One of the four priority pillars of sustainable growth mentioned by Jeremy Hunt in his Spring Statement 2023 is Everywhere. The UK’s spatial disparities in productivity are large compared to other advanced economies; there is significant untapped growth potential in the UK’s cities outside London, and despite recent progress on devolution the UK’s decision-making remains overly centralised.

We have covered our 6 key takeaways for UK businesses in a previous post, here are the key announcements for Everywhere:

Investment zones

The investment zones programme will focus on 12 growth clusters across the UK, including four across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each English investment zone will have access to interventions worth £80m over five years, including tax reliefs and grant funding. They will be focused on one of a series of key sectors: technology, creative industries, life sciences, advanced manufacturing and the green sector.

Levelling up

The Spring Budget 2023 announced under the Everywhere pillar, the rollout of new Levelling Up Partnerships, providing over £400 million and bringing the collective power of government to provide bespoke place-based regeneration in twenty of England’s areas most in need of levelling up over 2023-24 and 2024- 25.

Community Ownership Fund

The Government is announcing funding for a further 30 projects across the UK as part of the existing £150 million Community Ownership Fund.

Potholes Fund

Jeremy Hunt will allocate an additional £200 million for local road maintenance in England, including potholes, in 2023-24.

Regeneration projects

The Spring Statement 2023 announces £211 million for 16 regeneration projects in England. These projects have been assessed as high quality and will commence delivery later this year. Investment has been targeted towards the left-behind places in the Levelling Up White Paper or projects that are under £10 million to ensure quick delivery and a good spread of funding across England. All funding is subject to final subsidy checks.

Swimming Pool Support Fund

The Government will provide over £60 million of support for public swimming pools across England. This will be targeted to address the immediate cost pressures facing public swimming pool providers.