Draft Sussex and Brighton Combined County Authority Regulations 2026
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 day, 14 hours ago)
General CommitteesRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Sussex and Brighton Combined County Authority Regulations 2026.
The draft regulations were laid before the House on 11 February 2026. Before I proceed, I draw the Committee’s attention to the correction slip, which corrects the name of the appropriate administering authority for pension purposes from East Sussex to West Sussex. This change was requested by and agreed with the constituent councils. From here on in, when referring to Sussex and Brighton combined county authority, I will use the term “strategic authority”.
Let me state very clearly that we believe that devolution is a critical lever for delivering growth and prosperity, with mayors and local leaders being best placed to take the decisions that benefit local communities. The Government were elected on a manifesto commitment to widen and deepen devolution across England, and the English devolution White Paper sets out our plans to achieve that. Much of that White Paper is now being taken through Parliament via the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. The White Paper also launched the devolution priority programme, to provide a fast track to establish a new wave of mayoral strategic authorities, including Sussex and Brighton. This statutory instrument, which will establish their strategic authority and provide for the mayoral elections, represents substantial progress towards fulfilling our commitment to move power out of Whitehall and back to those who know their patch best.
The Government have worked closely on the draft regulations with the constituent councils in Sussex and Brighton: West Sussex county council, East Sussex county council, and Brighton and Hove city council. All the constituent councils have consented to the making of the regulations, and I thank personally the local leaders and their councils for their support in getting us to this point. The regulations will be made, if Parliament approves them, under the enabling provision in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The strategic authority will be established on the day after the regulations are made. The inaugural mayoral election is due to take place on 4 May 2028, and the elected mayor will take office on 8 May 2028, with a four-year term.
The draft regulations make provision for the governance arrangements for the strategic authority. Each constituent council will appoint two of its elected members to be members of the strategic authority, with the mayor also a member once in office. The strategic authority can also appoint non-constituent and associate members to support its work. Each voting member is to have one vote, and the vast majority of decisions are to be determined by a simple majority of the members presenting and voting. Once the mayor takes office, that majority must include the mayor, or the deputy mayor acting on the mayor’s behalf.
The regulations provide some functions in relation to transport and economic development, but there is a strong link to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. Subject to Royal Assent, which I hope we will get, the Sussex and Brighton strategic authority will be classed as a mayoral strategic authority, and the functions reserved for that tier will automatically be conferred. Even before the mayor is in office, the strategic authority will be able to exercise mayoral strategic authority functions, with the exception of those specifically reserved for the mayor.
As this is an important change to the governance landscape of the area, we ensured that there was robust and effective consultation with stakeholders across the area. The consultation was promoted using social media, a communications campaign, a dedicated website, online and in-person events, and the distribution of the consultation material. Responses could be made online, by email and by post. We received a wide range of responses from key stakeholders: the public, businesses, councils, universities, and third sector and other bodies. A summary of the responses has been published on the gov.uk website. We are clear and confident that the statutory tests to establish the strategic authority have all been met.
Subject to the regulations being made, the strategic authority will receive devolved funding, including funding for transport and adult skills, capacity funding, and a 30-year mayoral investment fund to support key local priorities.
The draft regulations represent clear progress on our mission to widen and deepen devolution in England and will make that a reality in Sussex and Brighton. They will empower local leaders to deliver for their communities, improving residents’ lives and opportunities. I look forward to answering any questions that Members may have, and I hope that the Committee will join me in supporting these critical regulations.
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank Members for the cross-party support for both devolution and the regulations. This is an important step forward for the area, and I am glad it is being done with our collective support.
Let me pick up the specific questions that were asked. When we informed both the areas concerned and the House that we would be postponing the elections until 2028, I said the rationale was that, in our judgment and from the experience of devolution in lots of different areas, the strength of the partnership is critical. In the context of local government reorganisation and creating strategic authorities—the footprint upon which we put a mayor—our view was that we needed to create the time to allow those institutions to bed in. We have been working very closely with the constituent authorities to ensure that there is an effective partnership, which will create the foundations upon which we can have mayoral elections. I think that is the right way to go. In the end, what we all care about is that at the other side of the process we have effective institutions that can deliver for local people. We think that by taking this slower, more considered journey towards it, we will deliver better outcomes for everyone.
On the costs specifically of mayoral elections—rather than those associated with local government reorganisation—we do not think that costs will be incurred by the constituent strategic authorities. We have committed to capacity funding from this year so that the institution can build its capacity and resources to work collectively. We are also clear that in advance of having the mayor, the strategic authority will operate as a mayoral strategic authority with powers over transport and skills, for example, so that it can crack on with the job that it needs to do. We will work on a case-by-case basis where there are pressures in the system. That support has been welcomed by the constituent authorities, and we are clear that we will do this in partnership.
On the interdependencies with the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, we are optimistic and confident that we will get the Bill through in this Session, and it is key to this change; part of the reason that this statutory instrument is much slimmer than ones approved previously is that a lot of this is built into the Bill. We are working relentlessly with our colleagues in the House of Lords to make sure that we can get the Bill through. I think there is cross-party support for the idea that this is a critical step in terms of governance and pushing power out, and I hope we will have cross-party support to get the Bill through in this Session.
An important question was asked about the abolition of police and crime commissioners. We are working very closely with the Home Office to make sure that we get that transition right.
As Members will know, we are in the process of rolling out strategic authorities across the country, because we want to make sure that devolution is spread across every part of the country. Those strategic authorities, whether they have mayors or not, potentially have an important role to play in the transition of both police and fire services. We are working with constituent, combined and strategic authorities to think about how we transition the functions that currently sit with PCCs or with fire authorities into those authorities.
On the point about devolution being required in all areas, I completely agree with the hon. Member for Mid Sussex. That is why we are rolling out devolution through strategic authorities. We have just closed expressions of interest for all areas to come forward and set out the partnerships that they want to build, and we will be taking that forward. We will move at the pace that places want to move, because we are very clear that we will not impose devolution geographies on places, but we are working actively with all areas. My hope is that in a year—possibly a year and a half—the entire country will be filled with the strategic authority footprints that will allow us to push powers down to those different areas.
On the hon. Member’s point about Brighton and Hove being over-represented, that is not my understanding. I have spent a lot of time engaging with the constituent authorities, and that issue has never been raised. What I would say—and this is right—is that we have left the particular set-up of the committee and governance structure to local partners. It is not for the Government to dictate to them how they should govern themselves; that is based on what the constituent authorities think is right and on local consent. I hope everyone would agree that that is the right approach.
