As part of our levelling up agenda we’re determined to boost communities across the UK, including in Faversham and Mid Kent.
It’s great news that Kent is going to benefit from almost £7 million of new funding as part of the Government’s Community Renewal Fund.
This funding is for investment into local skills, businesses, and communities, and it’s going to be targeted to those areas which need it most.
For example, communities in Swale are getting over £1.5m of project funding through various schemes. These projects include plans to tackle local unemployment, helping local businesses to transition to Net Zero, supporting disadvantaged residents, and improving access to healthy and affordable food.
This £200 million Community Renewal Fund makes up just part of the Levelling Up funding announced recently. In the Chancellor’s Budget last month 105 projects were awarded £1.7 billion from the first round of the UK-wide Levelling Up Fund, and the first 21 projects to benefit from the £150 million Community Ownership Fund were also announced.
Our Levelling Up mission is to make sure that people have access to opportunity wherever they’re born. As Exchequer Secretary and as a local MP, I’d determined to make sure that means our local communities too.