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This from Ieuan Jehu from Freshwater in their on words. Ed
Last year, when Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, voted to oppose legislation which sought to protect our swimming waters from sewage dumping, he told Islanders that it was necessary to support the government to increase his chances of having a “sympathetic hearing” when it came to negotiating fairer funding for the Island. A few days later, when the government published the Levelling Up Index, it looked as if Seely’s political tactics had paid off.
The Island was revealed to have been placed in Priority Category 2 – the same as Bromsgrove, the Health Secretary’s constituency which had already been lined up for £14.5m of Levelling Up money.
Prioritisation of Places Methodology
There was no immediate announcement of funds for the Island though. So, impatient to know just how “levelled up” we would be, I had a look at the government’s Prioritisation of Places Methodology.
It seemed very reassuring.
The aims were clear: to target investment towards economic recovery and growth. Improving transport connectivity and town centre regeneration in areas with low productivity, high levels of unemployment and low skills levels.
Underwhelming amount
The metrics by which areas were ranked for access to Levelling Up funding all pointed to the Island being in line for a pay out above what had been declared for Bromsgrove.
So the announcement last week of just £1m of Levelling Up funding for the Island, which our MP celebrated as his government recognising our “unique circumstances”, was underwhelming to say the least.
Eastbourne more closely comparable
My disappointment sent me back to the Levelling Up index, in the search for a region more closely comparable to our own. I came across Eastbourne.
Eastbourne is a seaside resort which today struggles to attract the level of tourism enjoyed in its Victorian hay day. The East Sussex town is now better known for retirement homes than B&Bs.
Unemployment rates are nearly identical
Productivity is slightly higher here, but our unemployment rates are nearly identical and there is a higher proportion of the Island’s population without NVQs or other formal qualifications.
These are the first set of metrics by which regions are ranked for Levelling Up Funding and, as they are weighted equally, both areas should be ranked equally.
On this basis you would think that the Island should’ve been in line for a share of the Levelling Up Fund similar to what has been allocated for Eastbourne.
Differences between Isle of Wight and Eastbourne
However, when it comes to the final two sets of indicators, there are some obvious differences between the Isle of Wight and Eastbourne:
Eastbourne has a number of designated cycle routes which link with the National Cycle Network.
The town has a Loop bus service which connects all parts of the area with the town centre via a twice hourly service and links up with a bus network which extends across the rest of the county.
There is a central train station, from which trains leave for London every half hour and across the road there is a shiny new indoor shopping centre which was opened in 2018; complete with all of the big name stores.
The IW picture
Contrast this with the Island’s cycle paths, which don’t even link all of our main towns with Newport; our bus network, which can’t even get all of our children to school on time and leaves many Islanders needing to catch two different busses to get to a train station; and a train service which runs once an hour and doesn’t even connect our two largest towns.
As for the indoor shopping centre; the Island has never seen anything like the £220m retail and leisure scheme which created 570 new jobs in Eastbourne at the end of the last decade.
Eastbourne to get £19.85m in levelling up funding
These last two indicators make up 50 per cent of the weighting for the Prioritisation of Places Methodology, yet despite the Island being far behind in these metrics, the Tory marginal constituency of Eastbourne will receive £19.85m in levelling up funding.
That’s £191.33 per resident while our council will receive just £7.06 for every Islander.
Funding for IW well below the national average
This first round of grants has seen £822m handed out to local authorities, ostensibly targeting regions with poor transport connectivity. That’s the equivalent of £12 for every person in the country. Yet with our island clearly lagging behind much of the country in this regard, the funding sent our way is well below the national average.
Safe Tory seats
Which leaves me begging the question: Have we, and our neighbours across the Solent in Gosport, been overlooked for Levelling Up funding because we are safe Tory seats?
Is the only “unique circumstance” being recognised by the government, that Islander’s electoral support for the Tory Party can be taken for granted?
