The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)
Introduction
It is now a decade since the launch of the northern powerhouse, an ambitious programme to catalyse growth in our great northern cities and rebalance the UK’s economy away from an overdependence on London and the south-east. It symbolised a step change in our commitment to turn the tide to ensure the potential of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bradford and communities across the north.
Building on this foundation, the levelling-up White Paper articulated a strategy to level the playing field, by spreading opportunity more equally to realise the potential of every person and every place across the UK.
And we are delivering against this strategy to drive growth and support change across each nation, with total levelling-up funding to date of more than £2.9 billion for Scotland, more than £2 billion for Wales (plus a further half a billion to secure the future of Port Talbot’s steel industry), and nearly £1 billion for Northern Ireland.
Progress through collaboration
Our levelling-up fund has been a multi-billion-pound catalyst to level up the UK, turning aspiration into action, with over 270 projects funded to date. For example, in Bolton, £20 million will support the delivery of the Bolton Institute of Medical Sciences, a pioneering education and skills facility that will train 3,000 students annually and provide a direct route for learners into healthcare careers. In Sunderland, £20 million will fund a construction skills academy to teach local people modern methods of construction, as well as build new sustainable housing in the city. And in Leeds, £20 million will support the Connecting West Leeds project, improving transport links between communities, especially for walking and cycling, and making the city’s roads safer.
We are restoring the social and cultural fabric of our communities through the community ownership fund by securing the future of over 250 venues across the United Kingdom.
Innovative examples of how this funding is being used include the Margaret Haes riding centre in Holcombe, Bury, which received £172,000 to purchase the site to secure its future and to expand the facilities it offered, including an art hub, a holiday lodge for people with disabilities, and venues for community and cultural events. And in Oldham, the Oldham Boxing and Personal Development Centre (OBPDC), received £550,000 to secure the long-term future of its home, Victoria House —a century-old former billiard hall that was semi-derelict when the OBPDC occupied it in 2013. The funding will also help the OBPDC to significantly extend its programme of elite and community boxing classes, wellbeing activities and personal development services for young people at risk.
Our levelling-up partnerships are delivering tailored regeneration plans in places like Hull, where funding is being used to support the city’s transition from medieval trading port to a modern hub for renewable energy. And in Middlesbrough, where we have invested in Middlesbrough College to increase access to training in high-demand sectors, new public health centres, a new arts centre to rejuvenate the high street, and projects to tackle housing needs and crime.
We are also driving innovation in our city regions across the UK, through our programme of 13 investment zones, with each area benefiting from funding of £160 million over 10 years, including south and west Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool city region, and the north-east, and 12 freeports spanning the UK, including Teesside, Liverpool, Humber, and east midlands, generating billions in investment, creating thousands of jobs and opening new avenues for growth.
But we know that our approach must be grounded beyond funding to empowering communities to forge their own path towards economic and cultural regeneration. This evolution is epitomised by the £1.1 billion long-term plan for towns programme and our commitment to regenerate 20 places made in the levelling-up White Paper.
Empowering local leadership
True levelling up is only realised through strong local leadership, with devolution giving our towns and cities the tools and freedoms they need to unlock social and economic opportunities over the long term.
The convention of the north celebrates the great strides we have made in fulfilling our ambition that every corner of England that wants a devolution deal should have one, and that those with one can strive to build on their role and deepen their powers over time.
As things stand, nine in 10 people in the north—some 14 million people— live in an area with a devolution deal established or in implementation, up from about two-thirds before the White Paper was published.
In May, we look forward to people in the north-east and York and North Yorkshire, as well as the east midlands, going to the polls to elect new mayors with significant powers and funding.
Today, we have confirmed that West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and Liverpool city region are eligible for level 4 devolution and will now proceed to implement level 4 agreements with these areas.
We are also committed to continuing discussions on level 4 devolution with Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley after the mayoral elections, and we continue to unlock new flexibilities for Andy Street in the west Midlands. We also want to go further, expanding devolution where possible, including with areas like Cumberland and Westmoreland and Furness; and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
I am delighted to support these great leaps forward in securing further powers and funding for mayoral combined authorities, to unlock decision making by those who know their places best and boosting accountability to citizens. The north now has a national platform and a strong cadre of regional leaders, who will have the ability to deliver integrated transport networks, match training to employers’ needs, and confidently work with investors, backed by long-term funding settlements.
