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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what awards have been made from the Towns Fund; to which projects those awards have been made; and what the value is of each such grant awarded.

On 27 October, we announced the first seven offers of Town Deals, worth almost £180 million in total, for Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Darlington, Norwich, Peterborough, Torquay and Warrington. These landmark deals will see millions invested in projects across the country including updating Blackpool’s famous Illuminations for a return to tourism, the modernisation of Torquay town centre and plans for low carbon-living in Peterborough.

In September, we announced accelerated funding for all 101 towns selected to work with Government to develop a Town Deal. This was to support capital projects that would help them address the immediate impacts of Covid-19. Each town received a grant of £500,000, £750,000 or £1 million, depending on population size. This funding is supporting a range of projects including new green spaces, pop-up business spaces and walking and cycling routes. Further details of the accelerated funding are also here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/80-million-boost-to-towns.

Further announcements will be made in due course.