Labour ministers last week announced a £5 billion Pride in Place programme, promising long-term investment in struggling neighbourhoods, but critics in the Southwest warn the scheme raises more questions than answers.
The announcement follows the closure last year of Conservative initiatives such as the Community Buying Fund and other local grant schemes that supported parish halls, transport projects and small-scale community ventures.
While the Government insists the new funding marks a step change, sceptics argue it looks more like a re-branding exercise. The Community Wealth Fund, worth £175 million nationally, has also been packaged alongside Pride in Place, offering between £1 million and £2.5 million for selected communities over a decade.
James Wright, farmer and campaigner, warned that ministers are relaunching programmes they had previously scrapped while failing to allocate meaningful resources to rural communities.
“The Government talks about giving power back to local people, but the reality is that they closed the Community Buying Fund and similar initiatives just last year,” Wright said.
He pointed to the last Budget, where only one major project in the South West received funding despite billions being allocated to the North and Midlands.
“It’s easy to stand at a party conference in Liverpool and talk about empowering neighbourhoods. What matters is delivery. Transport funding and investment in our high streets is desperately needed”
Wright called for urgent clarity on whether rural areas like Exmoor, West Somerset and Devon will benefit.
“People don’t want spin, they want to know, will their parish, their town, their community actually see this money? Or will it be swallowed up in city areas again? If Labour are serious, they need to prove it by backing projects in the South West, not just where it is politically useful.”
