On Sunday, the government announced another round of investment for 55 “left behind towns” yet, once again, Rugby was nowhere to be seen on this list. Indeed, on what is now the fourth round of such government investment initiatives, our town, keeps missing out despite a Conservative government, MP, County and Borough controlled Town Halls.

This follows Rugby missing out on the following central government funding:

• Levelling-Up Fund phase one (2021)
• Levelling-Up Fund phase two (2023)
• The Mary Portas Review – High Street Innovation Fund pilot towns (2011)

In addition to this there is the “lost £20m” of local development tax (Community Infrastructure Levies) that Rugby Labour highlighted at the last Full Council meeting on the 20^th of September.

Rugby Group Leader Councillor Michael Moran commented “The relative decline in Rugby town centre is obvious to everyone apart from, seemingly, both the local and national Conservative party. Independent assessments from industry experts CACI ranked Rugby town centre 197^th in the country in 2004. After 20 years of Tory rule that ranking had fallen to 255 in 2022.”

“Save for a handful of exceptional local independent businesses the town has had no meaningful support in two decades whereas virtually every town has received something”.

Councillor John Slinger is the Labour lead on major infrastructure projects and sits with Councillor Moran on the Council’s Town Centre Working Group. He commented: “It really is a scandal how Rugby keeps missing out. Together with local businesses and other opposition Councillors we will keep pushing for a better deal but there surely comes a point where questions have to be asked as to why our Conservative MP and Council Leaders keep failing in their job to persuade their own colleagues in the Westminster government to invest in our Borough in the way that it so deserves and needs”.

Town centre rankings available from https://www.caci.co.uk/datasets/retail-footprint/