We submitted our schedule of schemes at the end of January 2024 in line with the government guidance and against very tight timescales.

 

The funding is place-based for the whole of the District of Bolsover. When drawing up the list of schemes we stipulated that the money should benefit the entire district and the projects put forward support this commitment.

 

The projects include improvements to the public realm around the district, enhancing shop fronts to help make the area more visually appealing to attract shoppers and visitors and the establishment of community and creative hubs.

 

Also included in the bid was the redevelopment of prominent buildings in Bolsover town to help create a thriving place people want to visit and work in.

 

Council Chief Executive, Karen Hanson said, “We had just eleven days from when we received the funding criteria to submitting the initial schemes, so we are delighted to have received confirmation that we have the go-ahead.

 

“We will now look to prioritise the schemes and ensure the money we have been allocated is well spent and benefits our communities.”

 

Figures released earlier this year indicate that since 2020 just over 10% of the money allocated from the Government’s Levelling Up agenda has been spent as local authorities are struggling to meet the deadlines. Something which Council Leader, Steve Fritchley was keen to avoid.

 

Councillor Steve Fritchley said, “Since the announcement was made in the autumn, I made it quite clear that we were going to spend the money in the District of Bolsover and not be sending any back.

 

“So, I want to thank all our officers who have worked tirelessly on this project to get it to this stage and over the line, sometimes in very difficult circumstances. The key to this now is delivering on what we have promised by March 2026, and that is something I know we will do.”  

 

Government criteria clearly stated that the projects needed to be deliverable by March 2026 and have an ‘end user’ responsible for the running of premises and all future revenue costs. And after being heavily scrutinised, the bid finally received the Governments seal of approval.

 

Councillor Fritchley also thanked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up for his hard work and diligence in working with the Council and approving the bid for the benefit of Bolsover District.

 

Due to the commercial sensitivity of some of the projects, further detail on the specific schemes and timescales will be announced once the funding is in place.