Rishi Sunak scraps second spherical of Boris Johnson’s flagship cities fund

Rishi Sunak has cancelled plans to carry a second spherical of Boris Johnson’s £3.6bn cities fund in a transfer that would anger Tory MPs.

Sky News can reveal that the £300m put aside for an extra competitors will as an alternative be transferred to the levelling up fund, which has been criticised for sluggish supply.

The towns fund was first introduced by Boris Johnson in July 2019 and initially supported the event of 100 areas, together with former Labour heartlands that turned Conservative for the primary time on the final common election.

The fund rapidly attracted criticism of “pork barrel” politics after analyses discovered that the overwhelming majority of locations benefitting from the money have been held by Tory MPs.

In November 2020, MPs on the general public accounts committee criticised the method by which some cities have been chosen for funding over others, branding it “opaque” and with “every appearance of having been politically motivated”.

While the federal government by no means formally set out a timeline for a second spherical of the cities fund, statements made by Mr Johnson and the housing ministry – which was answerable for it on the time – instructed locations that originally missed out could be given the chance to bid for extra funding.

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A authorities spokesperson confirmed that the cash put aside for a future cities fund had been rolled into the £4.8bn levelling up funds pot “as part of our commitment to streamlining and simplifying our funding programmes”.

The growth comes as Tory MPs develop more and more pissed off with the tempo of levelling up and the sluggish supply of funding.

‘There will likely be offended colleagues’

One Conservative MP who spoke to Sky News stated the levelling up schemes weren’t “operating in the way they were envisioned” and blamed the civil service “blob” for the best way money was diverted.

“We all know that these pots were meant to flow to red wall seats, but haven’t,” they stated.

“You saw in the budget efforts to create levelling up partnerships rather than levelling up funding, because once the blob gets involved the money ends up in posh seats rather than where people actually want it to go.

“It’s perverse, and so I can see why the federal government would need to change the supply fashions.”

A former minister said the move was “cheap” as long as a third round of the levelling up fund took place before the next election “to help communities which have put a lot religion in us”.

“What would not be acceptable could be for a delay to imply the promised funding does not occur – which I am unable to imagine is the intention.”

Another Tory said the move was symptomatic of Mr Sunak not wanting to “decide”.

“The authorities does not need to spend any cash in any respect,” they stated.

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“Kicking and kicking it again most likely helps the federal government, but it surely’s a wierd previous technique.

“I just don’t see how the government properly functions at this rate. Normally they used to say that you build up your enemies at reshuffles, but they seem to be building up enemies whichever way they turn.

“I think about there will likely be offended colleagues.”

The government announced in the March budget that it would inject a further £1bn for a third round of the levelling up fund but a timetable for delivery has yet to be set out.

During a recent debate, Mr Johnson challenged Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove to “speed up” the pace of the “now-stalled” Levelling Up Bill, a cornerstone of the get together’s 2019 election win which is at present tied up within the House of Lords.

His calls have been echoed by a handful of East Midlands Tory MPs, who wrote to Mr Sunak last month urging him to fast-track the Levelling Up Bill – or danger dropping the following common election.

“If the government fails to pass this law… urgently, before the summer… our opportunity to seize this chance and deliver tangible, real-world benefits to our constituents ahead of the next general election will be lost,” they wrote.

‘Yet one other damaged promise’

Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow levelling up secretary, stated: “This is yet another broken promise from this government to our poorest communities.

“A few months in the past we discovered that simply 8% of the levelling up fund has been spent two-and-a-half years after it was introduced, and now we study that ministers have quietly shifted the goalposts on the cities fund.

“This sums up the problem with the Conservatives’ Hunger Games-style bidding system, where local leaders have to go cap-in-hand to Whitehall.

“It leaves communities reliant on a begging bowl in Westminster and helpless when ministers renege on their guarantees.”

A government spokesperson said: “Levelling up stays a long-term programme of reform that’s respiration life into ignored communities.

“As part of our commitment to streamlining and simplifying our funding programmes, the £300m investment that was set aside for a future round of town deals is now being delivered by the levelling up fund.

“All locations have had the chance to use for funding for levelling up initiatives, with virtually £10bn allotted to help round 1,000 initiatives since 2019.”