SALFORD GETS SHAFTED ONCE MORE AS GOVERNMENT RULES IT IS NOT AS IN NEED OF LEVELLING UP AS THE REST OF GM

It is fair to say that Salford has witnessed a property boom across parts of the city over the past few years, with a new high-rise or housing development seemingly given the go-ahead every other week.

However, despite boasting more affluent areas like Salford Quays, MediaCityUK, Boothstown and Worsley, it has its fair share of areas that are in dire need of a little assistance to level up.

You only have to take a trip into Little Hulton, Eccles, Walkden or Ordsall, to name but a few, in order to understand the challenges people living in the less affluent areas of Salford face on a daily basis.

For these families, it comes as a huge smack in the mouth when you consider it just so happens that Richmondshire has been placed into category 1 and rather coincidentally Richmondshire is also Chancellor Rishi Sunak ’s parliamentary constituency. Is Salford really in less need than a North Yorkshire district which was named as the happiest place in the UK, according to the governments own measure of wellbeing.

The whole fund seems very clearly to be skewed towards Tory held areas.

Continual cuts to the local authorities budgets have not helped matters with a £232m stripped away since 2010/11. Those cuts have had a huge impact locally and that is hard to notice.

As the cost of living crisis bites hard, people in those areas are looking at poverty never seen in modern times, as the cost of heating and eating dramatically rise.

Unfortunately the Government doesn't seem to agree and has placed Salford in category 2 within its Levelling Up Fund index, which makes it the only region of Greater Manchester that has not made it into the top category.

Rather absurdly, this shocking decision comes as Salford is placed 18th in the list of most deprived local authorities within the country and this is according to the Governments own index.

Something about this just clearly does not add up and should be amended right away.

However, the government says the system used to calculate the Index is "to quote", one which is  ‘fair, robust and transparent’.

One of the reasons given for placing the city into category 2 is unbelievably, £6m in funding awarded to Salford for early infrastructure works at Port Salford.

A spokesperson for the department said:

Quote

 

“The metrics used to calculate the Levelling Up Fund Index is fair, robust and transparent and are published online. They fully consider the objectives of the fund, which are to invest in local transport, regeneration and growth to level up areas which need it the most.

“Salford has received £13.17 million from our Levelling Up Fund so far to help drive regeneration and boost the local economy. There will be further funding opportunities for Salford through the second round of the fund which will open shortly.”