Andrew Gwynne MP - | Denton and Reddish losing out in ‘funding fix’, says Andrew Gwynne MP

Denton and Reddish losing out in ‘funding fix’, says Andrew Gwynne MP

Local MP Andrew Gwynne today accused Ministers of a “funding fix” which benefits areas with higher wages and means the Greater Manchester region will lose out on around £300,000 to boost the local economy, with the North West region as a whole losing out on around £1.5m.

The Government recently set out plans to distribute £500 million via local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) for infrastructure spending to generate jobs and growth.

But Andrew Gwynne MP said:

“Instead of dividing up the money by using a well established economic measure like employment, Ministers have invented a measure which has never been used before called ‘employed earnings’ based on average wages.

“This funding fix results in more money being given to more affluent areas. Our area is being cheated of funding for new jobs while the big winners will be the Tory Home Counties like Berkshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.”

The extent of the local funding loss is set out in figures prepared for John Healey MP by the House of Commons Library.

Andrew Gwynne MP added: “This Tory-led Government says ‘we’re all in it together’ and claims to be concerned about the whole country but this funding fiddle is skewing grants to the wealthiest areas. It will reinforce rather than reduce existing economic gaps in Britain.”

The MP is calling on Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to rethink the way he plans to distribute the funding and explain to Parliament why he wants to use this specially-invented formula.