Is Salford really less in need of ‘levelling up’ than the rest of Greater Manchester?
manchestereveningnews.co.ukSalford is considered less in need of ‘levelling up’ than all other Greater Manchester boroughs - despite being one of the most deprived areas in the country.
The city is listed in category 2 on the Levelling Up Fund Index of Priority Places for the second round funding. All other boroughs in the region are classed in category 1 - first in line for funding and most in need of levelling up.
Worsley & Eccles South MP Barbara Keeley says the ‘lack of central support’ from the government for a city where constituents are having to choose between heating or eating is ‘appalling’. “In not prioritising Salford, Conservative Ministers are showing that they do not care about the people here and are only interested in making sure the areas they favour get better funding opportunities,” she says. Read more:Plans for multi-million pound ‘boulevard in the sky’ at Salford University While Salford and Eccles MP, Rebecca Long-Bailey, called for the city’s status to be upgraded ‘urgently’ as she says much of Salford is in ‘desperate need’ of regeneration. “That Salford is the only Greater Manchester area not awarded levelling up category 1 priority is fundamentally wrong,” she says.
But the government says the system used to calculate the Index is ‘fair, robust and transparent’. They say the focus is on productivity, unemployment, skills, transport and commercial and dwelling vacancy rates when working out priority.
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