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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much in cash terms has been spent from the Towns Fund.

The £3.6 billion Towns Fund will support an initial 100 Towns Deals across England. £1 billion of the Towns Fund will be made available to the Future High Streets Fund. These Funds are part of the government’s plan to level up our regions and create a more united country, one where people throughout the UK can benefit from our shared prosperity.

In December we paid out £16.4 million in capacity funding to local authorities from the initial 100 towns to support the development of a Town Deal Board and Investment Plan for each of the shortlisted towns in their area.

We have also to date spent £20.4 million from the Future High Street Fund on capacity funding, resourcing and to support policies that we have announced such as the High Streets Task Force. This includes spending on heritage high streets delivered through the Architectural Heritage Fund and Historic England.