Yesterday the Prime Minister announced the Stronger Towns Fund – a £1.6 billion fund designed to boost growth and give communities a greater say in their future.
£281m of this fund will be available to communities in the North West , with Councils and community groups able to work with their Local Enterprise Partnerships to secure money in order to encourage job creation and fund civic projects. This initiative builds on the government’s City and Growth Deals programmes which devolve power to local communities.
Speaking from Ulverston, Simon Fell, Conservative Spokesman for Barrow and Furness, said:
“There is a tremendous opportunity for towns such as Barrow, Dalton and Ulverston to benefit from this fund. There are so many ways for Barrow & Furness to benefit, from kick-starting long-stalled transport improvements, to delivering targeted programmes to help get people into work.
“Our councils need to put politics behind them and pull together to ensure that Barrow & Furness puts in a robust bid for funding. I will be lobbying James Brokenshire, the Communities Secretary, to ensure that Furness gets a fair shake and that our communities see real improvements from the Stronger Towns Fund.”
