Diss-missed!: Town misses out on £25 million investment after being overlooked by government

Market towns and deprived areas have missed out on a £25 million windfall from the government.

Diss was among the towns overlooked in a £3.6 billion 'Towns Fund' made by the Government in July of last year.

The money was to be made available to “towns that currently do not have the right conditions to develop and sustain strong local economies”.

The eligibility of towns was to be judged on a ‘deprivation metric’, with scores higher than six being classed as high priorities for investment.

Twelve towns in the region, including Thetford, Dereham, Swaffham, Downham Market and Diss were not chosen, despite all of them scoring higher than the Norwich.

The city of Norwich did receive money from the Towns Fund, despite scoring two on the metric and not being a town.

According to the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government, “the potential for investment and growth was a key factor in towns being selected”.

The National Audit Office published a report on Tuesday which indicated that ministers had hand-picked 60 of the 101 eligible locations.

It also showed that nationally, 11 out of 12 towns which received the money – despite being classed as low priority for funding – were Conservative marginal seats during the 2017 general election.

A government spokesman explained that although “40 deprived towns were rightly favoured, the rest were picked from a shortlist, with a range of evidence being considered”.

He added that there were numerous factors involved in the selection of towns, describing the overall process as “comprehensive, robust and fair”.

The lack of support for several deprived areas and market towns comes as businesses attempt to survive the difficulties of lockdown and reopen successfully.

Local councillors have described the decision as “a concern”.