MAJOR projects across Oxfordshire are set to lose out on hundreds of millions of pounds after the government snubbed county funding bids.

More than 30 schemes to upgrade and build roads, revamp railway stations and boost support for businesses have been largely overlooked, the Oxford Mail understands.

The county bid for more than £380m from the Local Growth Fund, but senior figures say they now expect less than £30m to be awarded this week.

The ‘disappointing’ result was blamed on a failure to agree a devolution proposal, including whether Oxfordshire should have an elected mayor.

Ministers have said areas with proposals for elected mayors – such as Manchester, the West Midlands, Liverpool and the Tees Valley – will get the ‘main share of funding’ but council leaders here remain split on the issue.

Ian Hudspeth, pictured below, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, called for a mayor in February. He said the last year had seen local authorities ‘waste valuable time’.

Oxford Mail:

He said: “We have been distracted. And it is clearly very disappointing that it has cost us.

“We await the final outcome – and until then we don’t know for sure – but it is looking like [the Local Growth Fund grants] will be much lower than we hoped.”

The row about devolution sparked angry claims council leaders had done a ‘disservice to the people in Oxfordshire’.

Andrew Gant, opposition leader at Oxford City Council, said: “The Government has moved the goalposts with devolution but our council leaders have also done themselves no favours.

“They need to take their share of the responsibility for this, because other areas in the country have done it.

“We should have done better, not wasted time and money on divisions.”

And Oxford Civic Society chairman Peter Thompson said: “The way this has all been handled does a great disservice to the people in Oxfordshire.

“It looks like we are getting a pretty poor deal.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Andrew Gant, leader of the Lib Dem opposition in Oxford

John Cotton, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said he could not comment on the amount of cash provided but said he was ‘not convinced’ it was because there was no devolution proposal.

But he added: “If that were the case, then the need for truly transformational change in local government in Oxfordshire is even more urgent.”

The Government’s Local Growth Fund amounts to £1.8bn and some 39 areas bid for cash.

Andrew Percy, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, was quoted last month saying areas with elected mayors would get the most funding.

He said: “Where there are devolution deals in place we know there is a degree of accountability with a mayor and local growth allocations will reflect those deals.”

The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which organises the county’s bids to the fund, refused to say on Friday how much cash it was expecting to receive this week.

Oxford Mail:

  • Oxfordshire LEP chairman Nigel Tipple

The LEP bid for a total of £382m.

This included cash to pay for improvements at railway stations in Oxford, Didcot, Hanborough and Culham, as well road schemes such as the Lodge Hill diamond A34 interchange, the Bicester south east perimeter road, the Didcot northern perimeter road and the Didcot ‘Science Bridge’.

Nigel Tipple, LEP chairman, said officials were planning for ‘different scenarios’ based on how much cash they got but declined to comment on ‘speculation’.

He added: “There is a process and we expect to find out on Thursday.

“Right now we are still in negotiations with the Government to firm up Oxfordshire’s funding allocation and how it will be distributed.”

A government spokesman said: “We will make an announcement in due course.”