Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie has hailed the UK Government for earmarking substantial funding to help level up Wales.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, Virginia explained Anglesey is a priority area for the community renewal fund and a category 2 area for the levelling up fund.
She said the funds would establish a relationship between the UK Government and local communities, when she spoke in the Community Renewal Fund and Levelling Up Fund in Wales debate.
Crucially, she told MPs, they hand the responsibility for selecting and championing local projects to those who can best represent the needs of a local community—the local authorities and the MPs who represent them.
“Ynys Môn has been battered by years of underinvestment from the Welsh Labour Government and has one of the lowest gross value-added figures in the country, so when the funds were announced I was inundated with requests, applications and ideas from my constituents,” she said.
“They offered a range of exciting solutions to local concerns: arts and amenity centres, such as the Ucheldre Centre; local and cultural establishments, such as the Holyhead Maritime Museum; enterprises specialising in bringing employment and regeneration, such as Môn Communities Forward; groups such as PIWS, which wants to facilitate visitor access for the disabled; and many more.”
She said she had worked with the Isle Of Anglesey County Council about how best to work on developing the bids.
“I know that rural communities can find it difficult to find the resources to put together bids for funding, so I was particularly pleased that that has been taken into account. The UK Government will provide Anglesey council with £145,000 in capacity funding to help it to deliver excellent bids.
“I, too, offered my own resources to assist in any way that I could.”
She added: “I welcome these funds for all Welsh authorities, including my own. They strip away the old criteria imposed by the EU and apply a more localised approach. They provide funding to help under-resourced authorities develop bids that will stand out and achieve funding, and they encourage local engagement.”