We are therefore leaving it to our partners in local government to decide the right balance, particularly in the transitions where we have district councils in place that may not be in place in 2028. Different areas will approach it differently, and that is what we are seeing here. Ultimately, as I said when we were taking the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill through the House, it is in the interests of constituent authorities to make sure that they are engaging their communities, and all constituent authorities, because, ultimately, partnerships are based on consent. That is what we are seeing in practice, and that is what I believe that this particular strategic authority will continue to take forward.
In conclusion, we have worked incredibly closely with the constituent authorities. I am confident that they will make this work and that, even though the mayoral elections will be in 2028, we will create a strong partnership that will allow them to crack on with the important job of building an economic strategy for their area and delivering for their area, with the investment to do that. I thank hon. Members from across the House for supporting the regulations, and I hope that we can take them forward in order to deliver the benefits of devolution.
Question put and agreed to.
Delivering for Communities
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 day, 14 hours ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
Today I can confirm a major package of support for communities to take control of their future. This includes £301 million to reimagine and revive struggling high streets through our high street innovation partnerships, £18 million to improve children’s playgrounds in deprived areas, a major expansion of the Pride in Place programme, and pilots to drive place-based public service reform. Through these measures, the Government are boosting the sense of pride that people feel in their area and making sure that they see change for the better.
In February, the Prime Minister announced that a further 40 places will join the Pride in Place programme. That means that 284 communities will benefit from this transformational fund, with each receiving up to £20 million over the next decade to invest in the things that matter to local people. Today I am confirming the 40 places selected.
We have also approved plans for the first phase of Pride in Place places, setting out what the communities included in the programme will be spending the money on and how they plan to transform their areas.
In Ramsgate, the community has decided to invest £500,000 to save the town’s last youth centre from closure, securing the building’s future and ensuring that vital services for young people can continue. In Bilston, Wolverhampton, the local neighbourhood board has chosen to bring back the Bilston carnival for the first time since 2008, reviving a well-loved tradition and giving a new generation something to celebrate together.
Backed by £301 million of funding, our high streets innovation partnerships will help struggling high streets to shift to a new model: one that is based on an exciting new future, not a return to an imagined past. In a select number of areas, local authorities will be encouraged to work alongside communities and businesses to develop transformative plans such as to bring public services, green spaces and homes into the centres of these towns, working with anchor institutions and businesses to secure co-investment.
The partnerships will also deliver a summer of activity on high streets this year, with innovative measures to boost footfall in a season of major cultural and sporting events, such as the world cup. Later this year we will also publish a high streets strategy to support all high streets nationally and equip local authorities with the tools they need to drive long-term regeneration.
In too many neighbourhoods, local playgrounds are sliding into disrepair or have disappeared entirely. Our investment in playgrounds will reverse this decline, building and restoring play equipment in the places with the highest levels of child poverty and the lowest quality of playgrounds. The £18 million investment that we are confirming today will ensure that children in some of the most deprived communities have the quality of space they need to play. The funding is to be spent by 66 local authorities on up to 200 new or refurbished playgrounds and has been allocated across England, from Tyneside to Torquay.
We are using place-based budgets to pool public service budgets in local areas to enable services to be delivered better, joined up around the people who need them most, by breaking down silos, unlocking more funding for prevention and improving better outcomes for taxpayers. These will ensure that users are helped based on their need.
We have launched five projects with mayoral strategic authorities initially, focusing on special educational needs and disabilities across the Liverpool city region; young people at risk of offending in Gateshead and South Tyneside; adolescent mental health across four local authorities in the Black Country—Dudley, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Walsall—adults facing multiple disadvantage in Doncaster; and preventing youth unemployment across West Yorkshire.
Taken together, this package demonstrates a genuine shift in power and investment into our communities. We are not starting at square one. In every community, thousands of community leaders, volunteers and grassroots organisations are already working hard to make their areas a better place to live. This package provides the investment they need to deliver the change that people want to see.
[HCWS1428]
Productivity and Economic Growth: East Midlands
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 week ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing the debate, and I thank Members who have spoken for their insight, passion for their area, and fantastic contributions. Let me start with my hon. Friend’s insightful analysis of both the challenges and opportunities in the area. I look forward to reading the APPG report, and to drawing insights on how we can continue to work with the area to advance its economic potential.
We all agree that economic growth is paramount, and it is one of the Government’s top priorities. Economic growth is central to raising living standards, which we absolutely must do, funding improvements in public services after a decade and a half of under-investment by the Conservatives, and rebuilding the country. That is why the Government are determined to not only drive growth from the centre but empower local leaders with the tools they need to drive growth in their area—local leaders such as Mayor Claire Ward, a fantastic Labour mayor whom I have had the privilege of working with, and who has been an important champion for the region before and since her election.
Productivity, as my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) pointed out so eloquently, is one of the key drivers of growth. While we can debate the causes, we all recognise that productivity has been weaker in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. Improved productivity will require relentless work and a focus at every level of government—from national Government, through to our regional government and our local authorities—in partnership with the business community and industry.
That work is essential to everything that my Department and others are doing to make progress—and we are making progress. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation last month showed that UK productivity grew more in the last year than in the previous seven combined. But we acknowledge that there is more that we need to do. My hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe was right to point out that productivity varies across the country. Indeed, the gap between our cities, where we would expect some of the highest productivity, and the UK average stands in contrast to the performance of many comparable cities across the OECD. Cities such as Lyon, Frankfurt, Turin and Bilbao have productivity higher than the UK average, while many of our own cities have productivity lower than our UK average. As my hon. Friends the Members for Rushcliffe and for Loughborough (Dr Sandher) pointed out, devolution is key to unpacking, unlocking and dealing with the challenge.
We know the impact that devolution can have on growth and in improvements for local people. The parts of the country with the longest and deepest devolution of powers and funding are the ones where growth is taking off. That is why we are giving more areas, including the East Midlands combined authority, the tools and funding that they need to address the challenges in their areas and to realise the opportunities for growth. Devolution is fundamental to achieving the change that the public expect and, frankly, deserve: growth, more joined-up delivery of public services, and politics being done with communities, not to them.
I am conscious, however, that the debate is not just about the East Midlands combined authority; it is about the whole of the east midlands. Local leaders have an important role to play in growing the economy. We want more collaboration, not less, and we are supporting places to access devolution so that they can work together to drive outcomes locally. We have therefore issued a call for areas without devolution, including parts of the east midlands not within the combined authority, to come together with their neighbours to form strategic authorities so that they can benefit from devolution.
