Different approach needed to secure funding for Calderdale areas that don't meet Government remits

Calderdale Council has successfully bid for millions of pounds of money from Government pots made available, including the Town Fund and Future High Streets funding.

At full council, Coun James Baker (Lib Dem, Warley) said there were many other parts of Calderdale, lower super output areas (in Government terms, smaller parts of a council ward) which were among the top 20 per cent most deprived in the country and needed help.

There were some projects, numbering almost 30, throughout the borough but these did not cover everywhere.

“What plans are you going to bring forward for all of those other areas with a high level of economic deprivation which are missing out on the levelling up agenda and the ambitious regeneration strategy that the council has?” he asked Cabinet members.

Cabinet member for Regeneration and Strategy, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said a lot of effort was being put into getting external monies to lift Calderdale’s market towns.

“However, we are very, very well aware of the issues to do with the very small areas.

“What we are doing is basically looking at ways in which we can aggregate particular schemes and particular areas and we look forward to seeing what’s going to come out of the Shared Prosperity Fund, about which we’ll be clearer about the details soon, I hope,” she said.

Coun Scullion said it was also believed that after the local elections a “round two” of Levelling Up funding was to be announced and the council would have to see what the bid criteria was.

She said the council was very determined to seek creative ways to secure funding for those areas outside of the towns that have not really had a crack of the whip so far from the Government’s schemes.

Sometimes the council struggled with the criteria Government set down to be able to bid, the borough’s small size coming into effect.

A parallel was the Brownfield fund, which has very strict criteria which many Calderdale sites did not meet on their own.

“Again, we are looking at aggregating and how we can make the case – we should look on a programme basis rather than a project by project basis,” she said.

* Support your Halifax Courier by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe