Ten neighbourhoods in the North East and Tees Valley are to get up to £20mn each over ten years under phase two of the government’s Pride in Place programme. They add to six in the region announced under phase one in June.
Pride in Place is a £5bn fund which, says the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MCHLG): “aims to build strong, resilient and integrated communities that are essential for achieving the government’s five missions* and fulfilling the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change.”
Altogether almost 250 places in all parts of the UK will receive a share of the funding over the two phases.
The money, it is said, will support long-term improvements that residents want: “With Pride in Place, residents, businesses, and community groups will deliver real improvements that matter to local people. This is led by local people and backed by the UK government.
“Communities will be able to spend the funding on what matters most to them – from improvements to pavements and high streets to investing in culture and green spaces.”
Neighbourhood boards of local people will bring together residents, local businesses, grassroots campaigners, workplace representatives, faith leaders, and community organisations to decide on how the funding can help shape the future of their area.
The places to benefit have been chosen on the basis of multiple deprivation (discussed here on 3 November), population size, healthy life expectancy, gross value added per hour worked and skill levels.
The politics
The government’s presentation of the Pride in Place Programme is highly political, contrasting it favourably with the Conservatives’ levelling up initiatives such as the Towns Fund and Town Deals, which also brought cash to parts of the North East.
“Whilst recent programmes such as Towns Deals and the Towns Fund sought to support communities and put local people at the centre of decision-making,” said the MGCLG when first launching the programme.” polling shows that only 11% of people believe their area has got better to live in over the last two years, and 29% say that it has got worse. People feel like there are more tensions between immigrants and ethnic groups in society now, than in recent years. It is therefore essential that this programme draws lessons from what worked best in these previous programmes.
“The New Deal for Communities, launched in 1998 [by the previous Labour government] across 39 locations around England and which later became part of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, was designed to close the gaps between acutely deprived areas and the rest of the country, focusing on three ‘place’ related outcomes and three ‘people’ related outcomes…
“The independent evaluation of the New Deal for Communities found that ‘in many respects, these neighbourhoods [were] transformed’ over the 10 years the programme ran and its successes are still being felt today.”
The North East places to benefit
The six North East area to benefit from the Pride in Place programme identified in phase 1 were Blyth, Darlington, Eston, Hartlepool, Jarrow and Washington. Those now added in phase 2 are Thorntree and Park End in Middlesbrough; Walker North and Elswick South in Newcastle; Thorney Close & Plains Farm and Hendon & Docks in Sunderland; Central Stockton & Portrack; Biddick Hill in South Tyneside; Beacon Lough & Wrekenton in Gateshead; and Percy Main in North Tyneside.
*The government’s five missions are growing the economy, reforming the NHS, making streets safer, expanding opportunity and making Britain a clean energy superpower.
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