The leader of North Lincolnshire Council has welcomed the announcement of an additional £6m levelling-up cash for North Lincolnshire.
The Government cash has been allocated to increase community pride, enable local businesses to grow and ensure people have the right skills to take advantage of any new jobs.
It is part of the Levelling-Up agenda and is just some of £2.6bn being spent nationally between now and 2025 through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – which is designed to replace the funding which previously came through EU regional economic development programmes.
Cllr Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “This is further evidence of levelling up here in North Lincolnshire – the Government is backing our plans to keep people safe and well, enable our communities to flourish and the local economy to grow and will mean we have more people completing high-quality skills training.
“We will be revealing more detail in the coming week as we launch a variety of schemes which will be designed to make our communities stronger.”
Announcing the cash, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Rt Hon Michael Gove MP said: “The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will help to unleash the creativity and talent of communities that have for too long been overlooked and undervalued.
“By targeting this funding at areas of the country that need it the most, we will help spread opportunity and level up in every part of the United Kingdom.”
It comes as the prospectus for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund was launched – which will see areas that need it most draw up plans to deliver on their local priorities, based on a conditional allocation of funding over the next three years.
This could include regenerating rundown high streets, fighting anti-social behaviour and crime, or helping more people into decent jobs – helping to further rejuvenate communities, create new jobs, and reverse geographical disparities in the UK.
Around £1m of the money in North Lincolnshire will see people given extra help to get into work by improving their numeracy skills.
It is designed to support people with no or low-level maths skills get back into work by offering personal tutoring, digital training, and flexible courses to improve confidence and numeracy skills.
Cllr Waltham added: “The courses will help people improve their ability to understand and use maths in daily life, home, and work. Whether that be improving household finances, helping children with homework, making more sense of the facts in the media, or improving numeracy skills specific to a line of work.
“People who improve their numeracy skills are more likely to be in employment, have higher wages, and better wellbeing – it will unlock the door to progress to higher levels of training to secure a skilled job.”
The adult numeracy programme – Multiply – will be rolled out across the area as part of a wider, national £559m scheme.
It comes through the Government’s Levelling-Up agenda and uses cash which has been committed to match previous EU spend on regional support for economic development.
