Shailesh Vara MP has today welcomed £22.9 million being made available to Peterborough as part of the Government’s levelling up programme to help local economies outside of big cities. Mr Vara’s North West Cambridgeshire constituency includes a substantial part of the south of the city together with a number of villages to the west up to the Northamptonshire border.

The money will help drive forward regeneration of the city and help to unlock the city’s potential by boosting employment opportunities, improve connectivity and encourage growth.

Mr Vara worked with local leaders to press the case to Government for the funds which will create more jobs, drive investment and make Peterborough an even better place to live and work in.

Following the announcement Mr Vara said:

“This is a significant sum of money and it will really help to make Peterborough a better place to live and work in. I personally spoke with the Government Ministers concerned and I know that Councillor John Holdich and his team at Peterborough City Council, along with Opportunity Peterborough and local businesses and community leaders also put in a huge amount of work to secure these funds.

“This money is part of the Conservative Government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund aimed at levelling up economies outside the big cities and it will make a really positive difference to our city as we move forward.”