Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding Angus constituency has received from (a) all funding schemes put in place to replace EU structural funding, (b) the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, (c) the Levelling-Up Fund and (d) the Long-Term Plan for Towns in each year since 2016.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
There is no single fund that directly replaces EU structural funding. Levelling up funding comprises various measures that include, for example, the Levelling Up Fund, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Long Term Plan for Towns, the Community Renewal Fund, the Community Ownership Fund, and pre-existing programmes such as the City Region and Growth Deals. These come alongside the largest block grant ever for the devolved administration in Scotland which the Chancellor recently confirmed, and other measures such as the Green Freeports and Investment Zones Programme which cover four areas across Scotland.
In general, details of funding support are held at local authority rather than constituency level. The UK remained a member of the European Union until January 2020.
Since then, Angus Council has been awarded nearly £5 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, as well as £26.5 million from the Tay Cities Deal. It has also received nearly £300k from the Community Ownership Fund awarded to a project in Brechin for Davidson Legacy Cottage SCIO, and over £230k awarded via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme including to replace the 3G pitch at Forfar Community Football Trust, for floodlights at Station Park and Market Muir, and for solar panels at Arbroath Football Club. At Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced that Arbroath in Angus will be a Long-Term Plan for Towns location and will receive £20 million of funding.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to respond to the letter of 1 April 2022 from the hon. Member for Angus, related to transport for Ukrainian refugees, case reference DD6233.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
A letter was issued to the Hon. Member on 26 May 2022. My office has emailed a copy for your reference.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to provide additional financial support to local authorities that experience financial hardship as a result of projects (a) running over budget, (b) continuing beyond 2025 and (c) not realising expected returns.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22.
Local authorities are responsible for their own financial management and for maintaining a balanced budget. The Government continues to engage with councils, and we stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to balance its budgets. Funding for local authorities in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland is a devolved matter, and one for their respective governments to decide on.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many eligible local authorities did not accept capacity funding to support a Levelling Up Fund bid.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
To support the development of high-quality bids to the Levelling Up Fund, a one-off payment of £125k in capacity funding was allocated to all category 1 local authorities in England, and all local authorities in Scotland and Wales.
Payment of this capacity funding was made to all the eligible local authorities. In total, 158 payments were made in Round 1 of the Fund and a further 15 for Round 2. No local authority rejected this payment.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) capacity and (b) access to capital funding on the ability of local authorities, including in economically disadvantaged areas, to manage infrastructure projects awarded through the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The competitive Levelling Up Fund (LUF) assessment takes account of how secure the overall funding package is for a LUF bid and the local capacity in place to manage delivery. To support applicants, develop strong bids all category 1 local authorities in England (as measured by the Index of Priority Places) and all local authorities across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland received £125,000 of capacity funding.
The department also closely monitors the delivery of successful projects. We do this through reporting which provides us with an understanding of any delivery or capacity issues that we may need to support places with.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) commercial risks and (b) increased liabilities that (i) smaller councils with higher value bids and (ii) other local authorities may face following a successful levelling-up bid.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I hope you will understand that, for reasons of fairness, I cannot discuss bids further during this period of competition, whilst bids are being evaluated.
Applications to the Levelling Up Fund are subject to the robust assessment process set out in published guidance. This includes a deliverability assessment which considers three areas - (i) the whole funding package including how any financial risks will be mitigated (ii) the procurement strategy and (iii) maturity of the delivery plan and the capacity/ capability in place to manage that.
All successful Levelling Up Fund bids are subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation to track delivery progress.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme have been lost as of 19 April 2022.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
All visa applications for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme are managed by the Home Office.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether any applications to the Homes for Ukraine scheme made on 18 and 19 March 2022 have been lost.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
All visa applications for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme are managed by the Home Office.