Local leaders will have greater control over economic development levers, transport and skills, as well as having revenue-raising powers, to ensure that they invest in the economic prosperity of their area. In the meantime, we encourage local leaders to work together and to set a vision for their area. Many local authorities already have an economic strategy, and we encourage them to set out a vision for growth in their area and to work across administrative boundaries for the benefit of their region. Industrial strategy zones are a perfect example—industry, innovators and government coming together, and local leaders equipped with a powerful set of tools to drive growth in each of the sectors.
My hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe rightly pointed out under-investment in these areas, and Members across the House reiterated that point. I would say that that is, in fact, a double whammy, because we have had under-investment across the piece under previous Governments for 15 years, in every key part of the economy and in the infrastructure that we need to unlock economic development. In addition, investment was skewed to some areas, to the disadvantage of others, and we are absolutely determined to turn that around and put that right.
That is why we as a Labour Government are putting in record investment across all key sectors of the economy. On the key point of transport, where Members have pointed out a range of transport investment schemes and key pinch points to economic growth, the Department for Transport has unlocked a record £2 billion of support for transport in the east midlands. That is an important first step to deal with some of the critical transport connectivity issues, combined with investment in the green economy—which we see across the east midlands —in advanced manufacturing and in defence, with £180 million of local growth funding next year alone, to ensure that we put the money in to unlock the potential that we can see and that my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe so eloquently pointed out.
My hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) made the point that when we put investment in, it does not always touch our communities or lift the lives of people in those communities. We need to be intentional about it, which is why what my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) and other Members said about skills is absolutely critical. We have to combine the investment with intentional work to ensure that we develop a workforce strategy for the area and the skills, and ensure that we have the employment support to get people into jobs. That is the approach that we will take with the combined authority and that we intend to take with Team Derby. Our absolute commitment is to do our bit to work alongside leaders to unlock potential.
My hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) talked about the critical role of the visitor economy, which we absolutely recognise. One of the key requests of our mayors was for a visitor levy so that they can raise revenue that can then be invested in the enabling infrastructure and the support we need to boost the visitor economy. We are now consulting on that, and we will legislate on it.
My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Adam Thompson) talked about how this cannot be just a short-term blip; we need a long-term commitment and long-term plans. In the mayor, Claire Ward, we see a long-term plan for the area, but that long-term commitment from local leaders must be matched by a long-term commitment from this Government. That is why we are moving to multi-year funding that is looking at the long-term horizon in our places, and standing with our local leaders to invest and unlock that potential over the next decade.
As my hon. Friends the Members for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) and for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) made clear, however, the plan cannot just be for our urban centres, as critical as they are as engines of growth in the region. It must also speak to our rural areas to make sure that we unlock opportunities, not just in our towns and cities, but across the agricultural sector and our rural economy. We must also ensure that we deal with those pockets of deprivation.
Pride in Place is targeted at that very question: how, alongside the big work that we are doing regionally or in a local area, do we get investment into some of our deprived communities so that they can invest in the things that will lift up their area and restore pride in place? That goes hand in hand with the work that we know needs to be done regionally.
Finally, the hon. Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) made the important point about SMEs, which make up 99% of businesses in the economy. Under the last Government, however, we saw a huge neglect of the SME economy. Our job is to make sure that we support the backbone of our economy, which is why we have an SME strategy that looks at everything from late payments to procurement and how we provide the support to ensure that SMEs continue to be the key engine for growth.
I will end by referring to the comments of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild), who spent a long time bemoaning the Government’s growth record. I would gently point out, as has been acknowledged by Members across the House, that the legacy that we are trying to turn around is a function of the fact that we had a decade and a half of Governments who did not have an economic strategy, who chose to under-invest in key services, and who deliberately took money away from regions across the country, such as the east midlands, to make sure that they did not meet their economic potential. We are turning that around; that is the job and we are getting on with it.
The underlying fundamentals are there. We have been in power for 18 months; it will take time to repair the damage that was done over a decade and a half, but we are getting on with that job. Today, the Chancellor will set out our economic plan and the sectors that we will be boosting. Part of that will be a critical step around how we devolve to areas, such as the east midlands and across the country, to ensure that they work alongside us in partnership to unlock their potential.
To sum up, it is clear that we all agree on the need to boost productivity and support economic growth across the east midlands. I hope Members can see the Government’s commitment, passion and determination to work alongside leaders in the east midlands to ensure that we do that. Devolution is a critical part of that, and my job is to ensure that, whether through mayoral strategic authorities or foundation strategic authorities, we equip our local leaders with the skills, tools and capabilities they need to do their job.
But that is just one part of the answer: from day one, the Government have been clear that while local leadership in all its forms and at all levels is vital, it sits alongside the work that we are determined to do at the national level to boost the economic potential of the east midlands and every region across the country. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe for being such an amazing champion for the area. I look forward to working with him and Members across the House to make sure that we do right by the region.
St Piran’s Day
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) on securing this debate and on his tireless work on behalf of Cornwall and its residents. I will also take this opportunity to recognise the significant role that Cornwall plays economically and culturally for both the south-west and the United Kingdom.
St Piran’s day is an important moment to celebrate the historic county of Cornwall. Historic counties are an important element of local traditions that support the identity and cultures of many of our local communities, giving people a sense of belonging, pride and community spirit. In recent years, St Piran’s day has grown into a modern celebration of Cornwall’s culture, language and history; a day that reflects not only pride in Cornwall’s past, but confidence in its future.
As an example, we can look at Cornwall’s strong industrial legacy in mining—a history often traced back to St Piran himself, who is said to have discovered tin. That legacy now speaks to Cornwall’s future as the county evolves to embrace new opportunities in clean and renewable energy, carrying forward a tradition of innovation in a modern, sustainable form.
I agree with my hon. Friend that, culturally, Cornwall remains unique across England, with its national minority and protected language status, and I celebrate the rich heritage that Cornwall brings to this country. However, the beauty of Cornwall’s countryside and coastline can often mask the reality of living and working in the county. This Government are committed to working together with local leaders to overcome those issues, driving growth and unlocking investment.
My Department is taking steps to boost local growth through devolution and investment, which will see us working closely with local leaders to support growth and make the most of the opportunities in each and every part of the area.
