Three towns in the Greater Manchester region are among the several North West locations set to receive a chunk of the new £1 billion Towns Fund.
The latest £1 billion pledge to the Towns Fund was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak during the unveiling of the 2021 Budget to the House of Commons earlier this week, with the government saying the fund aims to “support towns [in England] to build a prosperous future”, help to “level up”, and aid in recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
A total of 45 areas of England were announced by the Chancellor as funding recipients.
Of the 45 areas announced, the North West dominates the list, with nine towns in the region set to receive millions from a £211 million allocation for regeneration projects.
The three Greater Manchester towns receiving a chunk of funding are Bolton (£22.9 million), Cheadle (£13.9 million), and Rochdale (£23.6 million), and they are joined by the rest of the nine North West areas rounding out the list, which are Preston, Workington, Carlisle, Leyland, Stavely, and the most significant recipient on the list, Southport.
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Plans for the £22.9 million funding allocation in Bolton have already been released.
In addition to the £1 million accelerated funding already secured to regenerate the borough, the latest investment will see the Cheadle Square area of Bolton town centre – which includes Bolton Market, Bolton Central Library, and Aquarium – now set for major improvements.
Bolton Council has successfully been offered up to £22.9m of funding from central government’s Town Fund today to help regenerate its town centre. Read all about it here https://t.co/2OO5wHznWOpic.twitter.com/14K7Ezszl5
This includes an improvement to Bolton Market, which will involve refurbishing and upgrading the internal halls, and improving all entrances to the building, as well as a redevelopment of the Wellsprings building to create an innovation hub for growing and start-up businesses in the creative and digital sector.
A public realm project will create a greener town centre, focussing on improved footpaths and improved connections between key institutions, new pocket parks and new public spaces, and finally, a redevelopment of Bolton Central Library, Museum and Archive will expand the Aquarium, modernise the libraries and introduce flexible workspaces for local businesses and community groups.
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Speaking on the funding allocation, Belinda Beaver – Chair of Bolton’s Town Deal Board, and Director at Agitare Business Consultancy – said: “I am overjoyed that Bolton’s Town Fund has been successful and the money we receive will make a great difference to our town centre.
“The success is a testimony to Bolton’s fantastic collaborative working with partners to provide upgraded facilities to businesses, residents and visitors alike.”
Cllr David Greenhalgh – Leader of Bolton Council – said: “This money will help us realise our vision and enable us to deliver transformative projects, which are a key part of our ambitious plans. These town fund projects result from extensive collaboration with residents, MPs and private and public sector partners and will reinforce our collective ambition, vision and commitment to regenerating Bolton’s town centre.”
The next stage of the process will now involve Bolton Council agreeing Heads of Terms with the government and developing a full business case for each of the projects.
However the Towns Fund allocations in our region has been met with some strong local criticism.
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Jonathon Reynolds – the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, and Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary – said there was “just no logic to where that money goes other than through a political ends”, and used the example of Greater Manchester to state that the decisions for where funds would go as being “inexplicable”.
He said: “A government serious about levelling up would look at things like council funding. It would look at the funding of the health service to address health inequalities in post-industrial areas. Instead, what we seem to get are these pots from the chancellor dependent on giving money to backbench Conservative MPs, and I find that so frustrating and a misuse of public money.”
A number of other Labour MPs for Greater Manchester constituencies have also taken to social media to express criticism.
Buried in the small print of the budget is the news that the Communities Secretary and many of his Tory friends are the main beneficiaries of the Towns Fund, ahead of areas with far higher deprivation. They are absolutely shameless. https://t.co/0by1uGSR06
Salford is the 18th most deprived area yet 90% of the new towns fund is going to Tory seats, many affluent. Tell me @rishisunak how is this ‘levelling up’? https://t.co/ZkbcLpasSf
Cabinet Ministers and their Tory friends are the main beneficiaries of the Towns Fund, ahead of areas with far higher deprivation. That is not levelling up, it's shameless. https://t.co/JmDVx99D46
When challenged on the allocations at a Downing Street news briefing, Mr Sunak said that “if you looked at all the things” the government was doing it was “benefitting people in every corner of the country”.
