Spring Budget brings Levelling Up cash for Lancashire projects

The Chancellor's Spring Budget included nearly £40m in Levelling Up funding for Blackburn with Darwen and Rossendale.

Blackburn with Darwen has been granted £20m to help pave the way for a brand new skills and education campus of national significance. The proposal is part of the £250m Blackburn Town Centre Masterplan.

Blackburn with Darwen Council submitted two compelling Levelling Up bids to the government last year – securing £20m in January for improvements to Junction 5 of the M65 and transport links in that surrounding area. A second bid to help bring forward the plans for a £60m skills and education campus will now receive £20m of funding too.

Both schemes are central to delivering the Council’s ambitious, long-term growth strategy which links to new major opportunities at Samlesbury Enterprise Zone – including the planned relocation of the Government’s new National Cyber Force HQ.

Coun Phil Riley, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council said: “This is fantastic news for our borough. The Council is carving out a really strong reputation for Blackburn with Darwen as a place to invest and do business and this further cements that.

"When we look at our performance over the last decade, we’re already starting to close the economic gaps against national benchmarks. We’re also outperforming our regional comparators in terms of the economic value of what we generate, the jobs we are creating and the new homes we are providing.

“This new funding will help us build on that and we’re looking forward to working out the finer details with government.”

Meanwhile, Rossendale has secured £17.9m to invest in a series of projects including reconfiguring Rawtenstall market, redeveloping the site of the existing Bacup Market, creating a new centre for skills provision in Rawtenstall and streamlining the gyratory system in Rawtenstall.

Coun Alyson Barnes, leader of Rossendale Council, said: "We’re very pleased to have finally received almost £18m in funding which we first identified in our Levelling Up bid. The council, along with our partners and stakeholders, have worked incredibly hard to maintain the pressure on the government. Ultimately, we have ensured Rossendale has not missed out on what we need.

“Rossendale is already a great place to live, work and invest but with this investment from central government we can make it even better. Traditionally we have had lower skilled jobs in Rossendale, and we want to improve conditions to attract those businesses that will bring with them higher skilled and better paid jobs.

"That includes making our town centres better to attract investment, boosting footfall in the town centres, improving our road system and opening a Skills and Training Centre in the heart of the borough."