Recognising Cornwall’s successful delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through the good growth programme, the recently announced £30 million Kernow fund is an exciting opportunity to support growth. This was created especially for Cornwall, in recognition of its comparative sectoral advantages in key areas of the UK’s industrial strategy. Decisions on the fund will be devolved to Cornwall council, in line with the Government’s devolution agenda, empowering local leaders to invest in projects that best meet local needs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Cornish MPs and my hon. Friends for their tireless work in ensuring and securing this important investment and in championing the huge comparative advantage of the area.
Devolution remains a critical tool for this Government to unlock growth. There is a strong opportunity for Cornwall to build on its existing devolution agreement. Officials in my Department are currently working with Cornwall council to discuss next steps and to maintain momentum on this exciting next phase of empowering our local leaders.
Housing, as my hon. Friend pointed out, remains one of the most pressing challenges in Cornwall. Managing the impact of second homes while increasing the supply of affordable housing is fundamental to ensuring that young people who have grown up in Cornwall can afford to build their lives there.
To help support housing in Cornwall, this Government have confirmed a new 10-year, £39 billion social and affordable house building programme at scale across the country. Through Homes England, my Department is working closely with Cornwall council and welcomes the publication of the Cornwall housing growth prospectus launched last year.
Homes England is committed to working with the council to unlock the opportunities and constraints for the county and to work collaboratively to ensure that we are unlocking the housing development that we all want to see. Alongside this, the Government are committed to delivering better infrastructure and services, so that everyone has access to a suitable mode of transport, enabling them to live healthy and fulfilling lives. That is why we have provided significant transport support to Cornwall, as well as £221 million in local highways maintenance funding to repair and renew its roads and fix potholes over the next four years.
I am also pleased to re-emphasise our Government’s commitment to building a society where all communities feel acknowledged. It was with great pleasure that, in December 2025, the Government granted the Cornish language further recognition under part III of the Council of Europe’s European charter for regional or minority languages. Granting part III recognition acknowledges the efforts of many who have been part of the revival of the Cornish language, and who are giving communities the opportunity to speak, listen to and appreciate it. Most importantly, celebrating and protecting our regional and minority languages allows us to connect with our history and provide a foundation for diversity to flourish.
I understand that there are particular challenges that coastal communities face and recognise that recent storms across this winter have brought disruption to residents across Cornwall. Officials from my Department and across all Departments will continue to support partners across the Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly local resilience forum on impact and recovery, co-ordinating cross-Government engagement to help residents and businesses that we know are still impacted.
In conclusion, I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth for securing the debate. It is consistent with the passionate, committed and persistent way in which he and my hon. Friends who represent Cornwall are such amazing advocates for their place. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Cornwall MPs as we deliver this Government’s agenda, secure the devolution deal and work together to ensure that we unlock the huge economic and local potential of this amazing part of the country.
Question put and agreed to.
Community Cohesion
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(3 weeks ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger) for securing this debate and for his powerful and eloquent contribution, and all the hon. Members who have spoken for their contributions and insight. There is clear passion and commitment across the House to tackle this issue, which I agree is cross-party.
Throughout our history, the United Kingdom’s ability to withstand external challenges has been underpinned by a shared sense of pride, tolerance and courage. We are accepting of our neighbours, proud of our varied experiences, traditions, national identities and customs, and confident that those differences enrich our communities and our country. Those core foundations that have kept us united in the face of adversity on so many occasions are now under threat.
One of the privileges of my role is that I have been able to talk to communities across the country. Time and again, I have heard clearly about the rising tide of hate and division seen in communities. I talk to our Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities, and hear that people, who have made this country their own and have been here for generations, feel scared in this country, in their communities and in their homes. We have got to turn the tide on that.
People are under pressure, and in that context—it is a tale as old as time—bad faith actors will try to exploit our communities in order to tear them apart. My hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) is absolutely right; at the heart of this is a story about economic neglect and of the failure of the Conservatives to properly fund our amazing councils and invest in our communities. We see the impacts of that in terms of closed shops on our high streets, shut up libraries, closed youth clubs and the abandonment of so many of our vital community assets that bring people together. That sense of decline on too many of our doorsteps has bred a real, justified sense of frustration, anger and a lack of control.
I agree with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that it is not just a question of local growth; it is a question about cohesion. We cannot and we will not pretend that the legacies of any of those issues can be reversed overnight, but as both a Labour Government and as a Parliament, we can be confident that the way in which we restore cohesion and pride in our communities does not lie in this building or the corridors of Whitehall. The answer is in the communities and people that we represent. We all know that the bonds that hold society together are anchored locally, so often it is the voluntary community and charity groups and the grassroot bodies at the heart of our communities—we all have them in our constituencies—that bring people together every day.
To build stronger communities, we must bring people together to make positive, meaningful change in their own neighbourhoods. That ethos is at the heart of our groundbreaking Pride in Place programme, which, importantly, will mean local people will decide how money is invested. They will work together to unite their communities and bring everyone around the table to find common ground and invest in their priorities. That point has been made time and again by hon. Members, who have provided amazing examples of how that is happening.
As a Government, we see our role as supporting and enabling that, whether it is through places that have received Pride in Place funding or, more broadly, the approach that we want to increasingly see where we create the ability for communities to get a grip on the funding the Government are already spending. That will enable them to shape it, drive it and, fundamentally, invest in their priorities. To achieve all that, we are working closely with pioneering councils and communities. A great example is in Rugby, where the local authority and other partners are stepping forward as one of the first to deliver the work that we want to see on our high streets through, for example, high street renewal auctions. That will unlock vital spaces on our high streets for local businesses and community groups so that everyone can be part of building thriving high streets. That is renewal in action, led by people who know their patch better than we ever will in this place. They are backed by the Government who are choosing unity over division.
Let me pick up the point on flags that was made by my hon. Friends the Members for Rugby, for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr Bailey) and for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales). I absolutely agree that we must reclaim our flags and national symbols, and push back on those who want to use them to divide and intimidate our communities. We know this is a difficult area for councils to navigate, and that is why we are providing guidance, best practice and training to support them in navigating this terrain and to ensure they can hold our national symbols so that they represent all our communities, and to push back on those who want to use them in a divisive way.
We are absolutely clear that we need to work on social cohesion. We are working across Government to develop a response, led by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and we will say more very shortly. To update hon. Members, this includes three key strands. First, building confident communities that bring people together so that we can build common ground. Pride in Place is one example, but this is about creating spaces and places where people can cohere around issues they care about in their area. There is a critical role for voluntary, community and faith organisations in doing this hard work. Many have been doing so during difficult periods under the Conservative Government, but without support from Government.
