Levelling Up failings highlighted by analysis of Community Renewal Fund allocations - The Yorkshire Post says

However, the delivery of Levelling Up has been an abject failure. Yes, there have been projects in Yorkshire that have benefitted but the reality is that the policy has not delivered what it was meant to do.

Instead, the piecemeal funding approach has only led to cash-strapped authorities in places like Bradford throwing money at what is essentially a lottery.

Now analysis of the allocation of the government’s Community Renewal Fund (CRF), a cornerstone of its Levelling Up agenda, shows that the North missed out on funding to the tune of £21m.

By contrast, the South West was awarded £9.9m more than its expected share.

The CRF was established to address regional inequalities through investment in place-based initiatives but the current method for allocation runs the risk of widening existing inequalities rather than Levelling Up. The Government will claim that it has made progress but that progress has been glacially slow. And at a time of great economic peril, the failure to level up becomes even more stark. Tackling regional inequalities is the most effective and sustainable way of gearing up the economy.

However, it is not just an economic issue but also one of public health. As Dr Luke Munford, Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Manchester, says: “People in the North live shorter lives and have higher rates of bad health, disability and economic inactivity.”

If the Government hoped to use Levelling Up as a fig leaf for covering up its failings at the next General Election, then it is in for a rude awakening. People are increasingly losing trust in the policy and it is becoming emblematic of failure.