This week I will be meeting with our Labour Councillors in Speke to discuss the Pride in Place funding that has been awarded to East Speke, which will see the area receive £2 million a year for a decade to drive renewal, plus an initial £1.5 million to upgrade public facilities with new green spaces, play areas and sports and leisure facilities.

The award is part of Labour’s £5 billion Pride in Place programme that puts local people across 339 neighbourhoods nationally in the driving seat of change in their own communities. They will decide how the money is spent, reviving shopping areas, restoring parks and breathing new life into leisure centres and community halls. It is renewal in action, led by the people who know their communities best.

You’ll be hearing more about the Pride in Place funding over the next weeks and months, and I will update on the process as it goes forward. It’s another illustration of how Labour is backing renewal over decline, and uniting communities where Reform and the Tories seek to divide them.