Councils have called for the remaining £1bn in the Levelling Up Fund to be ‘allocated on the basis of robust evidence and local need’.
It comes amid mounting criticism of ‘resource intensive and costly’ competitive bidding from the Centre for Cities think-tank and MPs on the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee.
In a new briefing, Centre for Cities argued a ‘single pot’ of funding for local growth – as put forward by former deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine in his 2012 report No Stone Unturned – ‘could realise economic potential more effectively than the current system relying on competitive bids’.
A Centre for Cities spokesperson said: ‘Future grant systems should consolidate funding into a single pot, set long-term five-year timescales, and allocate funds strategically and non-competitively.’
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