Buses boosted but other West Yorkshire bids refused levelling up cash

Bus services in West Yorkshire have been given a share of the government's £2.1bn Levelling Up Fund

Bus services in West Yorkshire are set to benefit from more than £41m of investment from the government's Levelling Up Fund.

The money will be used to make bus stops safer and more accessible as well improving roads to cut journey times.

Elsewhere, £12m has been awarded to Kirklees Council to help regenerate Batley town centre.

However, a number of other bids in the region were rejected, leading to criticism from leaders.

These include a £50m bid to transform Odsal Stadium in Bradford into the largest permanently covered stadium in the country.

The cash would have also helped fund a new rugby league skills centre, park and ride car park, sports pitches, hotel and solar farm.

Announcing the bid last year, Bradford Council said it was a "once in a generation opportunity to break the cycle of poverty" in the area.

Improvements in Batley will include the pedestrianisation of Commercial Street and providing better access around the town centre

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Three other regeneration projects, put forward by the authority for a share of the government's £2.1bn levelling up funding, were also rejected.

Susan Hinchcliffe, council leader, said she was "extremely disappointed" they had been refused.

In Leeds, all six of the council's bids, including an appeal for funding to help regenerate Holbeck, were turned down.

Its leader, James Lewis, said they would be "seeking urgent feedback" on the decision.

He said: "The benefits would not only have been felt in our most deprived communities, but also would have positively impacted economic growth, health and wellbeing and quality of living across all areas of the city."

Tracy Brabin said forcing areas to compete against each other for funds was not right

West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin welcomed the boost for buses and Batley but said "forcing local areas to compete against each other for funds in this way cannot be the way we level up".

She added: "Until we ditch piecemeal beauty contests and agree a large-scale, region-wide settlement with the Treasury, we'll not be able to take control of our destiny."

The government has come under fire for giving more levelling up money to the south-east of England than the north-east.

London boroughs will get more than both Yorkshire and the north-east of England in the latest allocation of funding.

But levelling up secretary Michael Gove defended the funding and said the north was getting more per head of population and some parts of the south needed investment.

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