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Re-elected Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram has announced a £150m Covid recovery fund on the first day of his second term in office.

Mayor Rotheram said that the next tranche of the combined authority’s devolved gainshare funding would “form the bedrock of our Covid recovery fund”.

He was speaking as he signed his acceptance of office as Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, after being re-elected with an increased majority of over 132,000 on the first round of voting in Thursday’s local elections - winning almost 60% of the vote.

He said: “I promised people that if they put their trust in me again, that I’d get to work straight away on rebuilding and improving our region after Covid.

"I’m delighted say that after talks with government we are set to receive this new funding for the city region.

“This is new money that will help us get a jump start on our recovery ahead of the rest of the country, investing in projects that will power our economy and creating and safeguarding jobs, and delivering much-needed hope to people and businesses across the region."

The funding secured from the Government is to create a city region recovery fund to create jobs and support businesses as the area emerges from the pandemic.