Ayoub Khan
I gently ask the Minister, in relation to Pride in Place funding: why is Birmingham Perry Barr, which is at the centre of Birmingham and has the highest level of deprivation, not being given any money? Why should those residents feel left out?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
We have a very clear methodology based on a combination of deprivation, connection and access to assets in local places. That is published for every hon. Member to see. We have provided Pride in Place funding in particular parts of Birmingham. I would love to have Pride in Place in every deprived community, and I will continue to make that case and champion it. We are rolling out a further 40 areas, considering both deprivation and cohesion, and will say more about that shortly.
Critically, we want this to be an approach that applies to all parts of the country. Irrespective of whether an area is part of the programme, we want it to have access to funding and the ability for local community groups to come together to drive priorities and regenerate their place. We will say more through our high streets strategy and the ongoing work we are doing.
On cohesion, the first strand is building confident communities. The second is strengthening integration. That means supporting people who come to this country, both existing and new migrants, so that they are integrated into society, speak the language and contribute to the community, while ensuring there is zero tolerance for those who want to sow hate and division. Whether that is the rise in religious hate or racism, there must be proper enforcement, with a clear line we say people cannot cross, and if they do, action is taken against it.
The final strand is tackling extremism, which we know is on the rise, with robust action to disrupt it in our communities and, critically, online, where we know we are seeing increasing division, hate and radicalisation. We know we must respond. We recognise that this is a first step. The hard work of trying to build cohesion in our communities is ongoing, and we as a Government are absolutely committed to playing our part.
My hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan) made the important point that whatever we do on cohesion must be rooted in a wider strategy to tackle inequality and poverty, because that is the breeding ground for division. It is essential that the work my Department is doing sits alongside wider Government action to increase living standards and tackle poverty, whether through the child poverty action plan, removing the two-child benefit cap, lifting the national living wage, tackling homelessness, building the next generation of social housing or reviving public services so they provide a foundation for everyone to live well and do well.
The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds), raised the important point of asylum accommodation. We inherited a legacy of asylum hotels from the last Government that was an absolute shambles and paid no regard to community cohesion, tension or consent. We will do the hard work of closing those hotels, but we must work hand in glove with local authorities to provide accommodation in a way that brings communities with us and has their consent.
We know this is a critical task, and the Prime Minister has told me it is one of the most important things that we will do as a Government. He is right. The Government will play their part, but we all have a responsibility as Members of this House and as politicians, because the words and language we use have an impact on what happens on the ground. We all have a collective responsibility to step up, working with local government and with grassroots organisations to do the vital work of holding and cohering our communities.
Oral Answers to Questions
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Joani Reid (East Kilbride and Strathaven) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
We are continuously assessing trends in antisemitism, working with the police, the Jewish community and our antisemitism working group. What is absolutely clear is that antisemitic incidents are on the rise. This is an unacceptable and heartbreaking reality, and we are determined as a Government to get a grip of and turn the tide on it. That is why we are taking co-ordinated action to tackle antisemitism, including across education, health and other key institutions.
Joani Reid
I thank the Minister for her response. As she rightly outlines, antisemitism is on the rise. During the ongoing by-election campaign in Gorton and Denton, senior Green party figures engaged with 5Pillars—an outlet that has previously been disciplined for anti-Jewish hatred and that is well known for amplifying extremist voices. Those in public office have a duty to act responsibly, and there are serious questions to ask here about judgment. Does she agree that parties seeking office should not legitimise platforms linked to hatred, and will she outline what further steps the Department is taking to combat extremism, antisemitism and other forms of hatred?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
We are seeing the rise of hate and division in our society. This is an absolutely shameful reality. Parts of our Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu communities are feeling scared and unsafe in their own country. All of us in politics and public life have a huge responsibility to play our part to stamp out this hate and division. That includes calling it out wherever we see it, holding our communities together and standing with the majority of people in this country, who are tolerant and accepting of their neighbours irrespective of their faith, colour or background.
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)
Antisemitism is horrible, but will the Minister agree that there is nothing antisemitic in supporting the rights of the suffering Palestinian people and there is nothing antisemitic in opposing the actions of the present right-wing Israeli Government in making a two-state solution impossible? There is nothing antisemitic in that, because probably the majority of Jewish people throughout the world agree with me—and, actually, the actions of the Israeli Government in forcing Palestinians off their ground is fuelling antisemitism.
Miatta Fahnbulleh
It is very important for us to make a distinction between the antisemitism that we are seeing, which is rife and unacceptable and which we all have a duty to stamp out, and the plight of the Palestinian community, for which a lot of us will have great sympathy. As a Government, we are committed to delivering the two-state solution. We are committed to working towards peace—peace for the Palestinian people, and peace for the Israeli people and Jewish.
Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) (Lab)
Interfaith activity has faced significant reduction and in some cases almost collapsed following heightened tensions from the Gaza conflict. Does the Minister agree that measures to support and fund interfaith understanding have a crucial role in restoring community cohesion?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
My hon. Friend is completely right, and he talks with great passion, commitment and knowledge about these issues. Interfaith work is key; we are seeing that within our communities. The Department is committed to supporting interfaith work and working with all our faith communities. We will continue to do that, because, ultimately, it is people of faith in our communities who will come together and do the hard work of bridging and bonding our communities at a time when there is huge pressure on all sides.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)
I recently had the privilege of spending some time with the Jewish community of Stamford Hill. Those conversations reinforced that we must, as the Minister rightly said, do more to combat antisemitism. She cited the recent figures showing that antisemitism is at near record levels. When in government, we put in place the first multi-year funding for the Community Security Trust, and I thank the Government for recently extending and increasing that funding. Will the Minister join me in thanking CST volunteers and agree that anti-religious hatred has no place in our society?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
The right hon. Member is completely right. Religious hatred has no place in our society. The tragedy at the moment is that it is on the rise; we are seeing it in our Jewish community, in our Muslim community, and in our Hindu and Sikh communities. It is beholden on us to make sure that we are doing our part to stand with these communities and stamp out religious hatred. I am proud that this Government are putting funding towards security. The work of the CST has been vital for the Jewish community and for supporting the community. The travesty is that we need security in our synagogues and places of worship. That cannot be a reality that any of us tolerate, and it is one that we must work together to stamp out.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
With funding from the UK shared prosperity fund ending, we are committed to continuing local growth funding in Northern Ireland to boost productivity and growth. We are working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Office to design and deliver an investment plan that will support infrastructure, business growth, and skills and employment.
