On 27 October, two Levelling Up bids were given the green light by the Government with nearly £40m awarded to Newham Council. This is the largest funding out of the total £65m granted to all London councils. The Fund aims to invest in small-scale infrastructure projects.
Newham Council believes that the funding will support the Borough’s economic growth agenda, develop local skills and it will allow a placemaking approach to developing public spaces in Newham through its Connecting to Opportunity programme. This initiative, related to the use of data and advanced digital technologies, received over £19m.
Another 15 Minute Neighbourhoods scheme was awarded nearly £20m to promote health and wellbeing and tackle the climate emergency through investing in neighbourhood infrastructures. Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, said:
“I’m delighted that both our Levelling Up bids to the government have been successful and we’ve been awarded the full amount that we had bid for. We’ll now get cracking with delivering these much needed programmes for the benefit of our residents and linked to our recovery plans because the economic and health impact of Covid-19 has been huge and damaging for our communities.”
The Council plans to release specific details on the schemes and how the money will be spent by the end of this year.
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