Issued by: Scotland Office

Next step in the UK Government’s Plan for Change, kickstarting national renewal, taking back control of our streets and putting more money in people’s pockets

Local people in Scotland will see their high streets revived, community hubs saved and public services transformed and strengthened through £200 million from the UK Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods to tackle deprivation and turbocharge growth, as every area joins the decade of national renewal committed to in our Plan for Change.

A total of 75 areas across the UK will each receive up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade through the plan, with ministers vowing it will help transform “left behind” areas by unleashing their full potential by investing in delivering improved vital community services from education, health and employment, to tackling local issues like crime. Transformation will be holistic, long-term, and sustainable to deliver meaningful change in the day-to-day lives of local people.

In Scotland areas due to receive up to £20 million funding each through the plan are:

• Arbroath

• Elgin

• Orkney Islands

• Peterhead

• Dumfries

• Irvine

• Kilmarnock

• Clydebank

• Coatbridge

• Greenock

Each board will decide how to spend up to £20 million of funding and support – they can choose from options ranging from repairs to pavements and high streets, to setting up low-cost community grocers providing low-cost alternatives when shopping for essentials, as well as co-operatives or even neighbourhood watches.

This is the latest step in the government’s ambitious Plan for Change missions to grow the UK economy, deliver safer streets and create opportunities for everyone.

The announcement is in contrast to unfunded pledges from the previous government. The Plan for Neighbourhoods doubles the scope of the types of projects that can benefit and is now fully aligned with the Government’s long-term Plan for Change missions: breaking down barriers to opportunity and kickstarting economic growth.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray MP said:

"The UK Government is getting on with delivering our Plan for Change with investment and reform to turbocharge growth and put more money in people’s pockets – and our Plan for Neighbourhoods is a crucial part of that. With this £200 million investment into 10 of Scotland’s towns, local communities will be at the beating heart of helping us to deliver a decade of national renewal and opportunity for all across Scotland.

"In towns across Scotland, from Kirkwall to Kilmarnock, local people and businesses will decide how the funding should be used to transform where they live, work and play - creating jobs, improving high streets, providing better public services and saving community hubs. It is part of £1.4 billion worth of direct funding the UK Government is delivering in Scotland over the next decade, alongside the largest budget settlement in the history of devolution.

"In this new era of partnership working as part of our ongoing resetting of relations we will continue to respect the devolution settlement and strengthen collaboration with the Scottish Government and local partners to ensure this investment has maximum transformational impact on communities."

Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP said:

"For years, too many neighbourhoods have been starved of investment, despite their potential to thrive and grow. Communities across the UK have so much to offer – rich cultural capital, unique heritage but most of all, an understanding of their own neighbourhood.

"We will do things differently, our fully funded Plan for Neighbourhoods puts local people in the driving seat of their potential, having control of where the Whitehall cash goes – what issues they want to tackle, where they want to regenerate and what growth they want turbocharge."

Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety, Alex Norris MP, said:

"When our local neighbourhoods thrive, the rest of the country thrives too. That’s why we are empowering communities to take control of their futures and create the regeneration and growth they want to see.

"Our Plan for Neighbourhoods will deliver long-term funding that will bolster that inner community spirit in us all and relight the fires in corners of the UK that have for too long been left fighting for survival.

"This, along with our ambitious reforms to streamline the planning system, devolve powers and strengthen workers’ rights, will help get places and people thriving once again. "

In each area, the government will support the establishment of a new ‘Neighbourhood Board’, bringing together residents, local businesses, and grassroots campaigners to draw up and implement a new vision for their neighbourhood.

Each board will decide how to spend up to £20 million of funding and support. The government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods’ ultimate aim is to create thriving places, strengthen communities, and empower local people to take back control in towns across the country.

By creating thriving places, strengthening communities, and empowering people to take back control areas can drive forward their priorities and the Government’s long-term Plan for Change missions: breaking down barriers to opportunity and kickstarting economic growth.

Further information

The Plan for Neighbourhoods delivers on the commitments made to these deprived communities from the previous administration’s Long-Term Plan for Towns, which it was confirmed at the 2024 Autumn Budget would be retained and reformed. Ministers have also published a list of regeneration powers which communities will be encouraged to use, like the power to save pubs by listing them as community assets, and the use of respect orders to tackle repeat offenders.

Funding will be released from April 2025 with delivery investment commencing in 2026, and areas included in the Plan for Neighbourhoods were chosen after considering key factors including rates of deprivation and healthy life expectancy.

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