Dragons' Den style funding bid blasted as North Ayrshire loses out

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Angry Deputy Leader Shaun Macaulay blasted the “Dragons' Den” style distribution of the Levelling Up Fund after North Ayrshire Council had two bids snubbed by the UK Government.North Ayrshire Council submitted two bids for the second round of the Levelling Up Fund – one for the second phase of the transformation of Lochshore Park, Kilbirnie, and the other a joint bid with South Ayrshire Council to transform vacant land into commercial opportunities.Councillor Macaulay said: “The fund is like a Dragons' Den style of distribution as we pitch it and then Civil Servants and Tories in London pick what they think will level up the country.

You are not telling me Rishi Sunak’s constituency gets 10s of millions yet we are in some of the highest levels of poverty and child property in the UK, you can’t tell me that’s fair."We would rather see the money coming direct to North Ayrshire, It's not levelling up, it's levelling down."Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Economy and Climate Change, said: “We’re obviously disappointed to miss out in the latest round of Levelling Up Funding but remain undeterred in our ambitions.“While we successfully received funding for the much-needed upgrade of the B714 in the first round of funding, we remained optimistic that our robust bids for the second round would be supported.“The outcome is obviously disheartening given the strength of the applications and their alignment to the fund, but we remain committed to the projects put forward and will now investigate potential alternative sources of funding.

We will also consider how we approach the third round of Levelling Up Funding once details are announced.“We know the positive benefits the projects can bring to this area and our