This is an unedited press release from Brent Council published today:
The funding formula for a £4.8billion package of infrastructure investment has been criticised as it does not use standard measures to assess levels of need and has led to London boroughs like Brent missing out on the top priority list.
The Government’s ‘Levelling Up Fund’ details how local authorities can bid for cash to pay for projects that can help boost the economy such as transport improvements, town centre regeneration, culture and heritage.
Every local authority in England has been put into one of three tiers – with tier 1 being those areas deemed most in need of investment. Only two London’s boroughs are in the top tier that mainly contains authorities from northern England.
Out of the three tiers, Brent has been marked down into the second group. This is despite Brent having a relatively high level of unemployment – with 23,160 residents out of work and more than 10 percent of the borough’s working age population claiming unemployment benefits. The average claimant rate across the areas first in line for cash from the Levelling Up Fund is 7 per cent, three per cent lower than Brent.
The Office of National Statistics also shows that Brent is the 38th worst area for average income deprivation out of 314 local authorities in England.
"If the Covid crisis has taught us anything it has proved beyond doubt how unequal our society has become,” says Cllr Muhammed Butt, Brent Council Leader. “We have all been in the same storm but we’re not all in the same boat. Inequality costs lives and prevents people in less well-off areas from reaching their full potential.
“Even when the pandemic is over, the legacy of job losses, reduced hours and poor mental and physical health are all issues that need urgent action. No one should be left behind and levelling up parts of northern England should not be at the expense of diverse boroughs like Brent. The council is determined to make Brent better, fairer and greener but we cannot do this alone. The council is concerned that the criteria used to assess the funding needs of different areas seems to discriminate against London. We are lobbying the Government to change the funding formula and make areas like Brent a priority for investment too.”
Not very clear in Cllr Butt's statement, but it sounds awfully like he is arguing for taking money away from northern England to give to London boroughs like Brent. It would be so refreshing if our Labour Councillors would instead argue for unity between authorities across the country in arguing for the government to fund ALL local authorities properly instead of seeing it as some kind of competition.
ReplyDeleteI thought it sounded like that - and then there's all that unspent Community Infrastructure levy money...
ReplyDeleteI think, by now, and as much as we hate to accept it, we all know there are caveats attached to CIL monies, as determined by central govt. Let's not continue to mislead residents about this. The sole lib dem continues to go on about his alternative budget, why does he not caveat that with the fact that the FD of the council explicitly said Brent's finances would be at risk in subsequent years if it were to have been approved? I'd imagine this includes risk to statutory services. If it had come to that, I'm sure the LDs wouldn't hold back in criticising the council for that too, despite the decision being instigated from their corner. I find it highly irresponsible just to further one's own political career. Truthful transparency would be nice, especially from the opposition, rather than always trying to point score based on, quite frankly, lies/half-baked truths.
ReplyDeleteHonestly could not agree more with the above comment!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is Government guidance on spending of CIL copied and pasted from the website. I think there are plenty of potential projects in Brent on which it could be spent. EXTRACT: What can the Community Infrastructure Levy be spent on?
ReplyDeleteThe levy can be used to fund a wide range of infrastructure, including transport, flood defences, schools, hospitals, and other health and social care facilities (for further details, see section 216(2) of the Planning Act 2008, and regulation 59, as amended by the 2012 and 2013 Regulations). This definition allows the levy to be used to fund a very broad range of facilities such as play areas, open spaces, parks and green spaces, cultural and sports facilities, healthcare facilities, academies and free schools, district heating schemes and police stations and other community safety facilities. This flexibility gives local areas the opportunity to choose what infrastructure they need to deliver their relevant plan (the Development Plan and the London Plan in London). Charging authorities may not use the levy to fund affordable housing.
Local authorities must spend the levy on infrastructure needed to support the development of their area, and they will decide what infrastructure is needed.
The levy can be used to increase the capacity of existing infrastructure or to repair failing existing infrastructure, if that is necessary to support development.
Is there not a published document on SCIL spend that’s in the pipeline? I seem to remember there being something along the lines of that.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you two (Pete Firmin & Martin Francis) resisting the urge to jump into the Tory’s culture war trap. Be embarrassing/harmful if Boris succeeded in turning the liberals (even further) on each other...
ReplyDeleteHi Anon March 21 - yes there is an Annual CIL Report but 2019-20 has not yet been published. This though may be of interest: https://www.brent.gov.uk/media/16417549/brent-infrastructure-funding-statement-2019-20_final.pdf
ReplyDeleteThank you, Martin, for the "link" to a very interesting document!
ReplyDelete