The full cost of Oldham Council's bids for Levelling Up cash

Oldham Council spent £131,587 in total on ‘bids’, or detailed proposals, for round two of levelling up funding for a ‘Green Technology Innovation Network’ and a ‘Creative Improvement District’.

The majority of this cash, however, was funded by a £125,000 grant from central government putting the cost to the local authority at £6,587.

The figures come after a Freedom of Information Act request to the council asking how much it spent on the last two rounds of levelling up funding.

Leaders have previously criticised the system of funding distribution which leads to areas competing against each other to try to win public funding.

Successful bids for round two of the levelling up fund were revealed in January, following a delay.

While the council was successful bidding for the Green Technology Innovation Network, winning £20m in Government funding, it failed in its bid for another £20m to create a ‘Creative Improvement District,’ which would have seen the refurbishment of the Lyceum Theatre and Masonic Hall.

The successful bid will also be used to develop a learning centre at the Northern Roots site, the project that will become the UK’s largest urban farm on land at Snipe Clough near Alexandra Park

Overall, £60,967 was spent creating the failed bid for the Creative Improvement District.

The successful bid, which covered the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency, was put forward last summer to support the borough’s ‘green new deal’ commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030.

It will enable the creation of new spaces for green businesses and a new Learning Centre offering vocational courses to strengthen environmental skills.

Criticism of bid process

Regional leaders have previously criticised the competitive bidding system in the UK, with local councils having to submit bids for funding to the government, effectively competing against each other.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has previously criticised the bidding process

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has previously called for a German-style approach to levelling up.

Writing an opinion piece in national newspaper The Guardian in January, the mayor praised the German approach to levelling up, which includes provisions in its constitution to ensure public financial equality and redistribution of funding.

The mayor went on to call for the government to give Greater Manchester funding in a single grant, in a similar way to how Scotland and Wales get funding.

Cllr Amanda Chadderton, Oldham Council leader, said: “The Government allocated £125,000 grant funding to the Council to develop the two levelling up bids.

“The bidding process was complex and required specialist and technical advice, which exceeded the grant allocation by £6,587 – but the consequence was that Oldham was one of only three boroughs in Greater Manchester to successfully be awarded Levelling Up funding.

“That project has a value of £20m and will support the growth of green tech jobs, which are critical to improving the socio-economic wellbeing for people in Oldham and will enhance our successful enterprising business economy.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was contacted for comment on this piece.

Millions spent on bidding nationwide

Prior to the announcement of the allocation of round two of levelling up funding in mid-January, publication NationalWorld revealed that councils had spent millions preparing bids for the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (round one), Towns Deal, Community Renewal Fund and Future High Streets Fund since 2019.

Overall, the publication found that councils across the country had spent more than £26 million on bids, of which more than £5 million of public money had been spent preparing unsuccessful bids.