Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods confirms £20million ‘left behind’ money for Spalding, Boston and Skegness

The Government has committed to providing ‘left behind’ town money to Spalding after it was included within a new announcement.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner unveiled the Plan for Neighbourhoods earlier this week which is a £1.5 billion programme aimed to fix the foundations of 75 areas by providing £20million over a ten year period.

LincsOnline has confirmed that is not new money but a rebrand and extension of the previous Long Term Plan for Towns - which resulted in the establishment of the Spalding Town Board last year.

Boston, Skegness, King’s Lynn and Wisbech will also be getting the investment.

The money is not due to start to come in until April next year but the latest announcement does give a rough date of when the board can submit its plans for approval.

Spalding Town Board was due to submit its first investment plan and vision for the future in August 1 last year but this was delayed by the Labour Government shortly after it won last year’s General Election.

However the Government says that is will now accept submissions for sign-off between ‘spring and winter’ this year - although no firm start date was given to us.

The Plan for Neighbourhoods also states that the Government is not looking to undo the work already undertaken by town boards like Spalding - which conducted a consultation last year.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government stated that the previous Long Term Plan for towns was an unfunded commitment by the previous administration while this ‘delivers on the Chancellor’s confirmation of funding at the budget’.

Ms Rayner states in her foreward: “Our new Plan for Neighbourhoods is part of this Government’s plan to ensure that nowhere is left behind. It will help revitalise local areas and fight deprivation at root cause by zeroing in on 3 goals: thriving places, stronger communities, and taking back control.

“No more sticking plasters; no more short-term fixes – rather, a 10-year plan that unlocks the potential of the places people call home. John Prescott’s New Deal for Communities delivered transformational change, providing the stability of long-term funding, backed by the support of central government, to empower local people to take ownership for driving the renewal of their neighbourhood.

“Our Plan for Neighbourhoods takes this as inspiration, learning the lessons to tackle the opportunities and challenges presented to us today. It goes hand in hand with everything this government is delivering to rebuild our country: building new, safer social housing for the future, making work pay and ending the ‘Whitehall knows best’ approach by empowering local leaders to strengthen communities.

“We know what works. Local change is best driven by those with the biggest stake.”