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Labour has written to Michael Gove to ask why his department reportedly supported an award of £330,000 from a government fund for a bid to fill potholes on a former Conservative peer’s driveway.
In a letter, shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy demands Mr Gove release the criteria on which the decision was made, explain what steps were taken to ensure Tory councillors weren’t lobbied, and prove taxpayers’ money was protected at all times.
It comes after a report in the Daily Mail alleged that the 8th Viscount Gage used £330,000 of taxpayers’ money to repair his driveway.
The story said the government funds were applied for by Charleston Farmhouse – an independently run museum and art gallery within the grounds of Lord Gage’s Firle Estate. The trust said the track needed repair works after “poor drainage” had corroded it.
However, the mile-long drive itself is owned by Lord Gage himself.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said the money was allocated by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership from their share of the Getting Building Fund to the Charleston Trust.
The Getting Building Fund is a pot totalling £900m worth of grants to deliver jobs, skills, and infrastructure across the country.
The government’s website says the fund’s investment is being targeted “in areas facing the biggest economic challenges as a result of the pandemic”.
“It is supporting the delivery of shovel-ready infrastructure projects, agreed with mayors and Local Enterprise Partnerships to boost economic growth, and fuel local recovery and jobs,” the website adds.
In June 2020, Local Enterprise Partnerships were invited to put forward projects for the Getting Building Fund – particularly those that were “shovel ready”.
Labour has…
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Source : skynews
