PM announces £1 billion fund for left-behind towns

55 towns are set to receive a share of £1.1 billion levelling up investment.

There will be 6 in the North East, 10 in the North West, and 4 in the West Midlands, along with 7 towns in Scotland and 4 in Wales.

The towns will receive a ten-year £20 million endowment-style fund to be spent on local people’s priorities, like regenerating local high streets and town centres or securing public safety. They will set up a Town Board to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, to deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town and put it to local people for consultation.

The towns will also use a suite of regeneration powers to unlock more private sector investment by auctioning empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants, and supporting more housing in town centres.

The ‘Long-Term Plan for Towns’ was published on 1 October and is designed to complement the wider levelling up programme, working alongside funding for specific projects across the UK.

The Long-Term Plan for Towns will require town boards to develop their own long-term plan for their town, with funding over 10 years. The long-terms plans will focus on issue that research shows people want the most, including:  improving transport and connections to make travel easier for residents and increase visitor numbers in centres to boost opportunities for small businesses and create jobs; tackling crime and anti-social behaviour to keep residents safe and encourage visitors through better security measures and hotspot policing; and enhancing town centres to make high streets more attractive and accessible, including repurposing empty shops for new housing, creating more green spaces, cleaning up streets or running market days.  

Prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said: "Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities.  

"The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.  

"That changes today. Our Long-Term Plan for Towns puts funding in the hands of local people themselves to invest in line with their priorities, over the long-term. That is how we level up."

Levelling up secretary, Michael Gove said: "We know that in our towns the values of hard work and solidarity, common sense and common purpose, endeavour and quiet patriotism have endured across generations. But for too long, too many of our great British towns have been overlooked and undervalued.  

"We are putting this right through our Long-Term Plan for Towns backed by over £1 billion of levelling up funding.   

"This will empower communities in every part of the UK to take back control of their future, taking long term decisions in the interests of local people. It will mean more jobs, more opportunities and a brighter future for our towns and the people who live and work in them."

A full list of towns is available on gov.uk, it includes Mansfield, Boston, Worksop, Skegness, Barry (Vale of Glamorgan) and Kilmarnock.