Robin Swann
I thank the Minister for meeting me to discuss the concerns raised by the voluntary community sector in Northern Ireland about how the fund will be split between capital and revenue. We are now looking at a fund that is more capital-heavy than revenue-heavy, and the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People has said that the shift towards capital-heavy investment fails to recognise the reality that youth and community work is relational, intensive and people-driven, not infrastructure-driven. Will the Minister continue to work to shift the balance between capital and revenue, so that the funding supports the people who use it?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank the hon. Gentleman for meeting me with people from parts of the voluntary sector. As he said, local growth funding will direct capital funding into the enabling infrastructure that is required for boosting the Northern Ireland economy. That sits alongside a £19.3 billion spending review settlement and £370 million in Budget funding to the Executive, which has the flexibility to support programmes delivered by the voluntary and community sector. But as we have heard, the voluntary and community sector is under huge pressure, and we are committed to working with the Northern Ireland Office and the Executive to find ways to support the sector through the transition.
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
Gordon McKee (Glasgow South) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
Castlemilk in Glasgow South will be given up to £20 million in Pride in Place programme funding over the next 10 years. Glasgow city council will also be allocated £1.5 million through the Pride in Place impact fund over the next two years. That funding, alongside increased powers in our Pride in Place strategy, will put my hon. Friend’s community in the driving seat, so that it can deliver the priorities that it wants to see in the area.
Gordon McKee
I thank the Minister for her answer. Castlemilk in my constituency is full of brilliant people, but it has often been let down by government, whether that is the SNP Government closing the local police station, or the council cutting the opening hours of the local swimming pool, so I am delighted that the UK Labour Government are awarding £20 million of Pride in Place funding to Castlemilk. Local people are full of ideas about how that money can be spent, and top of the list for many is bringing a supermarket to the area. Will the Minister join me in celebrating that funding, and will she commit to working closely with me and the local community to make this a success?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank my hon. Friend for being such a powerful champion for his community. I am excited by the engagement and the ideas coming from people in Castlemilk. I thank him for all the work he is doing to make Pride in Place a success in his area. My colleagues in the Scotland Office and I look forward to working with him and the community to deliver for the area.
Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)
Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
The Government are taking action to revive our high streets after a decade and a half of neglect under the last Government. We are tackling vacant premises through high street rental auctions, driving local regeneration through £5.8 billion of Pride in Place funding, and bringing forward a high street strategy backed by at least £150 million of support for the areas that need it the most.
Alison Bennett
Burgess Hill in my Mid Sussex constituency has done everything asked of it by successive Governments. It is taking thousands of new houses, yet it has a high street and shopping centre that need redevelopment. Under the previous Conservative Government, a levelling-up fund bid was unsuccessful, and Labour has not supported it through the Pride in Place scheme. The Liberal Democrats want to give Burgess Hill the town centre that it so badly deserves. What support can the Minister offer for the regeneration of high streets and town centres, such as that in Burgess Hill, that are unlikely to qualify for Pride in Place funding?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
The hon. Member is right to talk about the importance of high streets. They are a barometer of how people feel that their communities and the nation is doing. We are committed to reviving high streets, and that means reimagining high streets, and working with communities through our high-street strategy to empower them to do that. We have the high-street rental auction, which is a way that we can get vacant premises up and running, alongside £150 million that we have announced with the strategy, so that places are able to reshape their high streets and ensure that they work for their communities.
Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)
In Derby, we have heard concerns about the impact of food delivery drivers on our high streets and the city centre, particularly on St Peter’s Street. Will the Minister work across Departments to ensure that food delivery companies are operating safely on our high streets and in our city centres?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I am committed to working across Departments, and I am happy to meet him to hear the specifics of the issues on his high street, and to work with colleagues across Government to see how we respond to them.
Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
We are very clear that communities should be in the driving seat, which could happen through local people coming together in a neighbourhood board led by an independent chair from the community to develop a plan to invest £20 million in Pride in Place funding over the next decade. However, there is also an expectation on such a board to kick off a much wider conversation with the community and to reach parts of the community that are not normally around the table and are locked out of decisions. That community engagement will be supported by £150,000 for every place to make sure that we are reaching people, speaking to them and making sure that they are at the very heart of this plan.
Catherine Atkinson
For me, the most exciting thing about the £20 million of Pride in Place funding for Chaddesden West in my constituency is that local people decide how it is spent. People in Chadd know their community better than anyone. I have already had some great suggestions, including creating opportunities for young people, tackling loneliness for older people and addressing antisocial behaviour in the area. How are the Government ensuring that local voices are heard and acted on?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
My hon. Friend is completely right. Local people in Chaddesden West know what their priorities are and should therefore be in the driving seat. I thank her both for championing Pride in Place and for the work she is doing to make it a success. We have been very clear in the guidance that neighbourhood boards, which are led by the community and are of the community, will be in the driving seat and must be the key decision makers. We are developing toolkits to support community engagement backed by £150,000 of funding so that we can reach out, go on to the estates and go into the neighbourhoods in order to have a conversation with the community to drive the change that they want to see.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Michael Wheeler (Worsley and Eccles) (Lab)
In my constituency of Worsley and Eccles, residents of Peel Green and the surrounding area, including the enthusiastic pupils of Salford City academy, are looking to get their hands on the Pride in Place money. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that they are at the forefront, they take the lead, and they decide?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that he is doing with his community on Pride in Place. We are very clear that communities should be in the driving seat, and we are setting a clear expectation that all places will have forms of community-led delivery by the third year. That creates the opportunity for community interest companies, co-operatives and other models, because at the heart of this is the principle that the people who know their patch the best should be in the driving seat of changing their place.
Graham Leadbitter (Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey) (SNP)
Miatta Fahnbulleh
We have committed to local growth funding to boost growth in Scotland. We have also delivered record investment to the Scottish Government, who have in their gift the ability to invest in communities and in programmes that will drive the prosperity of local areas. The hon. Gentleman should not be looking to national Government; we have done our part—now it is over to the Scottish National party.
Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)
While I welcome the fact that the Red Lion in Sutton has had its asset of community value status extended by a year, that does not completely protect it from future planning applications. Will the Minister meet me to discuss this case, and that of the Railway Inn in Norton Bridge, to understand how the Government can best support these sites and save them for future community use?
