Last week, Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely met with the new minister for local growth funding, Dehenna Davison, to discuss the Island’s Levelling Up agenda and the case for a funding uplift.
Following the meeting, Seely said: “I am delighted Dehenna has been given this position. I know that the councillors who met her at the Islands Forum were impressed. It was good to have the opportunity to explain the Island’s potential for levelling up and discuss its unique needs. I look forward to further meetings with her in future.”
This meeting continued Mr Seely’s campaign for a better deal for the Isle of Wight. Alongside improvements in education, transport, culture, health and social care, Mr Seely is pursuing a funding uplift for the Isle of Wight’s local authority, which considers the additional costs associated with providing public services to an island community.
Mr Seely has campaigned for a funding adjustment for a number of years. In December 2018, Seely convinced the government to recognise the Island’s “unique” isolation, effectively marking the first time the Island’s circumstances have been explicitly acknowledged in the consideration of local government finance. In February 2021, Seely secured £50,000 of government funding ‘to review the challenges faced by the council, residents and businesses on the island who are separated from the mainland.'
This report has provided evidence in favour of an uplift in Island funding: In February 2022, the Isle of Wight Council received a one-million-pound funding uplift in recognition of “the unique circumstances facing the Isle of Wight Council and its physical separation from the mainland.”
In October 2021, the Island was allocated £5.8 million in the first round of Levelling Up funding. This is being invested into a heavy-lift crane to improve Wight Shipyard’s capacity.
Mr Seely has also supported the Isle of Wight Council’s bid for the second round of Levelling Up funding. If successful, the submission will contribute towards the Island Green Link, a multi-million-pound sustainable transport project. The scheme is designed to develop sustainable transport availability to Islanders, and will improve walkways, bus routes and cycle paths.
The uplift comes in addition to the £48 million government funding package won for upgrades to St Mary’s hospital, the £10 million Community diagnostic centre being built on the Island, and the £5.3 million uplift for Unavoidably Small Hospitals, like St Mary’s.
The Island has also received education funding during Mr Seely’s time in parliament: Isle of Wight College has won a share of £1.5 billion for Further Education, £25 million for facility upgrades, and was granted Institute for Technology status. The Isle of Wight Council also secured £800,000 for Special Educational Needs (SEN) schooling; they have since submitted a bid for a new Island-based SEN school.
Mr Seely has promised he will continue to push for more funding as part of his improved deal for the Island.
