A Kent council has defended its decision not to apply for a share of a huge government fund to help boost jobs and business in less well-off areas.

Swale council was identified as one of 100 priority areas eligible to apply for up to £20m to fund schemes under the government’s “levelling up” agenda - helping eradicate regional economic inequalities by investing in so-called ‘left behind’ communities.

The government’s deadline for the first round of applications is at the end of the week (18) but the authority's leader said it needs more time to put together a bid which meets the government’s framework and addresses local needs.

Labour leader Cllr Roger Truelove said the authority was not in a position to meet the deadline.

“We are in the 100 priority areas for levelling up and we do want to build a really sustainable bid but the government provides so little time. We also need support from constituency MPs.”

The council was aiming to put a bid forward that would benefit both Sittingbourne and Sheppey, he added.

“Our officers think that we need time to put together something that will be, in the long term, in the best interests of our residents, so we could do a rush job, but it wouldn't have the same impact.”

“We haven't got any oven-ready scheme that would fit into the criteria perfectly. So we're going to work on it. The simple thing is to have a really good application or do we want something that just ticks a box?”

Under the government’s programme, six authorities were identified as being in most need of funding and with the exception of Swale, all have submitted an application for funding.

They are Folkestone, Canterbury, Medway, Thanet and Gravesham.

Canterbury is applying for money to create a New York-style ‘pollinator park’ along the city wall is part of multimillion-pound plans to transform Canterbury’s heritage assets.

Councils were invited to put together applications around certain themes with a focus on improving the appearance of town centre high streets, particularly in coastal towns, along with local transport projects and cultural regeneration.

There have been claims that the government has picked out areas based on party political interests, notably by promising investment in "red wall" constituencies that it won in the north of England at the election.

Some have also queried the choice of places like Canterbury, a narrow marginal seat held by Labour's Rosie Duffield.

She said: "It is pretty clear to me that they mostly have picked areas where they as a party will benefit but I imagine most governments would do the same, given the choice."

She also raised a question over a bid that focused on the city centre, saying: "I do have concerns that this is very Canterbury-focused and actually, we need to look at the villages and Whitstable."

While individual councils face a cap of £20m, the government says that it is prepared to consider bids of between £20m and £50m for transport-related initiatives.

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