14 areas to share £280m to boost ‘pride in communities’

Fourteen neighbourhoods in Scotland are to benefit from up to £280 million of cash which the UK Government says will bolster “pride in communities”.

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said the Pride in Place programme funding will help the “most in need communities”.

The 14 neighbourhoods, spread across 12 council areas, will now receive up to £20 million each over the next 10 years as part of the scheme.

The areas that will benefit were chosen after the Scotland Office invited local councils, MPs and constituency MSPs from across the country to submit bids setting out where the funding should go.

Neighbourhood boards will now be set up in those areas receiving the cash, to decide what the funding should be spent on.

It comes as part of UK Government plans to invest more than £2 billion over the coming decade in local and regional projects across Scotland.

Mr Alexander said: “The UK Government is backing 14 of Scotland’s most in need communities with £280 million investment – part of a £2 billion package to uphold pride in communities and create opportunities the length and breadth of the nation.

“Over decades of decline, people have watched as their neighbourhoods have lost services and support, so now we are putting the power into the hands of local people who can decide how the money is spent. We’re investing directly in Scottish communities to build stronger, thriving neighbourhoods.”

UK Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: “People across Scotland have been shut out from their own futures and felt powerless to make the changes they want to see in their communities.

“Pride in Place is fixing that and putting power back where it belongs – in the hands of the people who have the knowledge, ambition and vision to make a real difference.

“We’re backing 14 neighbourhoods across Scotland with up to £20 million each, to put local people back in the driving seat to revitalise their communities and shape their futures.”

Two communities each in the Fife and Glasgow local authority areas will receive funding, as will neighbourhoods in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Falkirk, the Highland, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, the Western Isles and West Lothian.