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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lowering the population thresholds of the Pride in Place programme to include smaller rural communities in the eligibility criteria.

On 25 September, the Government launched its overarching Pride in Place Strategy, committing up to £5 billion in funding and support to 339 communities.

The flagship Pride in Place Programme will provide up to £20 million in flexible funding and support to 244 places over the next decade. This will serve as the cornerstone of this Government’s support for communities, incorporating the existing 25 trailblazer areas announced at Spending Review and the 75 Phase 1 Plan for Neighbourhoods programme areas that were announced in March.

Neighbourhoods in England were selected through a robust, metric-based methodology, which uses a composite measure of deprivation (Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)) and community need (Community Needs Index (CNI)) to identify areas with the poorest social and economic outcomes and create a single index of need. Our allocation methodology targets need everywhere (regardless of type of community) and includes a number of rural communities.

We’re working closely with devolved governments to make sure funding supports local priorities everywhere. Further details on our approach in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will follow.

The full list of areas and place selection methodology is set out here: Pride in Place Programme Phase 2: Methodology note.