Fifth Report - Local economic growth
Select Committee
Public Accounts Committee
HC 252
8 June 2022
Recommendations
1 results
2
Not Addressed
The Department does not yet have a strong understanding of what works for local growth...
Recommendation
The Department does not yet have a strong understanding of what works for local growth but we welcome its belated commitment to evaluating local growth interventions. It is disappointing that, despite billions spent on local growth over many decades, government …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The response does not address the recommendation of updating on progress with local growth evaluation commitments, and instead discusses internal performance measures and consultations with the sector.
HM Treasury
View Details
Conclusions (9) Observations and findings — click to expand
1
Conclusion
Not Addressed
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (the Department), HM Treasury, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy about Supporting local economic growth.1
Government Response Summary
Acknowledges the report and the evidence session, no commitment to action.
8
Conclusion
LEPS, the business led-partnerships that have been an important part of the local growth landscape over the past decade, will take a back seat going forward as government delivers more funding through local authorities. The Department told us it is encouraging the integration of LEPs and their business boards into …
9
Conclusion
Economic development is a devolved power and, since the late 1990s, local growth funding in the devolved nations has been managed by the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.24 Since 2020 however, central government’s principle local growth programmes have been UK-wide. The Towns Fund, announced in July …
12
Conclusion
We questioned the Department on whether the way in which it was awarding funding might mean some areas missed out multiple times across the various funding pots while others were given several opportunities to get funding.31 The Department explained that successful bidders from round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund …
13
Conclusion
We reminded the Department that when we reported previously on the Towns Fund we had raised concerns over the opacity over some of its decision making.34 In November 2020, we reported that the selection process for awarding the Towns Fund had not been impartial. We said that a lack of …
14
Conclusion
The Department’s accounting officer reasoned that we had discussed and reported on the Towns Fund at quite considerable length and that he felt it had a been a valid and fair process.37 In respect of the Levelling Up Fund, he said that there had been a very high level of …
15
Conclusion
We questioned the Department on the nature and timing of the role for Ministers in making final decisions for the Levelling Up Fund.40 The NAO’s report explains that following an initial pass/fail gateway, officials scored and ranked bids against published criteria and then passed a shortlist of the highest scoring …
16
Conclusion
According to its business case, the Department expected to allocate £720 million of the total £4.8 billion budget in the first round of the Levelling Up Fund. In October 2021, government announced 105 successful bids totalling £1.7 billion for the first round.47 The Department told us that there had been …
17
Conclusion
We queried whether making “up to” £600 million available for 2021–22 at the Spending Review 2020 had set an expectation about the amount that would be awarded in the first year.51 The Department explained that this £600 million was the amount it expected bidders to spend in the first year …