Vision for the future
Building on the foundations set since the White Paper, we continue to drive our levelling-up agenda: revitalising and regenerating our great cities and towns across the north through cultural, educational, and economic development to create vibrant, sustainable communities. We are investing—using HS2 savings—£19.8 billion across the north and £9.6 billion across the midlands in transport projects. Last week, we extended this successful model to all local authorities in the north and midlands through the £4.7 billion local transport fund, providing the first transport budget of its kind for our smaller cities, towns and rural areas.
Today, I am announcing the details of the £20 million levelling-up partnership with Blackburn with Darwen. Investment will revitalise heritage buildings into modern cultural venues, including King George’s Hall, Imperial Mill and The Exchange. We listened to local people and the reopening of the much-loved Tony’s Ballroom will preserve its place in northern soul music history, while creating a new arts space bringing communities together. While our investment in cyber skills will prepare the young people of Blackburn with Darwen for employment opportunities of the future.
In Blackpool, £90 million of regeneration investment will transform deprived areas of the town by bringing forward new high-quality homes. This significant funding will complement our existing skills and jobs investments, including supporting the “Multiversity”—a state of the art further education campus—and “Blackpool Central” —a £300 million leisure development—as part of our plan to work with local leaders to unleash Blackpool’s potential and restore pride in place.
Building on our work to date with Bradford and Cheshire east, DLUHC, DfT and Homes England will provide masterplanning support for Bradford’s southern gateway and support Cheshire east to revisit their vision for Crewe post-HS2 to maximise the development opportunities and investor confidence.
Working in collaboration with Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we are committing to the comprehensive regeneration of Leeds through the announcement of our Leeds transformational regeneration partnership and will shortly publish a document setting out the vision for a decade of city centre growth and wider prosperity in Leeds. Together, Government and local partners will unlock the delivery of up to 20,000 additional homes in Leeds. I can also announce that we have agreed final plans for West Yorkshire’s investment zone, which will drive innovation and growth of health tech in the region, drawing on existing strengths in the life sciences, and digital and technology sectors. Infrastructure investment of over £50 million will accelerate delivery of key initiatives including: the refurbishment of Leeds’ old medical school to unlock 4,000 square metres of innovation space and create a life sciences and digital health science park; the development of digital technology innovation assets in the Bradford knowledge quarter; and specialist clinical teaching and research facilities at the £250 million national health innovation campus in Huddersfield. With a further £25 million revenue funding, the investment zone will deliver a new regional accelerator and three place-based incubators, create a sector-specific skills offer and strengthen the innovation ecosystem by providing enhanced access to finance and business support to grow spin-outs, start-ups and existing businesses. The investment zone has already unlocked over £25 million of investment from pioneering health tech companies and will support further significant private-sector investment. Taken together local partners expect these proposals to create over 7,300 jobs in the region.
In Sheffield, we are supporting the city’s ambition to deliver 20,000 new homes in its urban core, through £67 million of brownfield, infrastructure and land funding by Homes England to secure brownfield land for two city-centre catalyst sites, capable of delivering more than 1,300 new homes (supporting circa 2,000 new city centre residents) and over 4,000 square miles of new commercial/community floorspace. This investment will complement existing funding through the brownfield housing fund to transform a former brewery into 550 new homes and levelling-up fund investment in new leisure facilities at Parkwood Springs urban country park.
And we are confirming Liverpool as one of our priority places for regeneration, marking a new era of partnership working between Government, the combined authority and the city council. We are supporting the vision set out in the Liverpool strategic futures advisory panel report with £31 million in Government funding to support an initial suite of regeneration projects.
Conclusion
Reflecting on our progress to date, our continued commitment to collaboration and partnership ensures that no person or place is left behind.
By working together, we can harness the full potential of every region, transforming our ambitious vision into a tangible reality for all.
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