Council may shelve future levelling up cash bids after being 'ignored' by ministers
The leader of Wolverhampton Council says the authority may not bid for any more levelling up cash after being "ignored" in the latest round of funding.
Councillor Ian Brookfield said the city's two failed bids to the Government's Levelling Up Fund were likely to have cost the authority £60,000 to put together.
The Labour-run council wanted £40m for a health and regeneration programme in Bilston and a green innovation corridor in Springfield, but both schemes were rejected by ministers.
In total just three out of 18 bids submitted from the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham were successful, in a round of bidding that saw more than £2bn handed out to areas across the country.
The fund was launched by Boris Johnson in 2021 with the intention of reducing regional inequalities.
Councillor Brookfield said Wolverhampton would think twice about bidding in future and called for funding to be devolved to local authorities.
He said: "Look at some of the other areas like Richmond in South Yorkshire that received money, do they really need levelling up in relation to places like Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Dudley?
"I don't think so. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. It's a very expensive process putting these bids together. They cost tens of thousands of pounds and when you look across the country hundreds of areas didn't get a penny.
"It's just a waste of public money and it makes no sense that we have got into this bidding culture where we are up against other local authorities.
"We'll be looking at future bids and asking 'is it worth it at the end of the day?'
"Everyone realises the West Midlands needs levelling up, so to ignore so many bids is wrong. Instead of having mandarins down in Whitehall deciding out futures, that money should be devolved to the local authorities who are best placed to utilise it."
Wolverhampton North East MP Jane Stevenson, who worked with the council on the Springfield bid, has vowed to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to see where the bids "fell short".
"I hope the council will then be able to revise and resubmit our bids for the next round," she said.
In last year's first round of funding the city received £20m for its new learning quarter after putting together a bid with Wolverhampton South West MP Stuart Anderson.
