£20m for Marsh Green and Laithwaite will help to restore pride in some of our most disadvantaged neighbourhoods

This is a welcome investment on its own but it has been coupled with a truly democratic initiative in handing the power to the community and to local residents to decide how it is spent.

Too often decisions that impact communities for generations are taken hundreds of miles away in Whitehall or by ministers.

I made the point three years ago that when you hand decisions to the people who have a stake in the outcome, things improve.

That was true then and it is even more true today.

The Levelling Up Fund created by the last Government was the epitome of a broken system, with councils across the country forced to beg civil servants and ministers in London for a tightly regulated pot of funding that was spent with little to no regard for what local residents actually wanted.

Now this will be different, it will be levelling up done the right way and the way it always should have been done, from the grassroots level. It should not be a controversial idea that the people who live in our communities are the ones best placed to decide what they need and how new funds should be spent.

The last Government failed to recognise this, and so we are setting things right by taking a new approach. Control of this new £20m investment will be handed to a board made up of local residents.

They will receive advice and support of course, but the decisions will be theirs alone.

The funding has been designed with flexibility in mind. It can be used to fund improvements to local facilities such as parks or community centres or to restore derelict buildings, but any suggestions which contribute to building stronger communities and thriving neighbourhoods will be completely welcome.

I believe this funding will be truly transformational and I can’t wait to see what ideas the local community will come up with.

I also know that funding alone will not be enough in every case.

That is why I am delighted that this Labour Government is empowering residents with a community right to buy for local assets.

This will give communities real power to save local pubs, community libraries, or grassroots sports clubs in trouble.

We are also introducing compulsory purchase powers for local eyesores such as abandoned businesses or boarded up shops.

Local councils across England will also get new powers to block unwanted betting or vape shops when local residents are opposed.

We all know that communities are best run by those who live in them.

These new powers combined with a stable source of long-term funding will finally put that principle into practice.

I am thrilled that Marsh Green, Laithwaite, Worsley Hall, and Norley Hall will be part of this exciting opportunity for community renewal, and I can’t wait to talk to local residents about their ideas and how they can get involved.