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You can find more information about the Towns Fund allocations here.
News
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’, new study reveals
Emily Sergeant
An eye-opening new study has found that only 5% of Mancs still use cash as their preferred method of payment nowadays.
It comes as no surprise that cash is less of a ‘king’ nowadays than it used to be, but now a new report by global financial technology company SumUp has suggests that only 5% of people in Manchester prefer to pay with cash, while 59% choose debit and credit cards, so that leaves one question… is Manchester on its way to becoming a cashless city?
To discover how payment preferences are evolving, SumUp conducted a nationwide survey to gather insights from UK consumers about their payment habits.
The company was particularly intrigued to not only discover payment methods people prefer, but what their concerns around certain payment methods, alongside how they feel about businesses that don’t accept digital payments.
95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’ / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash) | Pexels
Firstly, before we go any further, it’s important to note that almost two thirds (63%) of Manchester residents said they have changed the way they make payments over the past year.
Unsurprisingly, debit and credit cards remain the top choice for the majority of Mancs, with over half (59%) saying it was their preferred method of payment, followed by mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay at 24% – which is likely thanks to their ease of use and the ability to have multiple cards on one device.
While a third (31%) of Mancs said that they ‘don’t mind’ cash and still opt to carry it for situations where digital payments aren’t an option, a growing number of people in the city are feel that digital payments are more favourable, with 25% thinking that businesses should adapt to modern payment methods and whilst 28% finding it ‘inconvenient’ when a business doesn’t accept digital payments.
A further 11% of people even say that cash-only businesses wouldn’t be an option they’d consider, and would actually avoid them wherever possible.
Only 5% use cash as their preferred method of payment / Credit: Rawpixel
When it comes to concerns around digital payment methods, where do Mancs stand then? Well, the survey found that a third (33%) of people are worried about their reliance on technology, especially being unable to pay if their phone dies, for example, while an additional 32% of people are concerned about security risks such as hacking, fraud, or stolen card details.
Among other things, 26% of survey respondents also said they worry about the privacy aspect of digital banking and the tracking your data.
“While debit and credit cards continue to dominate as the preferred payment method, it’s clear that cash is slowly declining in use, particularly among younger generations,” Corin Camenisch, who is the Marketing & Growth Lead at SumUp, commented on the report.
“Looking ahead, we can anticipate a rise in innovative payment methods like digital wallets, especially as younger consumers increasingly embrace the convenience and flexibility they offer.”
Featured Image – Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)
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Met Office predicts UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer
Emily Sergeant
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for a ‘hotter than average’ summer this year.
Fresh off-the-back of the news that 2025 is already the hottest spring on record, with a recorded 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March until 27 May, beating out the previous sunniest spring in 2020 by just four hours, the Met Office is now predicting that the UK is on the verge of a summer that’s ‘hotter than usual’.
According to its three-month outlook, the Met Office has predicted that it’s 2.3 times more-likely than ‘normal’ that it will be hot in the UK between 1 June and 31 August.
The average temperatures during those months are set to range from 10-17°C.
🌡️ ☀️ The UK has recorded its warmest and sunniest spring on record, according to provisional Met Office statistics.
Spring 2025 is now the 4th sunniest season overall for the UK, with only 3 summers sunnier since 1910.
Details in release below, or read this short thread 👇🧵
After it was revealed that this has also been the UK’s driest spring in more than a century, meteorologists are warning Brits that there could heatwave conditions could be reached at various times throughout the summer.
The release of the long-range forecast – which gives an indication of possible temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed over a period as a whole – comes after temperatures soared to 8°C (46F) above the average for this time of year this Saturday just gone (31 May).
It is important to note, however, that the Met Office thinks these predicted temperatures are similar to those in recent years, and it does not guarantee ‘prolonged’ hot weather.
The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer this year / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
The Met Office said in a statement: “While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.
“The increased chance of hotter than average temperatures is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves, but it does mean that heatwave conditions could be reached at times.
“However, it’s important to bear in mind that an increased chance of hot conditions could also reflect a mix of hot and cool days, warm nights, or less extreme levels of warmth rather than continual heatwave conditions specifically.”
The Manc -
5th March 2021 
