Title

COMMERCIALISM

BUDGET 2021: £1bn confirmed for town deals

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed more than £1bn will be made available for a further 45 town deals across England as part of efforts to tackle regional inequality.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed more than £1bn will be made available for a further 45 town deals across England as part of efforts to tackle regional inequality.

In today's Budget, Mr Sunak emphasised the importance of ‘levelling up' the country and ‘redrawing our economic map'.

He confirmed that £1bn from the Towns Fund would be invested in 45 deals across England, a large proportion of which would go to the north and Midlands.

The Budget document read: ‘This will help to level up regional towns, giving them the tools to design and implement a growth strategy for their area and aiding local recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.'

Mr Sunak also said that the Government would accelerate investment in three city and growth deals in Scotland (Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, and Falkirk) and three city and growth deals in Wales (Swansea Bay, North-Wales and Mid-Wales).

COMMERCIALISM

Councils must prove their relevance

By Barry Quirk | 21 October 2026

As the sector awaits the arrival of a devolution White Paper expected to contain a blueprint for shifting power from the centre, this week The MJ is launchin...

COMMERCIALISM

Shires failing to match urban economic growth, report finds

By Neil Merrick | 21 October 2026

Shire counties are failing to match the economic growth of urban areas due to poor public transport and problems with digital infrastructure, a report publis...

COMMERCIALISM

Budget 2026: IPPR North calls for regional growth and cost-of-living action

By Zoe Billingham | 20 October 2026

IPPR North's Zoë Billingham urges tax reform, rent controls and greater fiscal powers for mayors to drive regional growth.

COMMERCIALISM

Forging the innovation nation

By Ben Lucas | 20 October 2026

Innovation is how reindustrialisation can drive good growth, writes Ben Lucas.

Popular articles by William Eichler

-->