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Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has dismissed Labor’s request for an investigation into awarding a £ 25 million regeneration grant to his constituency.
He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr that the decision to give the money to Newark, Nottinghamshire, had been made by his fellow minister Jake Berry.
Jenrick said that he himself had decided to fund a city in the Berry constituency under the same scheme.
He called this “perfectly normal” and accused Labor of “distraction.”
But Labor described the allocation of money as “murky” and urged Jenrick to undergo a “full” investigation.
The £ 25 million was awarded to Newark under the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s £ 3.6 billion Cities Fund, created last year to help places that “had not always benefited from the economic growth of Newark. the same way as the more prosperous areas. “
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The Newark and Sherwood District Council presented its municipal investment plan, which includes improved transportation, training and digital connectivity, in July.
Jenrick, a Conservative MP from Newark since 2014, supported the proposal.
For Labor, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told Sky News’s Ridge on Sunday: “The whole question has always been pretty murky about how this money was allocated.
“The secretary of state has questions to answer and an investigation is the right way to go.”
‘Robust system’
But Jenrick said the government had a “robust” system for choosing which places would benefit from the Towns Fund and that the rules had been created before he became secretary of communities.
He added that Berry, who oversees local growth in England as a minister within Jenrick’s department, made the decision on the advice of public officials.
Darwen, a city in Berry’s Rossendale and Darwen constituencies, also received money from the Towns Fund.
The decision, Jenrick said, was “made by myself.”
He added: “This is perfectly normal. Ministers do not get involved in decision-making for their own constituency.
“But their districts should not be victims of the fact that their deputy is a minister either.”
Jenrick also said: “The Labor Party front bench needs to go beyond M25 and see what is happening in our constituencies.”
Earlier, he told Sky News that the Labor accusations were “completely unfounded.”
But after the interviews, Shadow Communities Secretary Steve Reed insisted that if “Robert Jenrick has nothing to hide, he should undergo a full investigation.”
In August, Jenrick said she regretted sitting next to real estate developer Richard Desmond at a Conservative Party fundraiser last year.
Desmond donated £ 12,000 to the Conservatives in January, 12 days after the minister overruled government planning inspectors to approve a development at the former Westferry printing press in east London.
Labor said this had raised “cash for favors” suggestions.
But Mr. Jenrick has always insisted that he was unaware of the donation and was motivated by a desire to see more homes built.
