'Every area' of the country worse off Sheffield MP Louise Haigh claims - as Levelling Up paper is published

A Sheffield MP claims ‘every area’ of the country is worse off than when the Conservatives came to government as more details of the Levelling Up White Paper were revealed.
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Louise Haigh, MP for Heeley, said to ‘truly level up we must invest in our people and businesses’.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, is set to publish wide-ranging plans to close the gap between rich and poor areas of England.

WHAT IS NEW FOR SHEFFIELD IN WHITE PAPER?

Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley.Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley.
Louise Haigh MP for Sheffield Heeley.
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A spokesman said ’this should mean around £13m in extra funding for the Mayoral Combined Authority to transform brownfield sites in South Yorkshire’.

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Louise Haigh said: “At the last election the Tories promised people right across Britain that they would level up their communities. But after 12 years in power, every area of the country is worse off than when they came to government.

WHAT IS LOUISE HAIGH SAYING?

“Here in Sheffield, the government expect us to be grateful for an award of £13million against a backdrop of £215million worth of cuts.

“If the government are serious about truly delivering for all, equally across the country, then they need to be serious about creating jobs so young people have choices and chances.

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“They need to deliver thriving high streets, better public transport, affordable housing and safer communities so there are no ‘no go’ areas for anyone.

“Labour has a plan to invest and create in new jobs and apprenticeships, support local businesses to thrive and provide funding for 100,00 new start-up businesses to grow. To truly level up we must invest in our people and businesses.”

WHAT OTHER FUNDING IS FOR SHEFFIELD?

A DLUHC spokesman said Sheffield was among 20 places to be supported with £1.5bn to regenerate urban sites, the brownfield and regeneration funding was announced at the Spending Review in November.

The spokesman said an additional £3.5 billion was being made available to councils. For Sheffield this was an increase of up to seven per cent compared to last year and worth £3.5m ‘giving them a total core spending power of up to £514.5m’.

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Other existing ‘levelling up’ support included Sheffield’s £37m from the Levelling Up Fund, a £24.1m Towns Deal for Stocksbridge and a £15.8m Future High Streets grant for Sheffield - all announced last year.

There was also £10m over two projects from the Getting Building Fund and £64m from the Local Growth Fund, which ended in 2021.

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