one, but said it increased this by more than £400m after receiving a high number of bids.

The total allocated so far from the fund to local community projects is £3.8bn.

The government has also confirmed there will be a further round of investment.

World

At least 20 dead and 150 injured after magnitude 6.3 earthquake in north Afghanistan

Published

2 hours ago

November 3, 2025

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At least 20 dead and 150 injured after magnitude 6.3 earthquake in north Afghanistan

At least 20 people have died after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Afghanistan, the Taliban has said.

The tremor was recorded near the city of Mazar-e Sharif, in the northern Balkh province, at around 12.59am on Monday (8.29pm in the UK).

The Taliban Health Ministry added that 320 were injured, while ministry spokesperson Sharfat Zaman said that the numbers of dead and injured might rise.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has issued an orange alert on its system of quake impacts, and suggested that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread”.

Previous events at that alert level have required a regional or national level response, according to the USGS’s alert system.

Balkh province spokesperson Haji Zaid added that the earthquake destroyed part of the city’s holy shrine, known as the Blue Mosque.

The United Nations in Afghanistan said on X that it is on the ground assessing needs and delivering aid, and that: “We stand with the affected communities and will provide the necessary support.”

Mazar-e Sharif is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of around 523,000.

Located on two major active fault lines, Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes: More than 1,400 people were killed and at least 3,250 others injured after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit the country’s eastern regions in September.

That tremor wiped out villages in the Mazar Dara valley, which Sky’s Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch visited in October.

In 2015, an earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and nearby northern Pakistan.

Four large earthquakes also struck in the Herat province in 2023, each magnitude 6.3. The Taliban said at the time that at least 2,445 people had died.

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World

Hurricane Melissa leaves 28 dead after tearing through Jamaica

Published

1 day ago

November 2, 2025

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Hurricane Melissa leaves 28 dead after tearing through Jamaica

A total of 28 people have died following Hurricane Melissa’s rampage across Jamaica, the government has confirmed.

Melissa, one of the strongest storms on record to make landfall in the Caribbean, brought with it winds of up to 185mph when it hit the island earlier this week.

The Red Cross described it as a “disaster of unprecedented catastrophe”.

Melissa ravaged through Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

It weakened by the time it reached Cuba on Wednesday morning but still brought devastation – with houses collapsed and roads blocked.

A statement from the government of Jamaica said it was “deeply saddened to confirm 28 fatalities associated with the passage of Hurricane Melissa”.

It went on: “We extend heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and communities mourning their loved ones.”

Eyewitness: ‘Send help’ – the desperate pleas from Hurricane Melissa survivors

The confirmation came as the first British repatriation flight was setting off from the island on Saturday evening local time.

The flight, chartered by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, was for those “unable to leave Jamaica on commercial routes”.

Essential relief supplies are now rolling into some of the hardest hit areas.

The UK government is mobilising an additional £5m in emergency humanitarian funding – on top of £2.5m announced earlier this week – to support the region’s recovery.

This new funding will enable the UK to send humanitarian supplies – including more than 3,000 shelter kits and over 1,500 solar-powered lanterns to help those whose homes have been damaged and those without power.

The UK is working with the World Food Programme and Red Cross, to ensure emergency relief reaches those who need it most.

At least 25 people died in the southern Haitian coastal town of Petit-Goave after the La Digue river burst its banks as a result of the hurricane, according to the town’s mayor Jean Bertrand Subreme.

World

Ukrainian troops ‘start surrendering’ in key city but Kyiv says situation ‘dynamic’

Published

2 days ago

November 1, 2025

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Ukrainian troops 'start surrendering' in key city but Kyiv says situation 'dynamic'

Ukrainian soldiers encircled by Russian forces in the key eastern city of Pokrovsk have started surrendering, the defence ministry in Moscow claims.

But Ukraine‘s military has pushed back on the report by the TASS state news agency, saying the situation is “difficult and dynamic”.

Kyiv has also claimed its positions in some districts of Pokrovsk have improved despite its city being infiltrated by Russian troops.

Latest: Russian attacks are ‘nuclear terrorism’, Ukraine warns

Ukraine is increasing its number of assault troops in the area, the 7th Rapid Response Corps said on Facebook.

And Ukrainian troops are also working to cut Moscow’s military logistics routes, it added.

The Russian defence ministry also said its forces defeated a team of Ukrainian special forces that headed to Pokrovsk in a bid to prevent Russian forces from advancing further into the city.

‘Footage of Ukrainian troops after surrendering’

It later posted videos of two Ukrainian troops who, it claimed, had surrendered.

The footage showed the men, one dressed in fatigues and the other in a dark green jacket, sat against a wall in a dark room, as they spoke of fierce fighting and encirclement by Russian forces.

The videos’ authenticity could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate public comment from Kyiv on the Russian ministry’s claims.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously acknowledged that some Russian units had infiltrated the city. But he maintained that Ukraine is tackling them.

He said Russia had deployed 170,000 troops in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where Pokrovsk is located, in a major offensive to capture the city and claim a big battlefield victory.

‘Operation to destroy enemy forces’

Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Saturday the situation in Pokrovsk remained “hardest” for Ukrainian forces, who were trying to push Russian troops out.

But he insisted there was no encirclement or blockade as Moscow has claimed.

“A comprehensive operation to destroy and push out enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing. The main burden lies on the shoulders of the units of the armed forces of Ukraine, particularly UAV operators and assault units,” Mr Syrskyi said.

Why is Pokrovsk important?

One of Moscow’s key aims has been to take all of Ukraine’s industrial heartland of coal-rich Donbas, which comprises of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Kyiv still controls about 10% of Donbas.

Capturing Pokrovsk, which Russian media has dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk”, and Kostiantynivka to its northeast, would give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donetsk – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

‘Key Russian fuel pipeline struck’

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as HUR, has said its forces have hit an important fuel pipeline in the Moscow region that supplies the Russian army.

In a statement on Telegram, HUR said the operation late on Friday was a “serious blow” to Russia’s military logistics.

HUR said its forces struck the Koltsevoy pipeline, which is 250 miles long and supplies the Russian army with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.

The operation, which targeted infrastructure near Ramensky district, destroyed all three fuel lines, HUR said.

The pipeline was capable of transporting up to three million tonnes of jet fuel, 2.8 million tonnes of diesel and 1.6 million tonnes of gasoline annually, HUR said.

Russia ‘targets gas production site’

Also overnight, Russia launched an attack on a gas production site in Poltava, in central Ukraine.

A fire broke out, the local administration said, but no injuries were reported.

Kyiv condemns ‘nuclear terrorism’

Ukraine’s foreign ministry has condemned Russian strikes this week on substations powering some of its nuclear plants.

It accused Russia of carrying out “targeted strikes on such substations” which “bear the hallmarks of nuclear terrorism”.

Elsewhere, a civilian died and 15 more were injured on Saturday morning after Russia struck the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine with a ballistic Iskander missile, local official Vitaliy Kim said.

A child was among those hurt in the strike, he added.