Brighton & Hove's council leader has supported the call from Greater Brighton to ensure the south east is not left behind in future government funding.
Councillor Nancy Platts said: "I fully support councillor Humphreys’ view that the south east must not be left behind in an attempt to ‘level up’ investment between north and south.
“For years we’ve seen council funding from central government cut and the impact is being felt by people across Brighton & Hove. Despite myths to the contrary, the city has some of the most deprived areas in England.
“If we’re to meet our target of being carbon neutral by 2030, we need the government to invest heavily in public transport. That includes spending more on electric buses, electric vehicle infrastructure and improving the Brighton mainline, a key gateway into the city that has suffered because of a lack of investment.
“It costs more than £2 million to run our 700 council services every day. Any investment plan needs to be fair so that we can look at important issues such as tackling the climate crisis, improving access to good quality housing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping.”
The chairman of Greater Brighton, councillor Daniel Humphreys, said a "false narrative" had been allowed to arise which suggested the south had been favoured when it came to government investment and projects. He was responding to the government's pledge to ‘level up’ opportunities across the UK and ensure the north is no longer the poor relation when it comes to spending on transport, industrial and digital infrastructure.
But councillor Humphreys said that spending on road and transport in the South East was already lagging behind.
He said: "We cannot let this story become an accepted part of government narrative. We are simply not flowing with cash. In fact we are actually not getting our fair share.
"Any investment plans must take in the needs of the entire country and acknowledge the importance of the contribution individual regions make to the entire economic wellbeing of the country."
