As the first Conservative MP for Sedgefield since 1931, I was elected in 2019 with a mandate to build prosperity and level up every part of the country.
To date, much of this agenda has focused on hard, large-scale infrastructure. These projects bring much needed investment to places and make a visible difference to the people living there.
In Sedgefield I have supported the restoration of much needed railway lines impacted by the Beeching rail cuts, including Ferryhill station in my own constituency, taking advantage of the government’s Restoring Your Railway fundto do so.
But whilst investment in physical assets brings hope to an area, we must now tackle the next frontier of levelling up and rebuild the essential social infrastructure that our communities rely upon.
As the government’s levelling-up white paper is finalised, it’s important to recognise the opportunities that already exist for rebuilding the social fabric in areas that have been ‘left behind’.
Both people and places are important, and it is for this reason I brought forward my Ten-Minute Rule Bill in my role as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for left behind neighbourhoods last December, which supported the calls for the creation of a Community Wealth Fund.
Now, as dormant assets legislation shortly enters committee stage and proposals are made for how unclaimed stocks, bonds and shares might be spent, we must again consider the opportunity that long-term, neighbourhood-level investment of this kind presents.
We know that communities need places to meet in order to thrive — spaces which help to strengthen the ties that bind us together and contribute to a collective sense of pride about where we live.
The areas we advocate for not only face economic deprivation, but also lack the vital social infrastructure that so many of us take for granted: the local engagement in civic life that builds a sense of belonging and the physical and digital connectivity that is so important for linking residents with amenities, services, and opportunities.
The benefits of investment in these things are clear. Over the past two years, neighbours across the country formed mutual aid groups to protect their communities from the virus, ensuring that vulnerable members were looked after throughout the ebbs and flows of the pandemic.
Preserving this community spirit is essential as we continue to build back better after the pandemic, meet the challenges of climate change, and look to the future. A Community Wealth Fund financed through dormant assets would do just that, by restoring pride in place and providing long-term resources to develop local capacity and confidence to overcome the challenges ahead.
Community assets add significant value to quality of life. They strengthen the ties that bind us together and to the places we call home. They underpin our unwritten social covenant, generating trust between people in the places where they live — trust that can be relied upon in times of need.
People in our most left behind areas keenly feel a need for this. Polling conducted by Survation suggested that two-thirds felt their neighbourhood was lacking community facilities, and almost 60 per cent said they wanted more of a say over how funding in their local area was spent. When it comes to levelling up a local area we need not only to listen to local people, but to trust them to take the lead.
A Community Wealth Fund would pay dividends over the long term, as residents are empowered to take control and make decisions about where they live.
As the future of dormant assets is considered this week, we must appreciate how using them in this way could achieve a genuine transformation for our country’s most left behind neighbourhoods.