Pride in Place

Andrew Pakes Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is completely right. The approach this Labour Government are taking is to put local residents and communities first. We will all have examples of communities that have been hollowed out; we will all know that sense of despair and distrust. We absolutely need to turn that around, and we are committed to doing so.

[Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the £20 million coming to Paston, Gunthorpe and the Welland area of Peterborough. This is pride in place being delivered by my hon. Friend the Minister—the pride of Peckham—and I thank her. I am deeply proud as a Co-operative MP that the co-operative development unit is part of this strategy. Earlier this week, along with Peppa Pig and the Education Secretary, I visited Honeyhill’s childcare centre, which is a family hub in the centre of the area that will receive this funding. Can the Minister confirm that this money will be not just about bricks and mortar, but about changing lives? Facilities such as family hubs will be at the centre of how we can give children the best start in life. We can use this investment to change things for the long term in Peterborough.

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

My hon. Friend is completely right. If we get this right, it will be about not only the investment in the next 10 years, but how we create momentum around that and catalyse greater community wealth and, critically, how we invest in our communities for the long term. As a proud Co-operative MP, I think there is a huge opportunity for us to ensure that communities have a genuine stake and that communities are benefiting in the long term from the wealth that is being generated.