Regeneration: Coal

(asked on 19th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s strategy is for the regeneration of coalfield communities; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Jake Berry Portrait
Jake Berry
This question was answered on 25th February 2019

The Government has made a clear commitment to put places at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. The Government has delivered on this commitment by investing across England through the Local Growth Fund. We have also agreed nine devolution deals with core cities across England and introduced seven metro mayors, with an eighth to be elected in the North of Tyne this year.

Furthermore, we have worked with devolved administrations and local partners throughout Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to negotiate ambitious City and Growth deals, creating strong partnerships to deliver investment throughout the UK. Wider responsibility for regeneration in coalfield communities in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland is a responsibility largely devolved to the governments of those nations.

Since 2010, we have invested almost £70 million in coalfields communities through the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT). This investment was designed to assist the CRT in becoming a self-sustaining organisation. This funding is broken down by year:

2010

£13,741,038

2011

£16,009,940

2012

£11,673,971

2013

£17,975,050

2014

£9,653,750

2015

£596,250

The Government also announced in the autumn budget that we would invest £8 million to support repairs to village halls, miners’ welfare facilities and Armed Forces organisations’ facilities.

In England, we believe that it is the role of local communities to make decisions on investment into the regeneration of their local economies. This is why we have empowered them to take decisions over investment by devolving over £9 billion of funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships between 2015 and 2021.

Looking to the future, the government is committed to the creation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which aims to reduce inequalities between places by investing in those economies that are the furthest behind. We intend to consult widely on its design, and we encourage all those with an interest in the fund to respond.

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