Leader of Hull City Council, Cllr Mike Ross has welcomed a huge £19.35 million funding boost for the city as he met with Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young MP alongside the council’s chief executive, Matt Jukes, and Hull & East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership chair, James Newman OBE.

The minister from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities visited Hull after it was granted £19.35million as part of the new Levelling Up Partnerships. Hull is one of the first areas in the country to be award the funding.

Cllr Ross, Matt Jukes, James Newman and other representatives from the city held high level talks with Jacob Young MP, who also visited the Siemens Gamesa plant, getting to see for himself Hull’s world-leading facility. 

It comes as £5m of the government funding will support further education with a focus on funding green skills.

These funds will be invested in education and training to tackle low skills and prepare people for work in the city’s growing green energy sector, demonstrating the council’s commitment to confronting climate change.

In addition to the support for education and green skills, £10m is pledged to the East Bank development opportunity to help get the site ready to support up to 850 homes, along with commercial space and offices.

Elsewhere, £1.5m will be used to develop two new managed workspace centres and £1m each dedicated to small business loans and addressing community centre infrastructure priorities.

Funding will also be pledged to combating anti-social behaviour through Safer Streets, improving family hubs in Marfleet and Orchard Park and strengthening pan-Humber arrangements to help economic growth.

These schemes will all receive £200,000 each, with another £250,000 committed to producing a masterplan for the city centre.

Commenting on the funding, Cllr Ross said: “Hull is a pioneer in the renewable energy sector and this funding will help further champion that cause, boosting the city’s economy and the city’s reputation on the national and international stage. 

“The council is seeing large amounts of funding that will help residents right across Hull. From tackling anti-social behaviour to supporting small businesses and I know the council, alongside others in the city, will work with the government to use this money to help the people of Hull. 

“People across the city tell us they want a greener and safer city with support for our local economy, this funding will help deliver this council’s and residents’ priorities.”