'Transformational' £40m funding for regeneration projects chosen by community

Two deprived areas in Slough will receive a combined £40million over the next decade to be invested in projects to lift it up – projects decided by the community.

Britwell and Langley Foxborough are among 40 new neighbourhoods selected across the country to be included in the Government’s expanded Pride in Place programme.

Areas are chosen based on levels of deprivation and ‘issues with social cohesion’ – with an acknowledgment that these areas have, in the past, been ‘overlooked’.

Each area can receive up to £20million for projects which can be ‘anything’; improving playgrounds, supporting youth services or building skills hubs, bringing empty buildings back into use, expanding after-school activities, improving public transport and more.

Its availability over 10 years is hoped to help not just build the infrastructure, but keep it supported over time, too.

The programme is designed to give the public control; neighbourhood boards decide how the money is spent, not central Government.

Made up of regular members of the community, and work has already begun in getting these set up.

There will be some oversight, but a strong emphasis on local decision-making, with the boards engaging with the population to find out which projects are most important to people.

Slough joins a wider group of 284 communities across the UK under the Pride in Place scheme.

To launch the scheme, Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, visited St Mary's Church in Slough this morning (March 20).

Children from St Mary's CE Primary were there, in celebration of the news, giving an opportunity for its headteacher to speak to Mr Reed directly, among a raft of other local figures.

Also attending were representatives from Slough Council for Voluntary Service (SCVS), Britwell Community Forum, Together as One, and Resource Productions, among others.

Politics pupils from the local secondary schools also came to ask Mr Reed questions, and there were various current and former councillors alongside Slough’s MP, Tan Dhesi.

There were also several faith leaders from across multiple faiths, including from Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre Slough (JMIC), St John the Baptist Church, Brahma Kumaris Slough, and Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara.

Speaking to the Express, Mr Reed said: “People [here] were very clear with me; they think Slough has been held back by not getting its fair cut of funding over many, many years now.

“We’re in a situation we inherited where one in every eight young people is not earning or learning. Their lives are being written off before they have even begun. We can't accept that.”

Asked why this locally led model of funding was chosen, Mr Reed replied: “Local people know best what needs to change to put back the pride that they feel has been taken away.

“What I learnt as a council leader is that local people have the insights; they're on their own high streets, they're in their own workplaces. But they feel no one hears their voice.

“I believe profoundly that we have to back people with government funding so they can make a difference for themselves.

“You use the money better because it's spent on things that really make a difference.

“[In Slough] people are so ambitious and aspirational for the area to do better.”

Mr Reed added: “We can also restore trust in politics by making politics more accountable to people directly.

“People have had enough of listening to national politicians tell them what needs to change because it hasn't changed things in the right way. So, let's flip things.”

Slough’s MP, Tan Dhesi, said the money would be ‘transformational’ for Slough.

“This is something that I've been pushing for the last year,” he said.

“There are certain parts of our town that have been overlooked, like parts of Britwell and Foxborough that desperately need those funds.

“They had, for example, seen cuts to the youth clubs and community groups – things that bind our community together.

“So there have been issues around anti-social behaviour, and an increase in crime, especially knife crime.

He added: “Last time around within the Pride in Place scheme, we only got the £1.5million [for high street and public realm restorations]. This time, we've got the real deal.

“The community now must get together and decide what its priorities are.

“We need to ensure that this delivers on the hopes and aspirations of the community so we can rejuvenate those areas and people can have pride in their part of town.”