The Department told us that getting started on delivery was, in many cases, taking longer than expected but that it did not want to penalise places now that they had got through the assessment process. We heard that delays have often been for good reasons such as areas taking more time to ensure they have got other project funders in place.54 We asked if the Department had any concerns that bidders may have got through the selection process by being overoptimistic about how ‘shovel ready’ their projects really were, while other—more realistic—bidders may have missed out. The Department told us it did not have any reason to believe that places had been over optimistic.55 47 C&AG’s report, para 3.26 48 Q 60 49 Qq 61, 63 50 Qq 63, 105 51 Q 94 52 Q 95 53 Qq 97–98 54 Q 97 55 Q 99 14 Local economic growth 2 Monitoring, evaluation and oversight Accountability for Levelling Up Outcomes