Local growth funds

This briefing is a summary of government administered funds and initiatives designed to support local economic growth and regeneration.

This includes now dormant funds set up as part of the previous government’s “levelling up agenda”, as well as funds and schemes that have continued following the change in government, and new funds.

It includes descriptions of, and where applicable, funding awarded from the following funds and initiatives:

• The Levelling Up Fund
• The Towns Fund
• The Community Renewal Fund
• The UK Shared Prosperity Fund
• The Pride in Place Programme and Pride in Place Impact Fund
• The Local Growth Fund
• Investment Zones/Industrial Strategy Zones

It also includes a summary of the assessment of the effectiveness of these funds published by the National Audit Office and a summary of government plans for these funds described in the Levelling Up White Paper.

For more information on the Levelling Up White Paper and the levelling up agenda in general, see the Library briefing on the subject.

The Levelling Up Fund was announced in the 2020 Spending Review and ran for three funding rounds, awarding total funding of £4.8 billion. The Fund focused on capital investment in local infrastructure and was aimed at those areas “most in need of levelling up.”

In 2019, 101 towns in England were selected to develop “Town Deals” and bid for up to £25 million (or up to £50 million in exceptional circumstances), with funding designed to address issues such as ageing populations, limited regional economic opportunities and lack of investment.

In September 2025, the government announced it was consolidating the Levelling Up Fund and Town Deals (as well as the Simplification Pathfinder Pilot) such that there was no longer a differentiation between these funding streams, and a single capital pot of funding, the Local Regeneration Fund was created combining these funds.

The Community Renewal Fund was designed as a pilot funding programme in preparation for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is designed to replace the EU structural funds.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is intended to reduce inequalities between communities, as part of the previous government’s wider “levelling up” agenda and designed to replace funding received from the EU Structural Funds.

The Long-Term Plan for Towns was first announced in October 2023 – 55 towns (extended to 75 in March 2024) were selected to receive £20 million “ten-year endowment style fund.” The 2024 Autumn Budget stated the Long-Term Plan for Towns would be “retained and reformed into a new regeneration programme.” This was confirmed in March 2025, with the confirmation of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, which the government have said “reforms and expands on the Long-Term Plan for Towns.”

In September 2025, it was announced that places selected for the Plan for Neighbourhoods would now form phase 1 of the Pride in Place Programme, while phase 2 will consist of 169 new places. 40 new places were added to phase 2 in March 2026. In both phases, places will receive up to £20 million over a ten-year period.

The government announced plans to create a new local growth fund in the 2025 Spending Review, which would focus on “city regions in the North and Midlands with the highest productivity catch‑up and agglomeration potential.” The government announced the creation of the Local Growth Fund in November 2025, with funding allocations for 11 Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England. Funding allocations for Scotland were announced in January 2026, while funding allocations for Wales and Northern Ireland were announced in March 2026.

Investment Zones are geographically concentrated areas in which government funding and tax incentives are available for businesses. Investment Zones offer similar incentives to Freeports and Enterprise Zones. Following the publication of the Industrial Strategy in June 2025, the government published a policy paper on “Industrial Strategy Zones”, announcing that Freeports and Investment Zones would be “brought together under a shared umbrella: Industrial Strategy Zones.”