Funding is set to be committed to hundreds of areas in the coming years as part of Labour’s replacement for the last Government’s “levelling up” agenda.
Blocs of backbenchers including the Labour Growth Group, Red Wall Group and Blue Labour have pushed for a scheme which would make visible changes in local communities following the perceived failures of levelling up under the Conservatives.
Up to £20m is expected to be made available for each community included in the rollout over the next decade, although the exact figures have not yet been confirmed.
Of the 350 areas included, 75 have already been announced as part of the “plan for neighbourhoods” – mostly medium-sized towns such as Hastings, Dudley, Mansfield, Rotherham, Blyth, Kilmarnock and Rhyl – and another 25 have been designated “trailblazer neighbourhoods”, covering smaller districts of towns and cities including Birkenhead Central (Wirral), Batemoor and Jordanthorpe (Sheffield), and Birchwood West (Lincoln).
Angela Rayner is laying out plans to boost local neighbourhoods (Photo: Getty Images)
Government strategists have accepted that it will be necessary to make a direct, clear impact on voters’ lives, as well as growing the economy on a national level, in order to secure re-election. Launching the plan for neighbourhoods earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “By the end we’ll need to ask not just whether these places look better, but whether the lives of those who call them home are improved.”
Darlington MP Lola McEvoy, co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, added: “Neglected and decaying parks, playgrounds and piers have become everyday symbols of Britain’s economic stagnation. Investing to restore pride in our communities isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s the essential first step in reviving regional economies.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “For too long communities have been left behind and starved of investment, and we’re taking decisive action to fix this and deliver Britain’s renewal through our plan for change. We’re investing in up to 350 areas so we can regenerate local services and high streets, boost growth and deliver real change people can see on their doorsteps.”
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