Glasgow MPs fuming after Levelling Up minister suggests that government intervened over round two funding
dailyrecord.co.ukGlasgow MPs have slammed the Government after a minister suggested that areas which received round one Levelling Up funding were prevented from getting funding in the second round.Conservative Levelling Up minister Dehenna Davidson said in a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday evening that when allocating the second fund, ministers "took account of which local authorities had received funding in the first round, noting that that would help to maximise the geographic spread of investment across rounds one and two."Glasgow South West MP Chris Stephens said Davidson's words showed that the Levelling Up fund was "deeply tainted" while Glasgow North East MP Anne McLaughlin called the process as "a scandal".The debate on the Levelling Up Fund Round Two had been called by SNP MP McLaughlin.At the start of the debate she accused the Government of "changing the rules at the eleventh hour."She said: "Glasgow submitted seven bids to the second round, many of which would have helped to redevelop some of the most deprived communities in Scotland. "Officers and councillors spent months preparing the bids to give our communities the best possible chance of securing funding, and the latest estimates are that around £500,000-worth of officer time went into them. "It was a complete waste of effort and a complete waste of the energy, skills and knowledge that Glasgow City Council professionals and councillors alike poured into the bids. "It was waste... [because] it was not possible for them to be successful as the Government changed the rules at the eleventh hour."Davidson later said: "During the final stage of the assessment and decision-making process, Ministers from my Department, the Department for Transport and His Majesty’s Treasury
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