Local leaders welcome £20m funding commitment for Scarborough neighbourhood projects

North Yorkshire’s mayor and Scarborough and Whitby’s MP said they were “thrilled” that Scarborough would receive just under £20 million of funding through the Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods, announced on Tuesday.

The plan will see the creation of new neighbourhood boards across the 75 selected communities in a bid to “bring together residents and businesses to decide how to spend the money in their area”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, said: “This is fantastic news for Scarborough.

“The Plan for Neighbourhoods puts the power and funds to fuel regeneration, into the hands of those at the heart of the community.

“Coastal communities have been left behind for too long, the plan gives more control to local people in determining their priorities, and less micro-management from central government.

“The long-term strategic approach to revitalising places like Scarborough, ties in with my own efforts to see all our communities considered great places to work and live. I want our communities to feel connected to growth and opportunity, and to feel safe.”

Nine towns and cities in Yorkshire and Humber will receive £180 million to support high street revival, and community hubs, and to strengthen public services as part of a national £1.5bn funding pledge.

The new Plan for Neighbourhoods aims to deliver on the commitments made to deprived communities by the previous Conservative government’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, which committed long-term investment in 55 towns including Scarborough.

A neighbourhood board in each town will decide how to spend the funding from options such as repairs to pavements and high streets, setting up low-cost community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, to co-operatives or even neighbourhood watches.

Alison Hume, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said: “Labour’s Plan for Neighbourhoods stands in contrast to the Conservatives’ unfunded and failed approach.

“Under the Tories, local communities were micro-managed from Whitehall, and forced to spend money on surface-level improvements that didn’t deliver long-term change.

“Unlike the Tories’ list of restrictive options for how towns could spend funding, with Labour’s new plan, the policy options that can be considered by Neighbourhood Boards have doubled, and communities are put at the heart of making these changes. “

Mayor, Mr Skaith, added: “I look forward to working with all our partners on delivering the Plan for Neighbourhoods.”

Funding for the scheme will be released from April with delivery investment commencing in 2026.

The Government said that the areas included in the Plan for Neighbourhoods were chosen after considering key factors including rates of deprivation and healthy life expectancy.

In Yorkshire and Humber, the areas due to receive funding through the plan include: · Barnsley · Castleford · Dewsbury · Doncaster · Keighley · Rotherham · Scarborough · Scunthorpe · Grimsby

Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP said: “We will do things differently, our fully funded Plan for Neighbourhoods puts local people in the driving seat of their potential, having control of where the Whitehall cash goes – what issues they want to tackle, where they want to regenerate and what growth they want to turbocharge.”