Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether local authorities were informed in advance that any local authority that was successful in bidding for funding Levelling Up Fund Round 1 would automatically be barred from receiving funds in Levelling Up Fund Round 2.
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 127879 on 24 January 2023. The published Levelling Up Fund Round 2 technical note set out the additional considerations that could be taken into account when making funding decisions. This included “ taking into account other investment in a local area, including investment made from the first round of the Fund to encourage a spread of levelling up funds across places.” The published explanatory note outlines the specifics of how decisions for the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 were made. Applicants to the Fund were informed of the outcome of decisions by letter sent on the 18 January.