Government confirms Council can reallocate Squire Lane funding, as Anna Dixon MP calls out Reform leadership’s claims
Anna Dixon MP for Shipley has publicly shared a letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) showing that Bradford Council can redirect funding from the cancelled Squire Lane Leisure Centre project, directly contradicting claims by the Reform UK leadership.
The letter, sent to Ms Dixon in August by the Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth, Jim McMahon MP, confirms the funding was integrated into the Local Regeneration Fund in September 2025 and that local authorities now decide how to use it.
The minister also makes clear that MHCLG no longer has a formal approval role in changes to individual projects. Crucially, it says that decisions on the future use of Bradford’s allocation, “including any consideration of alternative projects following the cancellation of the Squire Lane scheme, are matters for Bradford Council”.
Anna Dixon MP has confirmed that she sent the letter to the Chief Executive’s Office at Bradford Council on 9 September. Despite this, Council Leader Stephen Place still claimed in a 14 October statement about the future of Bingley Pool, “There is currently no funding or route to funding to support the works needed to reopen and run the site.”
Speaking today, Anna Dixon MP said:
“The Government has made it absolutely clear that Bradford Council has the power to reallocate this funding, and the decision is theirs alone. I put that in writing to the Chief Executive’s Office on 9 September, so the council has had full knowledge and the ability to accept this for weeks now.
“What is clear now is that the Reform UK leadership at Bradford Council has either deliberately misled residents about what it is able to do, or it doesn’t understand the funding rules for its own projects. Neither is acceptable, and neither is anywhere near good enough when these are the people in charge of our local authority.
“My constituents in Bingley were told by the Reform Council that there was no way forward for the pool, and that is simply not true.”
