Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will place information in the Library relating to the Government's assessment of Shropshire Council's unsuccessful Levelling Up Fund bid.

The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund invests in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK.

All applications to the Fund’s first round were fairly and robustly assessed against the criteria published in the Levelling Up Fund Prospectus and Technical Note. An explanatory note on decision-making was published on the same day as successful round 1 bids were announced.

My officials arranged a meeting with Shropshire Council on 6 December 2021, to provide feedback on the strengths of the bids and areas we felt they could be improved. I hope the Council found this meeting helpful to support potential applications into future funding rounds.

Further funding opportunities will be available to places such as Shropshire through the second round of the Fund, which will open in Spring 2022.