plugged in

摘要

This month, the Government announced its Stronger Towns Fund, a £1.5bn pot which may or may not be new money. While it's easy to criticise the Government's approach to the fund for being ambiguous, the question for those of us who care about place-based change is: what type of support do towns require to help them build a better future? First, we need much greater clarity around the fund's purpose. Government has talked ambiguously about numerous outcomes, including job creation, the restoration of local pride and local growth. But what most towns targeted by the fund need is direct investment in the lives of the people who live there.