Town halls across Greater Manchester have paid out £1.1 million on consultants to help try and obtain Levelling Up funding. An investigation by The Northern Agenda politics newsletter has found that at least £23.4m has been paid by councils across the country to consultants, with £1.1m paid out by leaders in Greater Manchester.
Despite the money paid out by councils on these bids, the successful allocations brought in almost £60m for the region in January.
The successful bids included Wigan and Oldham councils both receiving £20m from the government for the restoration of Haigh Hall and to create a 'Green Technology and Innovation Network' respectively.
Trafford also received £18.3m allocated to the redevelopment of Partington Sports Village. READ MORE: Failed Levelling Up bids have suddenly been reversed - where was the money hiding? And, in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Spring budget in mid-March, an influx of money breathed life back into bids that lost out on the first allocation of funding in January.
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