The Tories' flagship levelling-up plan was plunged into further chaos after a watchdog revealed yet more projects are delayed.
Despite some allegedly being "shovel ready" the National Audit Office says delivery across three government funds worth up to £9.5billion is behind schedule.
Experts branded the report "damning", with one think-tank saying it provided "a litany of missed deadlines, moving goalposts and dysfunction". It states just 64 out of more than 1,300 projects across three funding pots have been completed while 76 were still yet to begin. In total, just £900million has been spent.
The review looked at the Towns Fund, the Levelling Up Fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, all three of which are intended to support the "levelling up" agenda that was a major part of the Tories' 2019 election manifesto.
Auditors highlighted that 50% of construction contracts for Levelling Up Fund projects due by March 2023 are still unsigned. The report said reasons for project delays lay with stubbornly high inflation, skills shortages, and challenges facing supplies in the construction industry.
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The NAO concluded that the original deadlines set by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities were "unlikely to be met". Responding to the "damning" report, the New Economics Foundation think-tank said it "shows everything that's wrong with the way Whitehall works - or refuses to work - with communities".
NEF's David Pendlebury added: “The government opted for a model that reflected their fundamental distrust of local authorities. Whilst the amounts on offer were always a sticking plaster, it’s still shocking to see the dysfunction of this scheme laid bare.”
Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: "This dysfunctional government promised shovel-ready projects but has failed to get spades in the ground. "With Britain’s regions further apart than ever, the Conservatives’ flagship levelling up scheme has been exposed as a sham and a scam."
Publishing its latest report, the head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: “DLUHC is in a better position to understand the benefits these funds deliver following significant improvements in its approach to evaluation. "But the department and local authorities will need to work together to unblock projects which are delayed or have not started and set realistic expectations for delivery”
Commons Public Accounts Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said the Department "has allocated £9.5billion of levelling-up funding for local government up to 2026. Less had been spent than expected by March 2023 and projects are behind schedule".
A DLUHC spokesman said: "The figures from this report are out of date. In the eight months since March, DLUHC has paid over £1.5bn of further funding out to local authorities. We continue to work closely with local authorities to support their delivery of their vital projects.
"We have committed £13 billion to levelling up, supporting projects to improve everyday life for people across the UK, regenerating town centres and high streets, local transport and cultural and heritage assets.
"Major regeneration projects take time to deliver, but a number of projects have been completed. This includes the redevelopment of the Farnworth Leisure Centre in Bolton, delivered as part of a £13.3m commitment to Bolton Council through the Future High Streets Fund. Thanks to the Towns Fund also, the Ingenium Centre in Darlington and a digi-tech factory in Norwich have both opened their doors."
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