Council leader's lukewarm reception to potential £25 million Rotherham investment

THE leader of Rotherham Council gave a lukewarm response to the Government’s promise that the borough will be considered for a £25m grant to boost its economic growth.

Rotherham is one of 42 towns across the North of England which will be able to bid for a share of a new £3.6bn Towns Fund, it was announced today.

Council leader Cllr Chris Read said it would take a lot more to undo the damage of a decade of cuts.

The Government said it had picked towns which had "proud industrial and economic heritage which have not benefitted from economic growth in the same way as more prosperous areas".  

It is part of the Government’s commitment to “level up all regions by boosting productivity”.

But Cllr Read tweeted that while funding for Rotherham was welcome, “...it [would] take a lot more than the opportunity to bid for a one-off £25 million to undo the damage of cuts for the last decade.”

Announcing the fund, communities secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Ensuring that prosperity and opportunities are available to everyone in this country, not just those in London or our biggest cities, is central to the mission of this government. 

“We want to level-up our great towns, raising living standards and ensuring they can thrive with transformative investment in infrastructure, technology, skills and culture. 

"We’re supporting Rotherham to create new jobs and opportunities which build on existing Government investment in South Yorkshire like the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which has helped to put 1,300 apprentices in more than 300 employers since 2014.”

Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry said South Yorkshire played a pivotal role in the Northern Powerhouse.

He said the Government had already invested £11m in the McLaren factory in Catcliffe and £4.5 million in the neighbouring Boeing factory. 

Mr Berry said: “We’re leaving the European Union on October 31 and investing back into places like Rotherham and Doncaster to ensure they can prosper as part of our determination to level up our regions and unite the country.”

Next week, Magna will host a major conference aimed at shaping the north’s post-Brexit future which will attract business and political leaders from across the country.

The Government said it would publish a prospectus to guide towns through the bidding process and decisions on funding would be made “in due course”.