North Yorkshire’s Levelling Up failure blamed on ‘too many bids for too small a pot’

Last month the government revealed the winners of the second Levelling Up Fund round that saw £2.1bn up for grabs.

Several district councils in the county made bids for funding, including £20m to redevelop Harrogate Convention Centre, £20m to advance Scarborough’s station gateway project and £19.9m to improve Malton Station.

North Yorkshire County Council also submitted a £39.3m bid to upgrade Thirsk, Seamer and Scarborough stations.

In total, bids worth £118.4m were made for projects in the county but only Richmondshire District Council received funding, which will see £19m spent regenerating Catterick town centre in prime minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency.

‘Concerning and disappointing’

At a full meeting of the county council in Northallerton today, Councillor Bryn Griffiths, Liberal Democrat member for Stokesley division, asked Councillor Les why most of the bids in North Yorkshire had failed.

He said: “We don’t seem to be very good at obtaining Levelling Up money do we? Do we know why? What are the reasons? Are our processes wrong or is central government not listening to us?”

Councillor Lindsay Burr, independent member for the Malton division, said the rejections were both “concerning and disappointing” for the county.

She added: “Levelling Up was announced with great fanfare and the majority of residents felt it was a given that Yorkshire would be levelled up.

"Could our leader press central government to ensure Yorkshire can get its fair share?.”

‘Too small a pot’

During the first two rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, 834 bids were submitted but only 216 were successful.

The government scored each bid out of 100 with criteria including deliverability and the characteristics of each place.

It will be opening a third round of funding with a further £1bn available to councils.

Councillor Les said North Yorkshire County Council had received feedback from government on why bids failed but added that he believes not enough money was available for all the bids to be successful.

He said: “We do ask civil servants for feedback and we get that.

"The issue with the fund was there was too many bids for too small a pot.

“I use my powers to urge government to give us more in North Yorkshire, I do that all the time but other leaders around the country do that as well.

"We’ll always bang the drum for North Yorkshire and try to get our fair share.”

Consultants fees

Earlier this month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that Harrogate Borough Council spent £45,000 on consultants to help prepare its failed Levelling Up bid.

Liberal Democrat member for the Kingsley division, Councillor Chris Aldred, asked Councillor Les how much was spent in total in North Yorkshire for consultants to help with bids.

Councillor Les promised to answer his question before the district councils are abolished in just over a month.