Funding news

Oldham Council has handed out £266,000 in small grants to 25 town-centre traders so they can repaint, re-sign and refresh their shop fronts. The awards, confirmed on 16 January, come from the council's wider £20 million "growth deal" kitty and are meant to make the high street feel brighter for shoppers.

Each business could ask for up to £15,000; the council will not say who got what, but the list covers independent cafés, hair salons, convenience stores and a small record shop. Work must be finished by the end of March so the improvements are in place before Easter trading begins.

The grants sit inside a larger recovery plan. After 14 years of Whitehall cuts, councillors balanced this year's books in March and claim the town's finances are "on the road to recovery". The £20 million package, first announced last spring, is now being spent across culture, sport, housing and digital projects as well as retail.

Alongside the facelift money, the council is planting free digital-help desks in libraries and leisure centres so residents who struggle with online forms can sit with a trained volunteer. Officers say the twin tracks-prettier shops and easier internet access-are meant to keep footfall rising.

No new round of shop-front cash has been promised. Traders who missed out this time will have to wait and see whether any cash is left once the final growth-deal projects are signed off later this year.