Today Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced £20 million for Accrington as part of the Long-Term Plan for left-behind towns.
Long-term Plan for Towns will empower communities across the UK to take back control of their future – taking long term decisions in the interests of local people. Funding is to be spent on local priorities; reviving high streets, tackling ASB, improving transport and growing the local economy.
Hyndburn is one of 55 towns that will benefit from a £1.1 billion levelling up investment, as part of a long-term plan for towns that provide long-term investment in towns that have been overlooked and taken for granted.
Accrington will be given the opportunity to develop a long-term plan supported by a Towns Board.
Under the new approach, local people, not Whitehall-based politicians, will be put in charge, and given the tools to change their town’s long-term future. They will:
- Receive a ten-year £20 million endowment-style fund to be spent on local people’s priorities, like regenerating local high streets and town centres or securing public safety.
- Set up a Town Board to bring together community leaders, employers, local authorities, and the local MP, to deliver the Long-Term Plan for their town and put it to local people for consultation.
- Use a suite of regeneration powers to unlock more private sector investment by auctioning empty high street shops, reforming licensing rules on shops and restaurants, and supporting more housing in town centres.
This plan builds on the Government’s central mission to level up the UK by putting more power and money in the hands of people who know their areas best to build a brighter future for their community, creating bespoke initiatives that will spark the regeneration needed.
Sara Britcliffe MP said:
This new funding for Accrington is welcome news for residents across the town and we have now received an extra £20 million on top of the £35 million received since I was elected! I promised I would deliver in my pledge to get the funding we needed and I am pleased to see the biggest investment ever into our Borough.
Since 2019 the Conservatives have invested £55 million across Hyndburn - a historic investment never seen before and much needed for every person living here.
I look forward to working with the local council and the Government to help level up Accrington and all of our towns.
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:
Towns are the place most of us call home and where most of us go to work. But politicians have always taken towns for granted and focused on cities.
The result is the half-empty high streets, run-down shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.
That changes today. Our Long-Term Plan for Towns puts funding in the hands of local people themselves to invest in line with their priorities, over the long-term. That is how we level up.
Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove said:
We know that in our towns the values of hard work and solidarity, common sense and common purpose, endeavour and quiet patriotism have endured across generations. But for too long, too many of our great British towns have been overlooked and undervalued.
We are putting this right through our Long-Term Plan for Towns backed by over £1bn of levelling up funding.
This will empower communities in every part of the UK to take back control of their future, taking long term decisions in the interests of local people. It will mean more jobs, more opportunities and a brighter future for our towns and the people who live and work in them.
David Sanderson, CEO Rank Foundation and Chair of Accrington’s Town Centre Partnership Board, said:
I am sure all of Hyndburn will join me in welcoming this fantastic news. This £20million will support long-term ambitions and work in tandem with the funding we have already received. This new approach means the way the money is spent will be steered directly by local people through a Towns Board. People who live in the area will be at the heart of the decisions and I am looking forward to being part of the next stage in Accrington’s transformation.
Cllr Marlene Haworth, Leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, said:
What wonderful news for our borough. This news means that in just 18 months, we have secured over £60million of funding, mostly through the Government’s Levelling Up Fund. Not only will this enable Accrington’s transformation, but it will also mean more resources can be freed up to support the outer townships too. I am really pleased with this news and looking forward to being part of the wider community involvement in steering projects and plans.
