Plan for Towns government scheme will see further £20m pumped into Newark under levelling-up agenda say Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick

Newark is to receive an extra £20m from the government as it further splashes the cash on levelling up the regions, it can be revealed.

55 towns, among them Newark, are to given £20m endowment-style funds each over 10 years to invest in local people’s priorities.

It is extra to the £25m already allocated to Newark under the Towns Fund scheme, which is already being spent on key revival projects such as the Air and Space Institute and the redevelopment of the former Marks and Spencer store site.

The government said long-term Plan for Towns will empower communities across the UK to take back control of their future – taking long term decisions in the interests of local people.

Funding can be spent on local priorities; reviving high streets, tackling anti-social behaviour, culture, improving transport and growing the local economy.

It £1.1 billion levelling up investment, is part of a long-term plan for towns that provide long-term investment in towns that have been overlooked and taken for granted.

Towns that will be given the opportunity to develop a long-term plan supported by a Towns Board.

Under the new approach, local people, not Whitehall-based politicians, will be put in charge, and given the tools to change their town’s long-term future.

Community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, will deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town and put it to local people for consultation.

The government said more than half the population live in towns, but half-empty high streets, run-down town centres and anti-social behaviour undermine towns in every part of the UK.

It said today’s announcement marks a change in approach that will put an end to people feeling like their town is ignored by Westminster and empower communities to take back control of their future.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities.

“The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.

“That changes today. Our Long-Term Plan for Towns puts funding in the hands of local people themselves to invest in line with their priorities, over the long-term. That is how we level up.”

Our ‘Long-Term Plan for Towns’, published today, is carefully designed to complement the wider levelling up programme, working alongside funding for specific projects across the UK, our targeted support to the places most in need through Levelling Up Partnerships, and initiatives supporting economic growth in wider city regions like investment zones.

Cash can be used for improving transport and connections to make travel easier for residents and increase visitor numbers in centres to boost opportunities for small businesses and create jobs.

It can be used for tackling crime and anti-social behaviour to keep residents safe and encourage visitors through better security measures and hotspot policing.

And, enhancing town centres to make high streets more attractive and accessible, including repurposing empty shops for new housing, creating more green spaces, cleaning up streets or running market days.

Newark MP Robert Jenrick, who established the Towns Fund, said: “I’m over the moon that Newark will receive another massive injection of funding from the government to improve skills, culture and tourism, housing and to help regenerate the town centre.

“I created the Towns Fund almost exactly four years ago as Secretary of State for Local Government with the conviction that towns and smaller cities, especially in the Midlands and the north had been overlooked and under invested in by central government for too long.

“As a Midlander through and through, proud of the many historic towns like Newark across the country, I wanted to them to be invested in and knew how hard it is for smaller places to attract big sums of capital investment.

“I also knew that contrary to the London media view that social mobility and deprivation challenges can only exist in large cities, there are many issues in smaller places and we need to boost opportunities in towns like Newark for young people especially.

“At the time there was a lot of criticism from the Labour Party and left wingers, who disagreed and said all investment should be pumped into big cities like Nottingham and London, as had been throughout my life.

“Some local and national Labour politicians said Newark should never have been given the money as it was too affluent.

“Needless to say the Towns Fund proved one of the most popular policies of the 2019 General Election as millions of people in towns and rural Britain saw that the government actually cared about their concerns.

“I’m proud to have created the fund that ultimately ensured Newark got the biggest government investment in its recent history.

“The Newark Towns Fund is pursuing the new space and engineering college, which is being built by Cattle Market roundabout and which aims to improve vocational education for young people.

“It is also turning the old M&S site on Stodman Street into town centre housing, which needs to happen at pace now as there are too many empty shops which are unlikely to filled again with changing habits.

“It has been proposed that funding also enables a new tourism project at Newark Castle gatehouse.

“The future of the St Marks site has also been considered and seems a sensible idea to me.

“We need to use this funding to leverage private sector investment also.

“The state can’t and shouldn’t do everything and successful towns need local investors and entrepreneurs to be actively involved.

“It is critical that Newark and Sherwood deliver these projects swiftly and ensure value for money for the taxpayer.

“It would be devastating if the opportunities provided by over £40m of investment were not realised.

“I will be working closely with them to ensure we choose the right projects and above all, deliver for the people of Newark.”