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Miatta Fahnbulleh
The tourism levy has been campaigned for by mayors and local areas. We are consulting on the levy at the moment, but we are clear that there will be a balance between the ability of areas to generate that tax and ensuring that local businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises are thriving in the area, which is the remit and the priority of both mayors and the Government.
Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)
An application was made recently for a 24-hour gambling casino in Crystal Palace. I, along with Labour councillors, my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed) and over 1,000 local residents, oppose this predatory operator opening. Will the Minister join me in calling on the Conservative-run council to listen to residents and block the application?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I thank my hon. Friend for his effective and committed campaign. We are clear that local areas should be given the power to shape their high streets. When businesses such as gambling shops and casinos are working against what communities want, it is right that the council takes action. The Secretary of State and I are committed to working with my hon. Friend on this issue.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Last year, 88,000 new homes were meant to be started in London, but instead, 5,891 were started. That shortfall has a direct impact on rents in my Spelthorne constituency. Will the Secretary of State say why he is allowing Sadiq Khan to run circles around him?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
Yes, I or one of my colleagues will happily visit that fantastic scheme.
Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)
Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne is unique, in that it is the only harbour in the country where freeholders and leaseholders have to pay through their rent charge for not only the maintenance of the area, but sea defences, which elsewhere are paid for by the Government. Will the Secretary of State commit to meet me to review the fairness of that arrangement and help stem the tide of 16% increases in that rent charge, as has happened this year?
Jim Allister (North Antrim) (TUV)
With recent weeks having seen the closure of the two largest retailers on the main shopping street in Ballymena in my constituency, does the Minister think that the ideology of Pride in Place is capable of rescuing the situation? As part of that, would it be possible to have a special programme whereby large retail spaces whose overheads are unbearable could be subdivided into small retail units for new businesses, so that those overheads might become bearable?
Miatta Fahnbulleh
The plight of our high streets is something that this Government are very alive to, and we are trying to work with national and local governments to make sure we respond. Our job is to make sure we are providing the powers and the ability for places to shape their high streets so that they respond to what their communities want. We are open to ideas in that space, including ideas coming from local areas.
Foundation Strategic Authorities
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
Over the last year, this Government have made clear the scale of its ambition on English devolution. We introduced the transformational English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. We launched the devolution priority programme—one of the largest ever packages of mayoral devolution in England, worth close to £200 million per year over 30 years, split across six areas. And today I am pleased to announce another significant step forward in our devolution agenda: an invitation to all areas in England that do not have devolution, to bring forward with their neighbours an expression of interest for a foundation strategic authority. The Government welcome such expressions of interest over the coming weeks, and we will begin reviewing responses from 20 March.
This new wave of foundation strategic authorities will ensure that more areas than ever before are able to access the benefits of devolution. The Government remain firmly committed to mayoral devolution and is forging ahead with it, including through the devolution priority programme, but we have been clear that this model works best when built on firm foundations. This includes the strong unitary structures we are creating through local government reorganisation, but we also see foundation strategic authorities as a crucial way to build local capacity and partnerships as a stepping stone towards mayoral devolution in the future. In areas undergoing reorganisation and interested in establishing a foundation strategic authority, we are keen to work with local partners to agree how best to manage the two processes.
As set out in the “English Devolution” White Paper and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, foundation strategic authorities will have devolved powers over transport and infrastructure, skills and employment support, housing and strategic planning, economic development and regeneration, environment and net zero, health, wellbeing and public service reform, and public safety. They will also receive devolved funding in areas such as local transport and skills, and the Government are currently consulting on giving foundation strategic authorities the power to raise an overnight visitor levy.
Separately, Minister Pennycook has also made an associated statement announcing the launch of a non-statutory consultation on the geographies for spatial development strategies. We strongly believe that strategic planning is most effective when done over devolution geographies. We will therefore work with local areas to ensure that geographies for foundation strategic authorities and spatial development strategies are aligned where possible. However, it will be for local areas to propose a devolution geography that can support strong partnership working across their local economy. The Government are committed to working with all areas to establish the right economic partnerships and to empower leaders across the country to deliver growth and prosperity for their communities.
[HCWS1335]
Pride in Place Programme
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
In September, I was proud to announce a significant expansion of our Pride in Place programme, handing up to £5 billion directly to 244 of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK, with communities in the driving seat of spending plans.
Today I can confirm that 40 places will join the Pride in Place programme. That means that nearly 300 communities will benefit from this transformational programme. This represents an additional £800 million investment in places that have for too long been overlooked and left behind. The Government will confirm places that will be in receipt of this funding in due course.
The expansion is part of efforts to reverse the decline communities have faced. Pride in Place is about more than funding—it’s about giving communities the power to take control of their own future.
Local people know best what change is needed in their area. That is why communities are in charge of plans for this investment. Seventy-five neighbourhood boards are already up and running, bringing together local people to come up with a plan for the future of their area.
In Ramsgate, the community has decided to invest £500,000 to save the town’s last youth centre from closure, securing the building’s future and ensuring that vital services for young people can continue. Residents of Elgin have chosen to spend £1 million to create a new regional athletics hub, bringing together and providing support for sports clubs across that area of north-east Scotland.
Neighbourhood boards are beginning to take shape across the 169 places announced in September, and these local partnerships will also be established in this third tranche of forty places, laying strong foundations for community leadership.
The Pride in Place programme represents a genuine shift in power into our communities. This isn’t just short-term funding for short-term projects—it’s a long-term investment in our communities and the people who live there. We’re not starting at square one. In every community, thousands of community leaders, volunteers and grassroots organisations are already working hard to make their neighbourhood a better place to live. The Pride in Place programme gets behind these people, building strong leadership rooted in communities.
[HCWS1311]
Government Support for High Streets
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
Written StatementsRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
High streets are the heart of our communities—they should be vibrant centres where people come together, where local businesses take root and flourish, and a source of pride in place. But too many people tell us that their high streets no longer feel like the thriving centres they once were. They see boarded-up shops, dwindling footfall, and the loss of cherished local businesses. We have listened, and are taking decisive action to reverse this trend.
I can confirm that the upcoming high streets strategy will be backed by at least £150 million of support to help turn the tide on the high streets most in need. This targeted investment will be used to tackle the challenges people care about most. It will improve neglected shopfronts, bring empty units back into use, and restore pride in local high streets. The funding will be prioritised for areas that have felt the harshest impact of high street decline.
