Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Wigan Council applied to the Towns Fund.

An initial 101 towns were selected to submit proposals for Towns Deals as a part of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund. There was no application process.

Wigan is, however, one of 101 places shortlisted for the Future High Streets Fund.?We are now in the final stages of the assessment process and expect to announce the outcome of that competition before the end of the year.

Levelling up continues to be at the heart of this Government’s agenda and that is why at Spending Review, we announced a new £4 billion Levelling Up Fund which will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery.