MORE than 3 in 4 in Halton think the area has stayed the same or declined since the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ scheme began early last year.

A YouGov survey has revealed that of the 361 local authorities in the UK, in only four (1.1%) do residents feel that their area has improved. All four were in Central London.

This comes off the back of the announcement that Warrington were unsuccessful in their application for the second phase of the ‘Levelling Up’ scheme.

Warrington’s £11.7 million bid included a major investment in Halton Lea, including the first phase of delivery of 464 new homes in Palacefields, a new health and wellbeing hub and 1km of new cycleways.

Whilst the intention of the scheme was originally to help areas outside of London to ‘Level Up’, it has come under a great of scrutiny over the lack of investment into the north.

Of the 361 local areas, 215 believe their areas have more or less stayed the same, and 142 believe they have declined since ‘Levelling Up’ began.

Within Halton, there was an equal split of people who felt that the area had stayed the same, and people who felt the area had declined. Each made up 39%, with 12% of people feeling the local area had improved.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Reacting to the Halton Lea decision, Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury, whose constituency covers East Runcorn, said he was 'deeply disappointed' and accused the Government of 'turning its back on a community in desperate need of investment to deal with social, economic and health inequalities'.

He added: "Unfortunately, I am not shocked at the decision given we have a multi-millionaire Prime Minister who bragged on camera about undoing Labour formulas to shift resources out of ‘deprived urban areas’.

"And surprise, surprise, his wealthy rural constituency is to receive £19m Levelling Up funding while the Runcorn part of my constituency gets absolutely nothing. It’s shameful and so blatant."