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In the second article in our series about levelling up we explain how the pandemic has materially affected which parts of the UK are in greatest need of financial support.
Many urban areas have been badly affected by the economic hit from COVID-19, but not received money from the government’s new Levelling Up Fund, according to new research from TracktheEconomy based at the University of Nottingham.
Islington in north London is one such place. Its economy was impacted by the pandemic and it also has pockets of severe long-term deprivation. Despite that, it is in the lowest priority category for investment.
Ringcross Community Centre supports people living in the most deprived parts of Islington. More than 10,000 people come through its doors every week to access its foodbank, support services and social groups, but it has struggled with funding in recent years.
Savas Pannas, who runs the centre, says that it would benefit from receiving levelling up money from the government.
“We’ve got the extreme deprivation at the south end of the borough, wealth in the middle and poverty again to the east and the west,” he says. “In amongst all these multimillion pound properties are a lot of people struggling.”
So, why has Islington lost out?
Largely, it is because the first round of levelling up funding was allocated using pre-pandemic data.
This means that the money has mostly gone to the places with the highest long-term deprivation without consideration for the recent economic blow dealt by COVID-19.
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Source : skynews
