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Today the government has announced historic funding and powers for communities to “seize control over high streets and restore pride.”
Aiming to reverse decades of decline, the Pride in Place programme will support 330 communities to tackle regional inequality and “deep-rooted” deprivation with powers, such as Community Right to Buy and Compulsory Purchase powers, and it will also be backed by “record funding” to help communities reclaim their streets.
The programme is also described as “the largest transfer of power from Whitehall to communities in history”, and suggests local spending will only be approved if community groups, local organisations, and social clubs have been involved in the decisions on how the money should be spent.
The co-director of Centre for Democratic Business Jonny Gordon-Farleigh said: “We are really excited to see the recognition of ‘social clubs’ in the government’s announcement today. As not-for-profit and member-run organisations, they offer affordable social and cultural spaces in neighbourhoods and high streets across the country. Often in areas of deprivation, they have a strong presence in areas that have been overlooked by government funding, and as organisations who are controlled by local residents, they have an important role to play in local and national renewal.”
For more information about ‘21st Century Social Clubs’, a national programme to protect and revitalise social clubs, see here.
Centre for Democratic Business co-director is available for comment: jonny@democraticbusiness.org
