Rotherham’s £20m levelling up bid ‘doomed to fail’ after government ‘rigged rules’

RMBC’s bid, which would have seen £20 million invested into Wath and Dinnington, was turned down by the government, as the council had already received almost £40m in the first round of funding.

If approved, the cash would have been used to clear burnt-out buildings in Dinnington, invest in the outdoor market, and create a new public square to enhance the town’s retail and food offer.

In Wath, the existing library would have been demolished and replaced with a mixed-use building, offering a library and exhibition space, sensory provision, , café and commercial units.

On a visit to Birmingham last week, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan claimed that areas successful in the first round of bids could not be successful in round two.

Councillor Chris Read, leader of RMBC, said that the rule change was a “scandal”.

Coun Read added: “The Tories must come clean about this scandal.

“They have encouraged councils like ours to submit bids, spending public money in the process, and then quietly rigged the rules so we could not possibly be successful.

“They told people in Dinnington and Wath that there was money available – and then ensured that there wasn’t.

“Even when they announced the winning bids they still couldn’t admit the truth.

“Remarkably they just seemed to be hoping that no one would notice.

“Conservative MPs including Mr Stafford tried to blame everyone else for not getting the money, but it’s now clear that all those excuses were false; their own ministers had decided it didn’t matter how strong the bid was, they were never going to fund it anyway.”

“We need to know who made this decision and why they chose to cover it up. How widely was this policy discussed within the Conservative Party? Surely all their MPs weren’t oblivious? And critically what they are now going to do to deliver the funding that we need?”

However, Conservative MP for Rother Valley Alexander Stafford claims that the government published how decisions to grant the funding were made, on a “sequential basis”.

He critisised RMBC for not submitting a ‘coherent bid’, and slammed the Labour Council for a lack of “vision or ambition”.

“Dinnington and Wath should never have been in a combined bid, with the most dynamic offering for the latter being a new library,” said Mr Stafford.

“If the Labour Council had done a coherent bid for Rother Valley high streets, as I wanted, then we would have already got the money.

“No one in the Rotherham Labour party has any vision or ambition for any of the former colliery towns in Rother Valley. Their lack of regeneration plans makes it difficult to attract investment or central government funding.

“Rotherham council under Labour have had great success in attracting over £150million of funding in recent years for regeneration and transport infrastructure projects around Rotherham town centre, but unlike neighbouring South Yorkshire authorities they have completely ignored their smaller towns and villages.

“There will be a third round of bidding. The fight goes on to get a better deal for Rother Valley from the Labour-led Rotherham council.”