Dear Colleague
As you are aware, on 27 July the Prime Minister announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund, which continues the Government’s work in levelling up our regions. This was followed on 6 September with my invitation to 100 places to develop proposals for Town Deals.
We have now published the Towns Fund prospectus which sets out the objective for the Fund and provides detail on how local leaders can prepare for a Town Deal. The prospectus will be online on GOV.UK, and is enclosed within this letter. I am also laying a Written Ministerial Statement in the House.
Town Deals will provide the significant investment in land use, economic assets including cultural assets, skills and enterprise infrastructure, and connectivity that these places need to boost productivity and sustainably raise living standards. Towns will have bright futures ahead of them, as great places to live, work and learn.
Should it be the case that one or more of these places is in your constituency, you will have received an additional letter from me with further information. For places that were not identified within this initial 100, there will be a competitive element of the Fund, and more details will be announced on the competitive element in due course.
The Fund and associated prospectus specifically relates to English towns, and the Barnett formula will be applied in the normal way to investment for England at the Spending Review. We remain open to working on Town Deals in the Devolved Administrations, and there is nothing in the envisaged announcement which prevents us from agreeing this with them in due course.
I hope these Town Deals will provide the investment and the impetus for long-term growth of our towns, allowing communities to prosper across the country.
RT HON ROBERT JENRICK MP