Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department applied the Government's rural proofing process when determining recipients of Levelling Up Fund grants.

The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK. As set out in the Prospectus and Technical Note published on GOV.UK, all applications to the Levelling Up Fund were fairly and robustly assessed against the published criteria. Through the strategic fit criteria, applicants were invited to set out how their plans aligned to local challenges, strategic plans and wider local and national policy priorities.

Round one of the Levelling Up Fund invested £1.7 billion in 105 projects that will benefit a broad range of rural and urban communities, such as Carmarthenshire County Council’s ‘Tywi Valley Path’ project, which will create economic opportunity and improve accessible transport links in rural Carmarthenshire.

The second round of the Levelling Up Fund will open in spring 2022, and further details will be shared in due course