Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what mechanisms his Department has put in place to help ensure that communities are consulted on the use of Pride in Place funding in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove.

The community will decide how to invest £20m of Pride in Place Funding allocated to Bradeley and Chell Heath. A Neighbourhood Board led by an Independent Chair, made up of local people, will come up with a plan for this investment. The programme’s Prospectus sets out that all Boards must work with their wider community through deep and meaningful engagement and demonstrate this in plans, otherwise progress will be delayed. We have brought forward £150,000 of funding for all neighbourhoods in Phase Two of the programme, so engagement can begin immediately.