To achieve national renewal, we need to build stronger communities and stronger local economies, starting with those that are doubly deprived or ‘left-behind.’ Drawing on evidence from the Big Local programme and research commissioned from a range of policy experts and academics, Local Trust is developing a blueprint for community-led regeneration and building a network of partners who could contribute to its development and implementation.
Across the country, there are neighbourhoods which are ‘left-behind’ – these doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods are not only severely deprived but also lack basic social infrastructure and therefore consistently miss out on social, cultural, and economic opportunities. Without specific action to address their needs and respond to their aspirations, they will fall even further behind.
As a founding member of the campaign for a Community Wealth Fund, we have been part of making case for long-term, sustainable funding for community-led renewal, targeting the most ‘left-behind’ neighbourhoods. We have also fed into and monitored the development of the last government’s levelling up agenda, in order to try to secure investment in social infrastructure in those places that most need it, working with Frontier Economics to make the economic case for investment.
To inform the development of future policy and practice, examined the learning from past efforts at neighbourhood regeneration in the form of, for example, the Single Regeneration Budget or the New Deal for Communities.
We are asking the new government to set up a Neighbourhoods Unit that would work across departments and with all layers of devolved government to coordinate mainstream public service delivery with targeted neighbourhood interventions in doubly deprived areas.
We are considering how existing community and neighbourhood governance structures need to change in order to give the most ‘left behind’ communities both more of a say and access to resources to improve their areas.
We are conducting and commissioning research that demonstrates the prevalence of key issues such as a lack of good jobs or reduced life expectancy in doubly disadvantaged areas and making recommendations for how to tackle these problems at the neighbourhood level.
If you have any questions or proposals please contact policy@localtrust.org.uk
Watch a recording of Local Trust’s CEO Matt Leach in conversation with Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, at an event marking the 25th anniversary since the publication of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal.
The event was held to preview research from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research on the effects of past neighbourhood renewal policy.