Conservatives’ plan to transform 30 more towns

The Conservatives have today (Saturday 1st June) announced 30 more towns will each benefit from £20 million as part of their Long-Term Plan for Towns, taking the total number of towns in the programme to over 100. Local people in each town will decide how the money will be used for long-term regeneration of their area. 

Talent is spread evenly across the UK, but opportunity is not. The Conservatives' levelling up plans have begun to address this, with £15 billion of government funding and billions more in private investment creating real improvements already. But we will go further.  

Labour has offered no plan for how to improve these towns. Instead, they have criticised the Conservatives for directing this funding to the places that need it most.

Through freeports and investment zones, the Conservatives have turbocharged private investment in places that have been overlooked. Already, these zones have attracted new businesses, generated billions in private investment and created thousands of jobs where they are most needed. 

Local people, not those in Westminster, will decide how the money will be spent. New Town Boards will be set up to bring together community leaders, businesspeople, local government, and the local MP, to develop and deliver the plan for their town. Bringing decision makers closer to the people and businesses this transformational funding will affect is an important element of this plan. 

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister said:  

“We the Conservatives have a plan for towns because we know they are the beating heart of our country. This bold action will transform 30 more towns – reviving their high streets, growing their local economies and making people feel proud of the place they call home.  

“Labour's record in government shows they don't care about towns – neglecting their needs, allowing them to decline and focusing instead on cities. Sir Keir Starmer has no plan to unlock opportunities in towns and would take us back to square one.   

“Building on our strong track record of levelling up in Teesside and the Midlands, we will go further across the country to build a secure future for our children and grandchildren.”   

Michael Gove, Levelling Up Secretary, said:   

“This bold action will be transformational for towns around the country. It will allow local people to take back control - creating better jobs, improving transport and generating more investment.

“The Conservatives have a clear plan to spread opportunity so that talent and hard work, not geography, determine people's life chances.

"Sir Keir Starmer has no plan and no idea how to help people help themselves, just patronising platitudes that would take us back to square one." 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

The 30 towns expected to benefit from the extension to the Long Term Plan for Towns are listed below. These were selected using the same methodology used in the March Budget (DLUHC, Extension to Long-Term Plan for Towns: place selection methodology, 6 March 2024, link). Towns in highest need of levelling up, who have not already benefitted from the programme will benefit. 

1. Tamworth, West Midlands  
2. Preston, North West  
3. Kidderminster, West Midlands   
4. Redditch, West Midlands  
5. Cannock, West Midlands   
6. Skelmersdale, North West  
7. Camborne, South West  
8. Newcastle-under-Lyme, West Midlands  
9. Thornaby-on-Tees, North East  
10. Burton upon Trent, West Midlands   
11. Little Hulton, North West  
12. Gainsborough, East Midlands   
13. Halifax, Yorkshire and The Humber   
14. Ilkeston, East Midlands  
15. Wythenshawe, North West  
16. Corby, East Midlands  
17. Grantham, East Midlands  
18. Wigston, East Midlands  
19. Bognor Regis, South East   
20. Dronfield, East Midlands  
21. Fleetwood, North West  
22. Alloa, Scotland   
23. Perth, Scotland  
24. Mayfield, Scotland  
25. Helensburgh, Scotland  
26. Newtown, Wales   
27. Abertillery, Wales  
28. Flint, Wales  
29. Enniskillen, Northern Ireland  
30. Newry, Northern Ireland 

• Over £1 billion is already set out in Government plans for Long Term Plan for Towns. These 30 additional towns will cost around £60 million per annum which is affordable from within our tax avoidance plans. Those plans will raise £6 billion a year, of which we have committed £1 billion to national service and £2.4 billion for pensions.
• Rachel Reeves said Labour will ‘raise over £5 billion a year' through tackling the tax gap to fund Labour's promises to the NHS and breakfast clubs.  ‘Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledges to raise over £5 billion a year to fund Labour's pledges for the NHS and breakfast clubs, as she unveils the party's new plan to crack down on tax dodgers' (Labour, Press Release, 8 April 2024, link).

The towns already benefitting from the Long Term Plan for Towns are listed below. 55 towns were part of the first tranche, announced in October 2023 (link), and 20 towns form part of the second tranche, announced at the March budget (link). 

