Stronger Towns Fund - questions and answers
Published 4 March 2019
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stronger-towns-fund/stronger-towns-fund-questions-and-answers
1. What is the fund?
The government acknowledges not all parts of the country have shared in the growth of the UK economy. This new fund will be targeted at towns to create new jobs, help train local people and boost growth.
2. How much is in the fund and for how many years?
The Stronger Towns Fund is a new £1.6 billion fund from 2019 to 2026.
3. How will the fund be allocated?
The fund will be allocated via 2 methods. £1 billion will be allocated using a needs-based formula and £600 million which can be bid for competitively.
4. How were formula allocations calculated?
The formula is based on a combination of productivity, income, skills, deprivation metrics and proportion of the population living in towns. This targets funding at those places with economies that are performing relatively less well to the England average, whose residents are living on lower incomes, and where larger proportions of the population have low skill attainment.
A full list of these notional allocations of the £1 billion can be found below:
| Region | Allocation (£m) |
|---|---|
| North West | 281 |
| North East | 105 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 197 |
| West Midlands | 212 |
| East Midlands | 110 |
| South West | 33 |
| South East | 37 |
| East of England | 25 |
Note: Some regions are not exactly equivalent to NUTS1 region definitions.
5. How will competitive allocations be decided and delivered?
The government recognises that some of our most prosperous regions have pockets of deprivation and neighbourhoods that have not fully benefited from the success of their wider regional economy. That is why we are retaining a portion of the fund to be allocated competitively. As with any competition, the strongest proposals will be supported.
6. What can the fund be spent on?
We want partners across local areas to come together and put forward ambitious proposals that can achieve long-term growth for their towns. Once these proposals become clearer the government will agree specific investments with places.
7. Will you set out any more detail on the fund and how it will be administered?
Government will publish a prospectus to inform the development of local proposals. We want areas to ensure those proposals and their emerging Local Industrial Strategies are aligned, so that these new investments can demonstrate lasting impact. The role of Local Enterprise Partnerships to coordinate these proposals across functional economic areas will be key.
8. What happens if I live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?
The government will seek to ensure towns across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the new funding. This will build on the success of the government’s City and Growth Deals initiatives.