Arup to help councils pitching for Towns Fund

The Towns Fund is available to local authorities in England to support town centre public works projects. Maximum available from the pot for any one town is £25m.

Councils bidding for money will be expected to work with the government’s team of consultants to assemble their bids.  This consortium comprises planners, accountants and surveyors: Copper Consultancy, Grant Thornton, FutureGov, Nichols and Savills as well as Arup.

MHCLG expects the consultants to help local authorities share knowledge and tell each other what they are doing.

The six firms have been retained for an initial 12 months and are getting paid £8m between them.

Leading the consortium’s delivery team is Joanna Rowelle, integrated city planning director at Arup. She said: “These towns have a rich history, which we will work with them to build upon through this fund, capitalising on the many assets within each. Our geographic breadth and diverse resource capability mean that we can respond rapidly and effectively to the needs of this programme, as we bring together bespoke, first-class technical expertise across a range of services and known town priorities.”

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