Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether applications made to the Pinch Points Fund will be automatically resubmitted to the Levelling Up Fund.

The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund announced at the 2020 Spending Review will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities, including investing in local transport schemes across the UK.

The Fund will supersede existing local growth funding streams in England including the Local Pinch Points Fund. Projects previously submitted to the Local Pinch Points Fund will not be automatically resubmitted into the Levelling Up Fund.

Department officials have written to local authorities asking them whether they would like any Local Pinch Points Fund Expression(s) of Interest submitted to the DfT to be considered for funding through the Levelling Up Fund in 2021/22 and local authorities in England are encouraged to consider prioritising these projects for the first round of the Fund. These will be subject to the same assessment process as set out in the technical guidance published on the UK Government website on 26 March.