Member Article

Government criticised for cutting funding for regeneration projects

Government cuts to regeneration projects are having a devastating effect on communities across the country according to a committee of MPs.

The BBC reports that the Communities and Local Government Committee believes that the government has made no provisions for improvement schemes which have been stopped midstream.

This has left people in deprived areas feeling “trapped”.

While the Housing Minister promised help to those affected, he was also quick to criticise the last government for the current situation.

Part of the scheme involved tearing down old terraces in the North East, the North West, the Midlands and Yorkshire and building new ones to revive run down areas.

However, the scheme has been damned by experts, who called it “an exercise in social cleansing”, as perfectly good houses have been demolished and not replaced.

The Committee believes the government’s regeneration strategy is unclear, and focuses on economic growth rather than the specific issues facing deprived communities.

They also warned that government plans do not have enough resources, which could ignore the problems in areas of social, economic and environmental need.

However, the government has announced plans to release additional funding to help people living in the worst affected areas, but admitted that “true regeneration can only be achieved by creating the right conditions for communities and businesses to thrive in”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .