A Liverpool Council cabinet member expressed his “disappointment and anger” after the city missed out on much needed investment from government.
Despite submitting bids for a number of projects across the city as part of the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, it was confirmed on Wednesday that Liverpool would be bypassed for investment all together. The fund is a £5bn pot set up to invest in previously overlooked areas of the UK in need of support with infrastructural and development projects.
The cash reserve is a key part of the government’s Levelling Up agenda which helped deliver the Conservative’s general election victory in 2019. The Michael Gove-led Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced which applications had been successful on Wednesday evening.
READ MORE: Live updates as fire rips through derelict former nursery
Liverpool Council had put forward an application for cash to upgrade the West Everton area, in particular Great Homer Street Market and further enhance Paddington Village. Both were turned down in this second round of cash grants from Whitehall.
In the first round of bids, announced in October 2021, Liverpool’s waterfront was chosen for government investment. Addressing a meeting of the city council’s culture and visitor economy committee, Cllr Harry Doyle said there was “sheer disappointment and anger” at how Liverpool missed out as the city council had been “really positive about the piece of work” it had done around Great Homer Street market.
Cllr Doyle said the bid for West Everton straddled two of the city’s most deprived wards in the country and could have been “transformational” for new businesses and small traders. Turning his ire to the Prime Minister, the cabinet member said he was angry due to Rishi Sunak’s own constituency in North Yorkshire receiving around £19m from the pot despite being one of the wealthier areas in the UK.
He described the Levelling Up fund as a “sham” of a scheme and said the government was “levelling down.” The only thing they were hoping to level up was their chances at the next general election, he said.
Cllr Doyle added: “Our region has been ignored by the government and we shouldn’t ignore that.” Fellow Labour member Cllr William Shortall also directed his frustration at the Conservatives, saying the lack of party members within Liverpool Council was “no excuse” for government ministers to ignore the city when it came to funding bids.
Disappointment also came from opposition members, including Liberal Democrat Cllr Pat Moloney, who was also critical of how the cash had been allocated, saying it was “not a surprise, it’s an expectation” of how the government looks at Liverpool. He said decision makers in Westminster were “discriminating” and had their own redistribution of wealth agenda.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
READ NEXT
Boy, 15, storms out dock as he's found guilty of beating man to death
Hotel's perfect reply to guest who took one look at room and left
'Loner' jailed after taking hundreds of photos of women's bottoms
DWP PIP, Universal Credit and other benefit payments set to increase as new weekly rates unveiled