Following the chancellor’s delivery of the budget, papers including the Guardian and The Financial Times have reported on calls for the Government to publish the criteria by which £4.8bn of ‘levelling up’ funds are being allocated, as Labour Leader Keir Starmer claimed that Conservative areas were being favoured.

The reports revealed that Richmondshire in Chancellor Rishi Sunak MP’s constituency in rural North Yorkshire was being treated as a category one area for receipt of money from the fund, while areas including Barnsley and Salford were in the second tier.

This follows criticisms that emerged from the Budget, when two other new fund announcements both also appeared to favour Conservative-held areas. The Chancellor announced £1bn in extra money for an existing towns fund, intended to help struggling areas. Of the 45 new grants unveiled this week, 39 will go to towns with a Conservative MP. A community renewal fund, with a total spend of £220m, will also benefit Sunak’s Richmondshire region.

Full article:

The Guardian - Tories accused of levelling up 'stitch-up' over regional deprivation fund

The Financial Times - UK Budget: the long road to levelling up