On Friday I held the first of our community events in East Speke to discuss the Pride in Place Programme with local residents. As one of nearly 250 areas across the country to be chosen by the Labour Government East Speke will receive £20 million over the next ten years to be spent by the local community on their priorities, which is why these community events are so important.
East Speke is what Pride in Place calls a ‘doubly disadvantaged’ neighbourhood based on combined scores from the Index of Multiple Deprivation and Community Needs Index, but local communities on the ground can see and feel the need for investment for themselves and that’s what I heard from those who attended the event. They feel that East Speke has been ignored historically and that they have not been listened to, so I stressed that this is their chance to make things better.
In the meeting and across the results from the survey we have been running the main areas of concern for people are lack of green spaces, crime and antisocial behaviour and better facilities for children and young people. It was good to have some young people attend on Friday as they will over the next decade see the benefit of this money, and their suggestions were around providing better opportunities for them and more places for them to go. Oher attendees spoke of their frustration at having to go outside of Speke for dance clubs and sports facilities, which this money can help to change.
The next steps are to announce the Chair of the Neighbourhood Board following the council’s recruitment process and to then found the board itself, which must have at least 51% of members resident in the East Speke programme boundary. An initial plan must then be created and submitted to the Government by November this year.
This is another example of Labour putting people first. Nobody knows what a community needs better than a community itself, which is why this funding is so different with decision making in the hands of those who will benefit the most. That’s the difference Labour can make in government.