Oral Answers to Questions

Marie Tidball Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to ensure that areas with higher levels of deprivation receive adequate funding.

[Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

18. What steps her Department is taking to ensure that areas with higher levels of deprivation receive adequate funding.

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

We are committed to improving how we assess need to ensure that central Government funding is distributed fairly to the places that need it most. We began at the last settlement with the £600 million recovery grant, and subject to the fair funding review 2.0 consultation, our proposed reforms mean that the most relatively deprived places will see larger increases in income than the least deprived places.

[Jim McMahon]

My hon. Friend makes a very fair point. There are two aspects to this. First, we must make sure that places get the investment they need to realise their full potential. We are working on that with our plan for communities, which the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris) is engaged in. But that has to be built on fair funding at the base of what the local authority does. There was nothing fair at all about the previous Government impoverishing councils in the most deprived communities, sending many to the wire. We are putting that right.

[Dr Tidball]

I am grateful to the Minister, who has named Barnsley’s local authority in the £1.5 billion plan for neighbourhoods. The spending review has confirmed neighbourhood-level investment for 350 deprived communities. However, Chapeltown and High Green in my constituency have communities in the bottom 10% nationally in the indices of multiple deprivation, while Dodworth has a community within the bottom 20% nationally. These areas would benefit significantly from neighbourhood-level investment to build a sense of pride in place for my constituents. Will the Minister consider including these three communities among the 275 areas that are yet to be announced?

[Jim McMahon]

I am sure that the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley has heard those diligent representations. It is true that many parts of our country have talent and potential that are not being met by opportunity. This fund is about making sure that every area has seed investment to begin to rebuild, supported by fair funding for the local authority. We cannot underestimate the effect of the 14 years of constant hits and attacks from the previous Government. There is a reason why many communities have the resilience to stand up for themselves regardless of all that: the power of their unity. Finally, they now have a Government on their side.