Government funding for towns

In March 2019 the Government (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) announced a new Stronger Towns Fund for England (subsequently referred to as the Towns Fund).

This fund, totalling £3.6bn (at Jan 2020) comprises a number of programmes aimed at supporting physical and economic regeneration in English towns, including:

• Future High Streets Fund (£1bn)
• Heritage Actions Zones (£95m), as part of the  FHSF  programme
• Towns Deals

Future High Streets Fund

In December 2018,  MHCLG issued guidance on a Future High Streets Fund and invited local authorities to submit an expression of interest for funding.

An expert consultant team was commissioned to undertake a further independent assessment of towns in the borough and to recommend which town centre should be the subject of any expressions of interest.

Following their future high street fund report (PDF, 225KB), the council submitted bids for both Crewe and Macclesfield and in July 2019 was informed its proposal for Crewe had been shortlisted for the next stage, but that the Macclesfield proposal had not.

A business case comprising a programme of regeneration projects for Crewe town centre was then developed and a final version submitted for assessment by government in spring 2020.

In June 2021, the council received a formal grant offer letter from government for £14.1m, meaning work on a variety of transformative projects can now progress.

Heritage Action Zones

In May 2019, Historic England invited expressions of interest in the High Streets Heritage Action Zones scheme, which forms a key part of the Government’s wider Future High Streets programme. There were strict criteria for this fund, the main one being that the scheme needed to be in a conservation area in a town centre.

An expert consultant team was commissioned to undertake a further independent assessment of towns in the borough and to recommend which town centre should be the subject of any expressions of interest.

The consultant’s report, HSHAZ Centres review (PDF, 4.2MB) recommended that Macclesfield performed best against the criteria and an expression of interest was submitted to Historic England in July 2019. 

Unfortunately, this proposal was not one of those selected by Historic England for further development at this stage. 

Town Deals

In September 2019, the Government announced that Crewe had been selected as one of 101 towns across England invited to develop Town Deals, which could provide up to £25m of funding for each town to help regenerate their town centre, boost businesses and improve infrastructure.

Overseen by Crewe Town Board, a 10-year Town Investment Plan was drafted following extensive engagement with communities and leaders across the town and submitted to government by Cheshire East Council at the end of January 2021.

The Town Investment Plan sets out a long-term strategy for Crewe that aims to tackle key challenges and transform it into a more attractive place to live, visit and invest in, while delivering lasting benefits to the health and wellbeing of its diverse communities.

It includes investment priorities and details of a package of 10 shortlisted projects to support Crewe’s ongoing regeneration.

In July 2021, Crewe was announced by government as one of the latest UK towns to successfully secure a ‘Town Deal’ and was offered up to £22.9m of funding.

Page last reviewed: 20 September 2021