Jamie Carpenter,
Regen.net,
5 November 2008
Brent and West Somerset councils would no longer be eligible for full funding from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund from next spring under changes to the fund's eligibility criteria proposed yesterday.
The Department for Communities and Local Government said that the proposed changes to the formula used to allocate the £1.5 billion three-year fund were intended to target the money where it is most needed.
Sixty-five areas are currently eligible for the WNF. But the proposed change to its eligibility criteria - which would not affect this year's allocations, but would affect allocations for 2009/10 and 2010/11 - means that the London Borough of Brent and West Somerset Council would have their funding phased out.
Brent had been set to receive £5.85 million from the fund in 2009-11, but would now instead receive just £1.44 million in 2009/10 and £957,000 in 2010/11.
And West Somerset, which had been set to receive £2 million from the fund in 2009-11, would now instead be paid £600,000 in 2009/10 and £400,000 in 2010/11.
Meanwhile, the London Borough of Enfield and Lewisham, which were due to have their WNF funding phased out under the fund's original eligibility criteria, would receive full funding under the proposals.
The Working Neighbourhoods Fund 2009-11: Revising the third criterion is available here. The deadline for responses is the 9 January.
