THE HUNGER
GAMES

A piecemeal approach to funding

Feedback at real estate industry events attended by local government leaders from across the country has reflected frustration at what some regard as a piecemeal approach to Levelling Up funding, and of the spectacle
of pitting one council
against another.

At the UKREiiF conference in Leeds during
the Spring, for example, more than one
leader likened the process to
fictional fights to the death
in The Hunger Games.

Similarly, questions are asked about whether an approach based around a series of individual interventions will achieve the policy aims. The funding awards may be valuable in their local context but risk falling short of tackling the underlying causes of disparity. In the case of hard to tackle challenges such as the housing crisis, pan-regional transport connectivity, and decarbonisation, the jury still seems out on whether the right set of interventions exists to achieve transformational change. The panel debated whether one big settlement left was more useful than a series of individual interventions. For all the drawbacks around cost of bidding, the criticism the of tiering criteria, and risk of piecemeal regeneration, large scale funding awards have different kinds of risk.

What is more important with the funding?

Individual interventions for local smaller projects
Tackling the underlying causes of disparity to achieve policy aims

We've all seen big projects where actually a lot of money can be wasted. Smaller schemes are perhaps a bit more focused and deliverable within the strict timescales linked to the funding. Does this raise enough ambition?”

Alan Richards, Southend-on-Sea City Council

All the panellists felt that political change across the region in recent local elections added to the feeling that securing a devolution deal and delivering a Greater Essex Combined Authority would not be straightforward.

“There’s a huge amount of work to do as the leaders form their new administrations, and to some extent, we are all seeing where the land lies in terms of Greater Essex devolution,” said Alan Richards.

He also reflected favourably on his own experiences of working collaboratively through the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) – “They are very active and working to great inroads into a range of issues, including housing and digital infrastructure. ASELA has enabled a different way of working with our partners both across the private, the public sector.”