City adds its support for new wealth fund

Sunderland City Council has become one of the first local authorities in England to add its support to call to see more investment in the most 'left behind’ neighbourhoods in the country.

The council – along with nine others, including Newcastle City Council and Durham County Council – wants to see the establishment of a Community Wealth Fund to provide cash which would enable communities to transform their neighbourhoods.

The fund aims to allow communities to take spending decisions – with awards of £2m to each area to spend over a 10 to 15-year period – with the aim of building community resilience and strength and increasing their capacity to turn their areas around.

The alliance is calling on government to make the proposal a reality, by releasing the next wave of dormant, or orphaned, assets from stocks, shares, bonds and insurance policies to create a £4bn endowment.

The proposal has the support of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods. The group was set up to find long-term policy solutions to improve the social and economic prospects of the 225 wards identified as being both the most deprived neighbourhood sin the country – including Southwick and Hendon.

Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Secretary, Cllr Paul Stewart said: “Sunderland City Council is proud to be among the first to support the call for a Community Wealth Fund. The council is determined to deliver a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant Sunderland.”