SOUTHAMPTON City Council could see a £50million grant taken away for not meeting Government criteria, a senior councillor has claimed

Cllr Satvir Kaur, leader of the city's Labour Group, branded the Tory administration as "weak".

She said the authority is at risk of losing its chunk of the Transforming Cities Fund, which could be used to improve public and sustainable travel.

“When Labour were in power we were extremely successful in bringing in money for our city, our success in getting over £50 million in a Transforming Cities Fund is proof of that; money that is now at risk of being taken back because the Tory council isn’t meeting their own Government’s criteria for it," Cllr Kaur told the Echo.

 

Satvir Kaur

Satvir Kaur

 

“This is a real sign of weak leadership from this Tory council. You cannot claim to work in the best interest of our city, while gambling away tens of millions of pounds of vital investment that our city has been given but now risks to lose.

"We all know Southampton has some of the most deprived areas in the UK, so local people can’t afford a Tory council that is so inept with public money. Southampton deserves better."

The Department for Transport is holding regular discussions with the city council "on the best ways to use the fund", a spokesperson said.

However, they were unable to comment on whether the money is at risk.

The council has said it does "not anticipate loss of funding", and that the plans are being ironed out before implemented.

"The new council administration is focussed on making the right decisions for Southampton and that any transport changes benefit the city," said Cllr Jeremy Moulton. 

"A number of the plans for the council’s Transforming Cities programme have been reviewed and adjusted to reflect the findings of further modelling and engagement.

"Any material changes to the original schemes in the bid which was submitted in November 2019 have to be approved by the Department for Transport through a change control process.

"We are currently undergoing this process for a number of schemes within the programme to get approval from DfT and are awaiting its outcome.

"In the meantime, we are continuing to engage in discussions with the DfT regarding specific elements of the proposed changes and we do not anticipate loss of funding.