1. Mansfield, East Midlands 
2. Boston, East Midlands 
3. Worksop, East Midlands 
4. Skegness, East Midlands 
5. Newark-on-Trent, East Midlands 
6. Chesterfield, East Midlands 
7. Clifton (Nottingham), East Midlands 
8. Spalding, East Midlands  
9. Kirkby-in-Ashfield, East Midlands  
10. Clacton-on-Sea, East of England 
11. Great Yarmouth, East of England 
12. Eston, North East 
13. Jarrow, South Tyneside  
14. Washington, North East  
15. Blyth, North East 
16. Hartlepool, North East 
17. Spennymoor, North East 
18. Darwen, North West  
19. Chadderton, North West 
20. Heywood, North West  
21. Ashton-under-Lyne, North West  
22. Accrington, North West  
23. Leigh, North West 
24. Farnworth, North West 
25. Nelson, North West  
26. Kirkby, North West 
27. Burnley, North West  
28. Hastings, South East 
29. Bexhill-on-Sea South East  
30. Ryde, South East 
31. Torquay, South West 
32. Smethwick West Midlands  
33. Darlaston, West Midlands 
34. Bilston, West Midlands  
35. Dudley , West Midlands 
36. Grimsby, Yorkshire and The Humber  
37. Castleford, Yorkshire and The Humber  
38. Doncaster, Yorkshire and The Humber 
39. Rotherham, Yorkshire and The Humber      
40. Barnsley, Yorkshire and The Humber  
41. Scunthorpe, Yorkshire and The Humber 
42. Keighley, Yorkshire and The Humber 
43. Dewsbury, Yorkshire and The Humber 
44. Scarborough, Yorkshire and The Humber  
45. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales 
46. Cwmbrân, Wales  
47. Wrexham, Wales 
48. Barry, Wales 
49. Greenock, Scotland 
50. Irvine, Scotland  
51. Kilmarnock, Scotland 
52. Coatbridge, Scotland 
53. Clydebank, Scotland 
54. Dumfries, Scotland 
55. Elgin, Scotland 
56. Royal Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands 
57. Darlington, North East 
58. Runcorn, North West 
59. Canvey Island, East 
60. Thetford, East 
61. King's Lynn, East 
62. Ramsgate, South East 
63. Eastbourne, South East 
64. Harlow, East 
65. Newton-le-Willows, North West 
66. Rawtenstall, North West 
67. Wisbech, East 
68. Carlton, East Midlands 
69. Bedworth, West Midlands 
70. Arbroath, Scotland 
71. Peterhead, Scotland 
72. Kirkwall, Scotland 
73. Rhyl, Wales 
74. Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland 
75. Coleraine, Northern Ireland 

As per DLUHC guidance, each town that is a part of the Long Term Plan for Towns programme is:  

• Developing a Long-Term Plan to invest in and regenerate their town, based on the priorities of local people, and put to local people for consultation 
• Receiving up to £20 million in endowment-style funding and support over 10 years to support this Plan, to be spent on issues that matter to local people, including regenerating high streets and securing public safety. This plan will be put to local people. 
• Establishing a Town Board to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities and the local MP to oversee and deliver the Long-Term Plan 
• Using a toolkit of powers, from tackling anti-social behaviour to auctioning empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants and supporting more housing in town centres 

The Conservatives have invested over £15 billion from levelling-up funds to overlooked areas across the UK since 2019. This includes the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund supporting projects in 271 places, £2.4 billion committed across 101 Town Deals, £1.5 billion invested into 75 of our great towns through our long-term plan for towns, £830 million Future High Strelets Fund, £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund. £3 billion in levelling up funding has gone to Scotland, over £2.5 billion to Wales and over £800 million to Northern Ireland. This money is helping to revive lagging high streets and town centres up and down the country.    

The Conservative created 12 Freeports to unlock much needed investment into port communities and their hinterlands, to bring jobs and opportunity to some of the UK's historically overlooked communities. All English freeports are open for businesses and creating jobs – in just a few years, Freeports have already generated £2.9 billion in investment, which will in turn create 6,000 jobs.  

£103 million from the Community Ownership Fund has so far rescued 333 projects our ongoing mission to level up towns, villages and cities across the UK.     

Sixty per cent of the English population now live in a place covered by a devolution deal, including 90 per cent of the North.  

Keir Starmer has continually criticised the Government for supporting the towns Labour ignored when in government.