Levelling up is more important now than ever before when we consider the need to distribute wealth and opportunity evenly across the country. However, the execution of the Levelling Up agenda on the ground is poor, certainly in terms of channelling funds to support local businesses.
The whole scheme has the aura of yet another typical public sector programme, where there is very little awareness of it among the people it is aimed at, and scant information readily available to them on how to access support. As a result, the funding either sits within local authority budgets unused or goes to big business.
All this is because, despite the government’s best intentions, they are using the same flawed mechanisms as before. This is all well and good with a proactive and forward-thinking local authority which can deliver strong programmes for its businesses and residents, since their ability to acquire funding from programmes like levelling up and manage the allocation of it is effective. But in this respect, the gap between some local authorities and others is a significant one.
Our local authority in Lancashire is one that struggles in this regard. We work with the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership [LEP] which is dominated by the needs of big business in the local aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries, so SMEs are largely overlooked. Although Community & Business Partners has been active for 22 years and we’ve delivered the local BOOST business support programme on behalf of Lancashire County Council for the last nine of those years, not once have we or any of the companies we advise been briefed by the local authority on the grants and opportunities available through levelling up.
I know of only one local business that acquired a starter grant from the Levelling Up Fund and they were made aware of it thanks solely to their connections with the local authority, having been told that the council in question had underspent in their levelling up budget. Even then, it took several weeks for that funding to actually be directed into the business.
The Levelling Up Fund is meant to be for improving infrastructure and opportunities for the private sector and SMEs. The people it’s aimed at should not be in a position where they must go and find out for themselves what and where the opportunities are. There needs to be more information pushed out there to enhance awareness and increase accessibility. If not, much needed funds will simply sit dormant within local authorities, destined to be squirreled away to another part of their budget where it won’t impact local business or infrastructure to grow wealth and employment as it was intended to do.
Moreover, the local ‘independent’ leaders who oversee the allocation of the Levelling Up Fund and similar public sector funding programmes are the same figureheads from within local authorities who have always managed such schemes. They do not understand the urgency of getting things done quickly, so it can take up to nine weeks for a business to hear back on an application for funding. This kills any impetus for development.
If the government is serious about investing in the private sector and getting real business leaders and entrepreneurs driving growth and wealth creation, it cannot keep using the same local authority departments as the outlet for it. If it continues to do so, then local authorities need to be equipped with the requisite resources to handle applications and the allocation of levelling up funds promptly.
Lancashire County Council has applied for an additional £50 million in the last round of applications for levelling up. They may well be successful in getting it, but what impact will this really have if it takes far too long to get to where it is needed, if it even gets there at all?
Key Points:
• There are fundamental issues with how the Levelling Up Fund works, with local authorities proving to be an inefficient outlet.
• Lack of awareness and limited accessibility leads to funds either not being taken up or redirected to other local authority budgets or large industry players.
• Local authorities need to be far more proactive in processing funding applications and directing investment to where it is most needed.
This article originally appeared in The Leaders Council’s special report on ‘The Levelling Up agenda’, published on November 30, 2022. Read the full special report here.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
