Writing for The Mirror, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner says she has taken inspiration from the late John Prescott as she launches a £1.5billion plan to revive neighbourhoods
John Prescott was always a friend and inspiration to me. He used to phone me up after Prime Minister questions to give his verdict, and join me on campaign trips as Labour ’s deputy leader.
But it was in a conversation about his legacy that he gave a response that’s stuck with me since. Look at what we did by all means he said, but do it your own way.
Now, with our £1.5bn Plan for Neighbourhoods, our government is doing exactly that. We’re taking inspiration from John’s New Deal for Communities – the trailblazing programme that took kids out of poverty and made estates safer – but gearing it for the Britain of 2025.
In 75 places which have been underestimated and undervalued, we’re promising £20m of investment and support over the next decade. In each area, a new Neighbourhood Board will choose how it’s spent. It’s got a lot in common with John’s New Deal. Just like then communities will decide how it’s spent. And we’re encouraging local businesses and grassroots campaigners to get stuck in again.
But this time the programme has three clear aims: creating thriving places, strengthening communities, and empowering people to take back control. This is part of of our Plan for Change to kick start a decade of national renewal and deliver economic growth across the country.
The New Deal for Communities put a lot of emphasis on bricks and mortar; doing up social housing, and improving how estates looked. That’s all important, but I want to focus on the people and communities in those places too.
By the end of this Parliament, I want local residents to look out from their front door and not just see change, but feel it. What we need is growth that brings local high streets back to health. Growth that funds a community centre for your kids, or growth that means new co-operative business that we all own together.
I’ve chosen the 75 communities because they were promised this funding by the last government. That money never existed, the Tories had already spent it three times over, but we’ll make good on what places have been promised.
But this goes further, a new programme that gives neighbourhoods control over their future, paired with the full-force of a government that sees their potential. It’s a clear break from levelling up. No more Dragon’s Den funding – just the transfer of power and investment to where it belongs. I won’t be micromanaging how places spend this money.
John’s New Deal for Communities brought change to communities as far as part as Tyneside to Devon. Rest assured we’ll be doing this our own way, but if we can inspire people as he did, it’ll be a job well done.
