Inquiry raises concerns over how £3.6bn towns fund was distributed

Watchdog says process was ‘not impartial’ and decisions were ‘politically motivated’

An inquiry by parliament’s spending watchdog into how ministers distributed £3.6bn to help deprived towns has raised serious concerns that funding decisions were politically biased.

The cross-party public accounts committee said it was “not convinced by the rationales for selecting some towns and not others” when the towns fund was distributed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, (MHCLG) last year.

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