£5.8m prosperity fund grant 'won't help Blackpool level up'

Coun Lynn Williams, leader of the Labour run council, says allocation of the cash has been based on population, rather than need.

She said: "Whilst any money received can be put to good use in Blackpool, this money is being billed as part of ‘levelling up’.

"All the guidance on levelling up says its purpose is to reduce the gap between the poorer and more affluent parts of the country; and yet the fund is being allocated by and large on a per capita basis, not on need or inequalities.

“Every single local authority area in the UK has received an allocation of at least £1m.

"To help to put this into further context, Wyre receive £4m, Ribble Valley £2m, Fylde £2.6m, Chorley £4.2m and Preston £5.2m.

“Unfortunately I struggle to see how this allocation will support a true ‘levelling up’ of the country least of all here in Blackpool."

Blackpool has received a total allocation of £5.1m to the council, and £770,000 as part of a national programme called Multiply to improve adult literacy and numeracy aimed at helping people find jobs.

The council will submit proposals in August setting out how its share of the Prosperity Fund will be used.

Blackpool South Conservative MP Scott Benton welcomed the grant, which he said could be "used across a range of projects from supporting adults who lack basic numeracy skills, helping young people into good jobs, and regenerating our high streets."

He added: "This investment will help local residents to fulfil their potential, while reducing regional inequalities that have been left untouched for too long.”

The Government has allocated a £2.6bn package of levelling-up funding to councils across the country through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is s replacing European funding.

Blackpool is currently preparing a fresh bid for Levelling Up funding which focuses on plans for an £85m multiversity campus in the town centre, while the town has also been named as one of 20 designated areas set to receive support for large-scale urban regeneration, although no precise funding has yet been revealed.