Levelling Up Fund: explanatory note on the assessment and decision-making process
This sets out the decision-making process for selecting successful bids to round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, in line with the approach set out in the Levelling Up Fund prospectus and technical note.
1. Purpose
1.1. The purpose of this document is to set out the decision-making process for selecting successful bids for round one of the Levelling Up Fund. It is the process that was followed by officials and ministers and was in line with the approach set out in the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Prospectus (March 2021) and LUF Technical Note (May 2021).
2. LUF bids received and gateway stage of assessment
2.1. A total of 305 Levelling Up Fund bids were received on or before the 18 June 2021 and were assessed in line with the three staged approach set out in the LUF Technical Note.
2.2. Bids were first assessed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) officials against the published pass/fail gateway criteria set out in paragraphs 10.2 and 14.2 of the LUF Technical Note. Ten bids did not pass one or more of the gateway criteria and were therefore not assessed further (in line with the process outlined in the LUF Technical Note). Additionally, one bid was withdrawn by an applicant and one was identified as a duplicate submission. At the end of the Gateway Review stage 293 bids remained.
3. LUF assessment, moderation and shortlisting
3.1. The remaining 293 bids were assessed and scored against the published criteria set out in the Prospectus and the Technical Note (pages 8-12). This covered strategic fit, deliverability, value for money, and in Great Britain, the characteristics of place was also reviewed and scored. The assessment scoring against these criteria in Great Britain combined for a score out of 100, and 75 for Northern Ireland (where characteristics of place were not scored).
3.2. Depending on the theme of the bid, it was either assessed by officials from the Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), DLUHC (or a combination). They were supported by counterparts in the Offices for the Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in assessing bids from those nations. Officials in the devolved administrations were also invited to contribute to the assessment process on bids from their respective nations.
3.3. Assessments selected for moderation were a proportion of low, borderline, and high scoring bids. Assessment teams also nominated particularly complex or mixed bids for moderation. Those moderation panels discussed the approach to scoring each criteria to ensure that the assessment guidance had been applied fairly and consistently, amending any scores as necessary.
3.4. Once final scores were confirmed and quality assured, (but before ministers had sight of the scores of individual bids), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Secretary of State for Transport decided that the Great Britain shortlist would (in line with the approach set out in the LUF Technical Note) comprise bids that scored the highest overall, and which scored at least average (at least 12.5/25 or above) on strategic fit, value for money and deliverability. The overall ‘cut off’ score for shortlisting was drawn at 70/100 (rounded up) which provided a high bar for quality whilst providing ministers scope to select a fair geographic and thematic distribution of bids.
3.5. The same ministers also decided that the Northern Ireland shortlist would consist of bids that scored the highest overall, and those that scored at least average or above (i.e. at least 12.5/25) on strategic fit, value for money and deliverability. The shortlisting ‘cut off’ was drawn at 43.5/75 (rounded up) - again to strike a reasonable balance between quality and the geographic and thematic distribution of bids.
4. Ministerial decision making
4.1. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Levelling Up Secretary and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport (on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport) met with officials from their departments and the Number 10 Policy Unit to discuss the Great Britain and Northern Ireland shortlists. The objective of the ministerial discussion was to reach provisional decisions on which bids to fund from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland shortlists. It was noted for the record that all ministers had notified their respective Private Offices that they had no constituency, personal or pecuniary interests in relation to the Fund. In accordance with the Prospectus and Technical Note, ministers considered officials’ assessments of the bids, taking account of the published considerations. The Chancellor of the Exchequer set out that the target allocation for this round was approximately £1.7 billion.
4.2. Ministers discussed the Northern Ireland shortlist first. As the government is committed to levelling up all of the UK, the Prospectus stated that at least 3% of total UK allocations from round one would be set aside for Northern Ireland. Ministers therefore agreed to fund every bid on the Northern Ireland shortlist to prioritise a strong allocation for the country, with the exception of two bids that were ruled out due to deliverability concerns. As a result, 11 out of 13 bids on the Northern Ireland shortlist were provisionally agreed for funding (2.9%.)
4.3. In relation to the Great Britain shortlist, ministers agreed the following principles:
- in general, bids scoring at least 75/100 overall should be funded, to give precedence to the highest-quality bids;
- to ensure the fairest spread of successful projects across Great Britain – both meeting or exceeding the commitments made for Scotland and Wales in the Prospectus, and ensuring a fair spread of successful projects across the regions of England reflecting the balance of the shortlist – given the Government’s mission to level up all of the UK;
- successful bids should, as far as possible, be spread fairly across the three themes – regeneration, transport and culture – as they all play an important role in making a genuine difference to local areas and everyday life; and
- prioritising bids’ value-for-money scores given the importance of securing value for every pound of taxpayer money.
4.4. As there were proportionately fewer transport and culture projects and proportionately more regeneration projects on the shortlist, ministers agreed to fund all transport and culture bids scoring at least 75/100. However, in order to narrow down an affordable list of successful bids from the shortlist, they declined to fund the lowest-scoring regeneration and town centre bids from English regions.
4.5. With respect to Scotland and Wales, ministers agreed to fund two additional bids from the shortlist that scored below 75/100 (but still met the high-quality bar of 70/100 (rounded up), and at least 12.5/25 across strategic fit, deliverability and value for money for shortlisting) to ensure a fairer geographic spread of successful bids.
4.6. As a result, 94 bids were provisionally selected for funding in Great Britain: 76 in England (79.8%), 10 in Wales (7.2%) and 8 in Scotland (10.1%).
5. Consideration of the equalities impacts of provisional ministerial decisions
5.1. Ministers subsequently received detailed equalities analysis for the list of bids they had provisionally selected for funding compared with the list of bids not selected. Once ministers had considered the impacts of their decision on equalities, in light of the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equalities Act 2010 and, in the case of Northern Ireland, the additional requirements of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, they were content to confirm their decisions.
6. Announcement and next steps
6.1. The projects selected to receive funding for the first round of the Levelling Up Fund were announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the 2021 Spending Review and are listed on Levelling Up Fund: first round successful bidders. Feedback sessions will be offered to unsuccessful places to support applications into further rounds of the Fund. Round two will open in Spring 22 and further details will be set out in due course.
Last updated 28 October 2021 + show all updates
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First published.