It's not 'free money' in that any grant won't cover funding for the whole development - Peel will be stumping up as well, and yes, it is monitored.
Regional Growth Fund | Policies | BIS
The cases at MME and CAX aren't comparable - at MME planning permission has already been granted for the area for which development funding is being sought, at CAX the argument is about whether planning permission can be granted and whether the proposed aviation element of the development is viable (personally, I think the Sheffield City analogy is more relevant).
Two sides to every story - can you imagine the fuss on here if Peel weren't chasing every funding opportunity? "Oh, Peel aren't serious about developing the airport - they can't even be bothered to take 'free money' of the government..."
