Highland councillors have expressed their hope that a new report by the Fraser of Allander Institute would help to “make a case” to the UK Government for a share of its multi-billion pound regional funds.
The UK Government has put significant cash on the table in the form of its Levelling Up Fund, with £4.8 billion designed to support town centre regeneration, transport, and culture and heritage.
However, it’s a competitive fund with local authorities ranked by priority.
Earlier this year, councillors expressed their shock that Highland was ranked in the lowest category, coming in 324th out of 379 local authorities.
‘Unfair’ metrics
Council officials suggested that a lack of data may have caused the low ranking, and commissioned the Fraser of Allander Institute to gather the necessary information.
At a meeting of the recovery, improvement and transformation (RIT) board on Monday, executive chief officer Malcolm Macleod said that the inclusion of certain Highland-specific factors would have made a “significant difference” to its score.
Highland previously received £90m a year under EU funding, so stands to lose substantial investment if it is put to the back of the queue for the forthcoming Shared Prosperity Fund too.
Council leader Margaret Davidson said the Fraser of Allander Institute report would be a useful string in the council’s bow.
She said: “We will wait to see the final version of the report and use it as a tool to make our case not just for the Levelling Up Fund but for the Shared Prosperity Fund, so we don’t get the same mistakes made again and get marginalised because of some unfair metric.”
Radio silence
Highland Council has already submitted bids of £80m to the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Renewal Fund.
Chairman of the RIT board Alasdair Christie highlighted the “exciting” proposals put forward by council.
These include transport investments to support the growth of the NC500, employment opportunities in Wick and zero carbon regeneration projects in Inverness.
“We have as an organisation engaged with all concerned, pointing out how the investment criteria is not really suited to an area like Highland,” said Mr Christie.
“We continue to gather evidence – including the Fraser of Allander report – to press the case that Highland should not be disadvantaged as a result and our applications should be approved.”
The fate of the bids still hangs in the balance, with council officials having had no specific feedback since they were submitted in June.
“I wish there was more to report,” said Mrs Davidson. “There’s been a silence on a lot of things for the last few weeks which we would have hoped to have moved on.”