Most levelling projects still unfinished years after funding was allocated
Projects remain incomplete
The figures cover the Future High Streets Fund, launched in 2018, Town Deals, introduced in 2019, and the Levelling Up Fund, which began in 2021. The data shows many projects backed by these programmes are not yet complete.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have had slower delivery despite receiving fewer projects overall. North-west England and Yorkshire also recorded low completion rates, though both had the largest number of projects allocated.
Local schemes face delays
Blackburn with Darwen council received funding for eight projects through the Local Regeneration Fund, and none has been fully completed. In Leeds, all eight funded projects remain open.
Five of Leeds’s projects are in Morley. They include work on the town hall, a learning and skills centre, the station gateway transport scheme, greener connections and a heritage programme that is only partly complete.
Rising costs slow work
Inflation has increased project costs, leading councils to scale back or pause work as their allocated funding buys less. The delays underscore the difficulty of delivering construction and regeneration schemes quickly.
One speaker described levelling up as short-term funding that could improve high streets, but argued that lasting change also requires a long-term plan. The article does not identify that speaker by name.
Concerns over new programme
Labour has introduced Pride in Place, which offers longer-term funding and lets local boards decide how to spend it, rather than requiring councils to compete for grants. The programme provides £2m a year over 10 years, according to a quoted supporter.
Sarah Longlands, chief executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, said capital projects take time and warned that neighbourhood boards could face similar challenges. A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the government is committed to long-term targeted funding and that its Local Regeneration Fund is helping deliver money from earlier programmes faster.
Key points
- Hundreds of projects under three major levelling-up funds remain unfinished.
- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have experienced slower project delivery.
- Inflation has forced councils to scale back or pause some work.
- Sarah Longlands warned Labour’s Pride in Place programme could face delays too.