• SP
Choose your location?
  • Global Global
  • Australian flag Australia
  • French flag France
  • German flag Germany
  • Irish flag Ireland
  • Italian flag Italy
  • Polish flag Poland
  • Qatar flag Qatar
  • Spanish flag Spain
  • UAE flag UAE
  • UK flag UK

Levelling Up Fund Round 3 – Fifty five local authorities win £1bn public funding

21 November 2023

On 20th November 2023, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced the winners of the third round of the Levelling Up Fund allocating £1bn of public funding to 55 local authorities.  In a surprise move, a decision was made to move away from the challenge fund approach used to allocate the first £3.8bn, instead awarding the remaining £1bn of funding to the best bids submitted in Round 2 that failed to secure funding. 

Introduction

The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund is the Government's major regeneration programme, providing grants to support capital investment projects across the United Kingdom since 2021.

It is a highly competitive fund – in Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund there were 529 bids submitted, of which just 20.9% (111) were successful.  This included Lancashire County Council’s Eden Project Morecambe, Ashford Borough Council's international film studio and Gateshead Council’s Gateshead Quays Conference Centre and Area.  The chances of securing funding were slightly better in Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, when 105 (34.4%) of the 305 bids were successful.

Announcement of Round 3 LUF winners

On Monday 20th November 2023 the Secretary of State for Levelling Up announced the winners of the third round of the Levelling Up Fund.

The remaining £1bn has been awarded using a new methodology as set out by DLUHC, based upon considering bids from the second round which missed out on funding. In doing so, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities officials, considered metrics based upon Levelling Up Need as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, ranking local authorities against 4 metrics which cover skills, pay, productivity and health.

The Levelling Up Fund Round 3 winners are:

LA Name

Bid Name

Bid Value (£)

Birmingham

National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat

£19,999,260

Blackpool

Blackpool Town Centre Access Scheme (TCAS) - regeneration focused transport investment

£15,385,023

Bolton

Bolton Town Centre North Regeneration Project

£20,000,000

Bradford

Enhancing Keighley engineering, manufacturing, and economic role in the region

£19,814,140

Carmarthenshire

Regenerating Llanelli

£15,547,105

Cheltenham

National Cyber Innovation Centre

£20,000,000

Chorley

Town Centre Improvements and Civic Square Development

£20,000,000

Croydon

Reconnected Croydon

£18,498,777

Denbighshire

Tackling Deep Rooted Denbighshire Deprivation through Pride of Place & Natural Environment

£19,973,283

Doncaster

Levelling Up Doncaster North

£17,950,341

Dudley

Levelling Up Halesowen

£20,000,000

Dudley

Brierley Hill Education Quarter

£20,000,000

Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway Transport Bid

£13,752,000

Dumfries and Galloway
(with Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire)

Three Rivers Active Tourism Project

£22,809,416

Enfield

Levelling Up Angel Edmonton

£11,902,562

Glasgow City

Drumchapel Town Centre Regeneration

£14,979,646

Gloucester

Greyfriars Quarter Regeneration

£11,002,685

Gosport

Reconnecting Historic Gosport Waterfront

£18,117,915

Gravesham

St George’s Square

£20,000,000

Isle Of Wight

Island Green Link

£13,634,420

Kirklees

Huddersfield Open Market Regeneration Project (HOMH)

£16,649,855

Kirklees

Penistone Line Rail Upgrade

£47,917,122

Leeds

Heart of Holbeck

£15,949,291

Leicester

Connecting St Margaret’s

£12,177,706

Manchester

Regenerating Wythenshawe Town Centre

£20,000,000

Moray

Elgin City Centre Masterplan: Levelling Up Moray

£18,291,000

Neath Port Talbot

Newbridge Active Travel Link and Dock Access

£12,166,268

Neath Port Talbot

Port Talbot Town Centre Regeneration

£14,835,600

Newark And Sherwood

Shaping Sherwood Revival

£19,995,358

Newcastle Upon Tyne

River Tyne Regeneration Infrastructure

£19,417,075

North Ayrshire (with South Ayrshire)

Levelling Up For Ayrshire: Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure

£37,456,821

North Lincolnshire

Scunthorpe Town Centre Vibrancy

£15,867,608

Norwich

Mile Cross Health, Wellbeing and Economic Activity

£7,583,515

Nottingham

Bulwell Town Centre Regeneration

£19,867,000

Pembrokeshire

Westgate to Eastgate: Levelling Up Pembroke Town

£10,543,627

Plymouth

Plymouth and South Devon Freeport (Freeport) Accelerating Plymouth Waterfront Regeneration

£19,946,417

Powys

Promoting recreational tourism in Powys through transport investment

£17,714,498

Sandwell

Grove Lane

£18,063,128

Sheffield

Parkwood Springs

£19,389,336

Somerset

A Vision for Tonedale 2022

£19,987,663

South Derbyshire

Swadlincote Town Centre

£1,108,000

South Lanarkshire

National Business District: Shawfield - Remediation and Development

£14,637,600

South Tyneside

South Shields Riverside Transformation

£20,000,000

Stafford

Stafford Station Gateway

£19,998,144

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton North - Billingham Town Centre

£20,000,000

Tameside

Destination Denton

£16,764,793

Test Valley

Andover Revealed

£18,316,968

Torbay

Brixham Fish and Hi Tech Chips

£20,000,000

Vale Of Glamorgan

Barry Making Waves - Y Barri Creu Tonnau

£19,856,251

Wakefield

The Ridings Wakefield

£15,255,684

Watford

Create Watford

£16,021,788

Westmorland and Furness

Heart of Kendal

£13,476,700

Wigan

Leigh Town Centre

£11,389,554

Wirral

Renewal of Liscard Town Centre

£10,788,000

Wolverhampton

Green Innovation Corridor

£19,992,245

 

Subsidy Control compliance in the Levelling Up Fund

Since the bids for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund were submitted by local authorities the United Kingdom has put in place a new Subsidy Control regime.  Therefore it is anticipated that successful bids will need to submit updated subsidy control advice to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, most likely including a review as to whether the measure can fit within the Levelling Up Fund Subsidy Scheme.

Conclusion

The announcement of the third round of the Levelling Up Fund is not a surprise, given Michael Gove's announcement in October that the competition would be launched before the Autumn Statement.  However, there will be surprise that the winners are to be picked from the second round competition run in 2022.  Naturally the areas which have secured funding will be delighted, whereas the unsuccessful bidders may well wish that the Government had given them the opportunity to present a new, updated case as to why their projects deserve investment.

DWF have a market leading Subsidy Control team, so are on hand should your Levelling Up Fund application require Subsidy Control advice.

Further Reading