To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the Marches LEP released Phase 1 funding for the New Model in Technology and Engineering university project in Herefordshire in August 2019 given that Local Growth Fund 3 was announced in March 2017.

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Marches LEP plans to release the £5.7 million of Phase 2 funding allocated by the Government for the New Model in Technology and Engineering university project in Herefordshire.

The award of Growth Deal 3 funding was announced in March 2017 providing a boost of £21.9 million for the Marches area, aimed at helping to create jobs, support businesses and encourage growth. This tranche of funding was expected to deliver a number of projects, which included proposals to provide capital support to the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) University project in Herefordshire.

Since the deal was agreed, the Marches Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) have been working with the NMiTE project to refine their proposal, further develop their business case, and engage with wider stakeholders. The LEP also provided development funding to the project to support the completion of the business case.

In October 2017, the Department for Education announced a further £15 million to support development of the faculty, campus and curriculum. Following this agreement, the NMITE project were able to develop their proposal further and in Autumn of 2018 a location for the first phase of development was identified.

This was followed in October 2019 by LEP confirmation of £2.34 million investment to fund the transformation of a former school into facilities for Hereford’s proposed new university.

The LEP continue to work with the NMiTE project as a member of their board and governance structure. The LEP have recently received a business case for the second phase of development, and discussions aimed at agreeing the next tranche of funding are ongoing.