Government announces new Town of the Year competition

Competition aims to celebrate towns’ achievements

Towns across England will be able to compete in a new Town of the Year competition, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced, as he set out a new package of support to level up the country.

The new competition aims to celebrate towns’ achievements, including in areas such as entrepreneurship, technology, community, enterprise, and integration.

It will also support communities to come together to create a bright future and unleash their full potential through innovation, creativity, and community spirit.

A new ‘Towns Hub’ will also be established within the department to work directly with local people as they develop town investment proposals and help communities share best practice to transform their towns.

In the months ahead, the Communities Secretary will visit all of the 100 areas receiving funding under the £3.6 billion Towns Fund to set out the government’s ambition to restore the fabric of our towns and cities and give local people far more control in how they are invested in, and to hear directly from people in these communities on the specific support and investment they need.

A new expert-led advisory panel will also be convened to advise on how to revitalise our towns over the next year. The specialists, including entrepreneurs and people who have delivered real change, will help shape government policy to support the growth agenda.

This comes as over £16 million of funding has been delivered to local authorities to help develop new innovative proposals in 100 areas across England, as part of the Towns Fund. Each place will have the opportunity to bid for funding of up to £25 million. 

The ‘Towns Hub’ based across the country will work directly with the 100 places, with a named representative from the department supporting local people on the development of their plan.

They will also evaluate the emerging town investment plans, share best practice across towns and build on the Towns Fund investments for potential future support to towns from across government.

The Fund will allow the town’s future to be in the hands of local people, giving them a say in how this money is being spent by submitting ideas for how to improve skills and transport, create new jobs and regenerate their local community.

The competition will be launched later this year, and further details will be announced in due course.