City and Town Centres: Regeneration

Darren Paffey Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers, in my first Westminster Hall debate—or at least the first one I have managed to get called in, for which I am very grateful. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) for securing this important debate and for setting out the issues so eloquently.

Southampton has been both a town and a city. Since 1964, when it became a city, it has grown to be not only a vibrant and diverse urban community, but also an economic hub and a centre of oceanographic innovation, with a world-leading shipping industry and emerging green tech businesses. It is a privilege to speak today with optimism about the future of my city, and that of the towns and cities represented by colleagues here, because of this Labour Government. The announcements that the Prime Minister made on Monday after the investment summit were a breath of fresh air and hugely welcome. I am here to speak up for my constituents in Southampton Itchen—to ensure that they get a fair slice of that £63 billion pie.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Frith) quite rightly stated, the last Government’s levelling-up agenda did not exactly do what it said on the tin; too many towns and cities have been left behind. The Prime Minister has made it clear that the Government are committed to revitalising communities. Southampton Itchen is perfectly positioned to seize these opportunities, so perhaps the Minister could outline the process and timetable for getting some of that investment out into our cities and towns. We must ensure that the investment reaches our town centres and high streets, which connect our constituents and provide them with jobs and opportunities. We must also ensure that decision making and place shaping is led by local leadership. Southampton, along with others in the area, is looking at a devolution deal. Again, I ask the Minister to be sympathetic to the call for national and local leaders to work together for the benefit of all.

Any visitor to the city centre of Southampton will come across Westquay, a state-of-the-art shopping centre that draws shoppers from across the region; the port, a critical hub of trade for the UK; and the Cultural Quarter, a centre for learning, arts and diversity, and a mosaic of small businesses. But they will also see stalled development sites and district centres that are too often forgotten, so although the investment is important and a welcome departure from the last 14 years, we have to regenerate well—all our commercial spaces and jobs, but also dentists, GP surgeries, schools and so on—so that people love where they live.