Boris Johnson ‘Needs To Stay Prime Minister And Lead The Tories Into Subsequent Election’

Boris Johnson’s flagship £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund has been hit by “farcical” delays, an MP has stated.

The net portal for purposes stay inaccessible greater than a month after it was scheduled to go reside.

Native authorities bidding for the second tranche of funding have been presupposed to lodge their purposes from Could 31 forward of the deadline on Wednesday, July 6.

Nonetheless, councils are being met with a message on the federal government web site that claims: “Sadly, it has not been attainable to launch the net portal on the deliberate date.”

The fund is a part of Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda – the “defining mission” of his authorities. The purpose is to provide folks and communities that really feel they’ve been left behind an opportunity to catch up.

Labour’s Alex Norris stated there was “rising frustration” from native authorities that the portal was nonetheless not lively.

In a letter to the federal government, the shadow levelling up minister stated: “Communities throughout the nation are determined for funding to rework their native areas after years of neglect. Native authorities have had their budgets slashed over the previous 12 years and this has had direct penalties for the supply of public providers and a deterioration in our cities, villages and excessive streets.

“It’s farcical that communities determined to enhance their native space at the moment are hamstrung by a web based portal that’s inhibiting them from making use of to the Levelling Up Fund. They deserve higher than this.”

Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has prolonged the deadline and bidders have been promised two weeks to ship their purposes.

The portal replaces an email-based system used for the primary spherical of bids however was met with issues in 2021.

Bolton council beforehand missed the deadline to use for a £16m levelling-up grant due to an e mail mishap.

The bid, for the renovation of a city centre growth, was not submitted efficiently as its e mail was too huge to ship, Manchester Evening News reported.

A spokesperson for the levelling up division stated: “We’re working to open the net portal for the second spherical of Levelling Up Fund bids as quickly as attainable.

“As soon as it’s open will probably be reside for 2 weeks to provide candidates time to place their bids in.” They stated additional particulars could be printed sooner or later.