This announcement builds on the Chancellor’s recent measures to support hospitality and celebrate the essential role of British pubs in high street life. These measures form part of our broader commitment to a new high streets strategy that will tackle the structural challenges facing retail, leisure, and hospitality businesses. People care about their local businesses, and we know these sectors are vital drivers of local economies. That is why we will work closely with industry to ensure the strategy reflects their needs and unlocks long term growth.
The new investment will complement our flagship Pride in Place programme, a transformative package of up to £5 billion that puts power and resources directly into the hands of local communities. People want more control over what happens in their town centres—and we are giving them that control. Through Pride in Place, local people are shaping regeneration projects, deciding how investment is spent and creating thriving places. Together, these initiatives represent a long-term plan to give communities control and restore pride, opportunity, and economic resilience across the country.
New funding is just one part of the picture. We are already taking steps to support vibrant high streets and respond to the problems people have told us matter most. This includes introducing new tools to repurpose and reimagine high street property including high street rental auction and community right to buy, consulting on new national planning policies to support town centre vitality, cutting red tape with licensing reform, and tackling the proliferation of betting shops, ensuring our high streets remain welcoming and diverse.
This is the beginning of a turning point for high streets across England. By combining targeted funding, stronger local powers, support for businesses, and community driven regeneration, we will breathe new life into town centres and strengthen the sense of pride people feel in the places they call home.
I will bring further updates as we develop our high streets strategy in the coming months.
[HCWS1295]
Holocaust Memorial Day
Miatta Fahnbulleh Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Miatta Fahnbulleh)
I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) for opening the debate with such a poignant and thoughtful contribution. He set the tone of the debate impeccably. This debate has shown, powerfully and painfully, that the past few years have not been easy for British Jews, or for Jewish communities across the world. Many colleagues have spoken today with a frankness and empathy that reflects the deep concern felt across the House.
Britain is rightly proud of being one of the world’s most successful multi-faith and multi-ethnic democracies—it is part of who we are—so it is with a particularly heavy heart that we recall the attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, and the shocking attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney. These events remind us that antisemitism is never a problem for someone else to solve. It is a threat to all of us—to our values, our cohesion, and our shared sense of safety.
This debate, however, is not only about confronting rising antisemitism; it is first and foremost about honouring the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust, and the thousands of Roma and Sinti, disabled people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gay men and political opponents who were also persecuted and killed. It is also about remembering the genocides that have happened, tragically, in more recent times.
More than 80 years have passed since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, yet the lessons about where hatred, dehumanisation and violent bigotry can lead remain painfully relevant. Many of us in this House have had the immense privilege of hearing directly from Holocaust survivors. This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme, “Bridging Generations”, feels especially poignant. The survivors, who have carried the heaviest of burdens, and who have shared their testimony with extraordinary courage, are fewer each year. We owe it to them to ensure that their voices never fade.
My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols) spoke incredibly powerfully of the memories and stories of that dark period, the profound impact they have, and how sharing them is more important today than it has ever been. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for sharing the heart-wrenching story of Susan Pollack, which is a harrowing reminder of where hate and othering can lead us.
Over the past two weeks, colleagues will have walked through the atrium in Portcullis House and seen “In Their Footsteps”, an extraordinary exhibition of ceramic shoes. It is a quiet but powerful reminder that trauma and memory echo across generations, and that remembrance is not passive, but active, creative and deeply personal. The exhibition also pays tribute to Danny Herman. Danny and his family arrived in the UK on the eve of the second world war, eventually settling in Liverpool, becoming British citizens and contributing to this country in ways large and small, in everything from wartime industry to professional sport. In the atrium, the shoes created by his family speak of love, survival and legacy. They remind us that every survivor’s story is unique, and that everyone deserves to be remembered. The message today is clear: we cannot remember the victims of the Holocaust while ignoring antisemitism in our own time.
Despite the words “never again”, we continue to see violent conflict across the world, and civilians are caught in its path. That underscores the urgency of the work we are discussing. As my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh) set out so effectively, we all know that social media can be an extraordinary force for connection, but it can also be a vehicle for spreading Holocaust denial, hatred and division faster than ever before. That is why we must remain vigilant, and why it is so important to safeguard our children—not only to protect them, but to equip them with the critical skills and confidence that they need to challenge hatred when they encounter it.
The Department for Education launched the tackling antisemitism in education innovation fund on Holocaust Memorial Day to address misinformation, improve media literacy and encourage tolerant, informed debate. Some £7 million has already been allocated to tackling antisemitism in our schools, colleges and universities. That includes £500,000 for the University Jewish Chaplaincy, and further funding for the Union of Jewish Students and Palace Yard to train staff to recognise and address antisemitism.
Many Members have spoken today about the importance of testimony. The Prime Minister has made a clear pledge that every student in the country should have the opportunity to hear recorded survivor testimony. Testimony 360, a free digital education programme from the Holocaust Educational Trust that uses virtual reality and digital eyewitness accounts, will help to deliver that promise and ensure that survivors’ voices remain accessible long after they can no longer speak in person.
This Government continue to support high-quality Holocaust education through the University College London Centre for Holocaust Education, and the Holocaust Educational Trust “Lessons from Auschwitz” programme—programmes that have transformed the understanding of thousands of students and teachers, and will continue to do so. This education is vital. As Members have said, it is more important now than ever.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) provided powerful testimony about the rising tide of hate and division, both at home and abroad. She is right to demand that we be vigilant, and that we do better. I will take away her call for a strategy to prevent the mass murder of innocent people simply because of their faith, race, ethnicity or identity. My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) was right to remind us that we all have a responsibility to tackle the antisemitism and the rise of hate and division in our communities, and that we must use our empathy, compassion and respect to bridge and hold our communities together. I echo the words of the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman): we must all stand up against this hate, and thank everyone who does stand up against it.
I finish by paying tribute to Karen Pollock, the chief executive officer of the Holocaust Educational Trust, whose leadership and passion continue to inspire so many; to Olivia Marks-Woldman and the team at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, who deliver the national ceremony and countless local events across the country; and to the many other organisations whose work enriches and protects the memory of the Holocaust: the Holocaust Survivors’ Centre in Hendon, the Anne Frank Trust, the Wiener Holocaust Library, the Association of Jewish Refugees, Generation 2 Generation, the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Newark, the Holocaust Centre North in Huddersfield, and the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education.
I ask the House to take a moment to remember the survivors who shared their testimony with us and who are no longer here. Their courage, generosity and determination to educate others, despite the unimaginable trauma that they endured, is a gift to this country. We honour their memory, and wish their families a long life.