Towns Fund: Spring Statement Review

The Chancellor of the Exchequer - in last week’s Spring Statement - reaffirmed plans to level up the regions, following on from the previously announced Levelling Up White Paper.

These are the five key takeaways to remember about the March 2022 Spring Statement. Two points relate to government’s continued mission on Levelling Up. Three points focus on the challenge of managing inflation, energy prices and consumer spending power. While these points may not immediately appear to relate to Towns Fund, they will be important for your residents and businesses.

Levelling Up in the Spring Statement:

1.     Levelling Up Fund: Round Two

The government is also launching the second round of the Levelling Up Fund, inviting bids to come forward. This Fund provides £4.8 billion for local infrastructure projects, with £1.7 billion already allocated to 105 successful projects from the first round.

2.     A ‘Culture of Enterprise’

To deliver ‘a new culture of enterprise’, the following priorities were identified by the Chancellor:

• Capital — cutting and reforming taxes on business investment to encourage firms to invest in productivity-enhancing assets 

• People — encouraging businesses to offer more high-quality employee training and exploring whether the current tax system is doing enough to incentivise businesses to invest in the right kinds of training  

• Ideas — delivering on the pledge to increase public investment in R&D and doing more through the tax system to encourage greater private sector investment in R&D 

This will continue the plan of action to ensure investment is generated in the areas that need it most. 

Inflation and consumer spending power:

3.     Fuel Duty Reduction

It was announced that Fuel Duty would be cut immediately by 5p per litre.

4.     Energy: All eyes on upcoming Energy Security Plan

VAT was scrapped on energy efficient installations for homeowners. The Spring Statement also looked towards the upcoming Energy Security Plan which will provide more detail on how we can secure the UK’s energy supplies.

5.     Income Tax: The basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20p to 19p in 2024.

The additional focus on productivity within the Spring Statement was also outlined as an opportunity to drive improvements in living standards and wider quality of life that will support Levelling Up across the UK, through existing funding pots and programmes like the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund.

If you have any specific queries about what these opportunities may mean for your Town, please contact your CLGU Area Lead or your Town Coordinator.