Press release: Big changes to motorway upgrades set to improve drivers’ journeys
Highways England is changing the way it manages major motorway upgrades in the North West to help reduce the impact of roadworks on drivers.
Press release: Millions invested to help people get active in their communities
£3 million to be spent in 16 boroughs, towns and cities across England to encourage more people to get involved in local issues
Press release: Millions invested to help people get active in their communities
£3 million to be spent in 16 boroughs, towns and cities across England to encourage more people to get involved in local issues
Press release: Millions invested to help people get active in their communities
- £3 million to be spent in 16 boroughs, towns and cities across England
- Funding utilised to encourage more people to get involved in local issues
- Investment builds on promise in the Civil Society Strategy to make it easier for people give back at a local level
People across England will find it easier to invest time, skills and money to make their local areas better places to live through a multi-million pound programme, Mims Davies, Minister for Sport and Civil Society, announced yesterday.
Ten organisations will receive a share of £2.3 million – through the Place Based Social Action programme funded jointly via the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and The National Lottery Community Fund – to devise programmes that enable people to take action on the issues they care about.
These projects include increasing jobs and training for young people in Somerset; improving green spaces alongside new housing developments in Bristol and building community cohesion in Lincoln led by Lincoln City FC.
A further £770,000 will be invested in six areas across England over the next two years. Barking and Dagenham, Bristol, East Manchester, Stanley in County Durham, Stoke and the Yorkshire Coast will use the funding from the Growing Place-based Giving Programme to establish giving schemes that make it easier for people and businesses to invest in their communities and address areas of local concern.
They will work with the Charities Aid Foundation to develop giving schemes that bring together residents, philanthropists, corporate donors, public sector organisations, and civil society organisations to raise money and address local priorities.
Mims Davies, Minister for Sport and Civil Society, said:
We know that people want to give back to their communities and the issues they care about the most. This fund will stretch across the length and breadth of the country, helping even more people to take action – whether that be volunteering their time, skills and expertise, giving money to good causes, or through simple acts of neighbourly kindness.
We are committed to creating real change. I am looking forward to working alongside communities, organisations and local authorities to ensure we implement these plans and help people reach their full and true potential.
ENDS
For further information contact the press office on: 0207 211 2210.
Place Based Social Action Programme
Place Based Social Action (PBSA) is a seven year, £4.5million programme jointly funded by DCMS and The National Lottery Community Fund. It aims to create positive change in places through enabling citizens, civil society organisations, businesses, service providers and the local authority to work together to create a shared vision for the future of their place, and address local priorities through collective community action.
The funding announced yesterday will provide up to £240,000 to each of 10 partnerships, who will be supported over the next three years to put into their community plans into action.
20 Partnerships were supported in Phase 1 to develop their community action plan. 10 Partnerships are being funded in Phase 2 (2019-21) to put their plans into action. Further funding of £1.25m is available in Phase 3 (2022-24) to scale and sustain their work.
| The 10 Partnerships to receive funding are: |
| Onion Collective CIC, Watchet (West Somerset) – The project will address five main issues: tackling transport difficulties faced by people at risk of social isolation; increasing training and education opportunities; helping local people find a voice in local decision making; supporting young people and promoting existing opportunities and support to the community. |
| Safe Regeneration (Sefton) – The project will bring together local organisations to deliver volunteering and social action activities to help local people contribute to the regeneration of Bootle. Funding will also be used to tackle social isolation and enhance the role of public and private business in supporting community engagement. |
| North East Lincolnshire VCSE Alliance (North East Lincolnshire) – This project will promote community action to address local issues such as drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and slum landlords. It will work with local people to support neighbourliness, to increase well-being, reduce health inequalities and create a central community hub. |
| Halifax Opportunities Trust (Calderdale, Yorkshire and Humber) – This project seeks to bridge divides between West Central and North Halifax by bringing the two communities together through social action and connecting organisations in the two areas. |
| Community360 (Colchester, East) – The partnership is comprised of voluntary, statutory, housing, education and health partners who will support residents with dementia through a referral and support pathway to create a “dementia friendly borough”. |
| Grapevine Coventry and Warwickshire (Coventry, West Midlands) – This project will focus on children and young people by creating a series of ongoing activities to help them and their families become more integrated into the local community. |
| Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership (Bristol, South West) – This project will focus on bringing diverse communities together through a friendship scheme for new residents, the improvement of green spaces alongside new build developments and enhancing local facilities. |
| Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Hartlepool, North East) – This project aims to use social action to create a range of solutions to local social and economic challenges and help people escape poverty. This project would enable the organisation to develop programmes to support, strengthen and better connect existing social action initiatives, as well as identify new initiatives and making it easier for people in Hartlepool to engage in social action. |
| Lincoln City FC Sport & Education Trust (Lincoln, East Midlands) – This project seeks to increase community cohesion through the delivery of activities such as a street art project, regular litter picks, the maintenance of green spaces and the Sincil riverbank, and the development of a timebank. |
| Volunteer Centre Hackney (Hackney, London) – This project will establish a new community hub in Hoxton West providing a safe space for people to meet, talk and share their experiences. Residents will be encouraged to develop their skills with a view to eventually running activities for themselves. |
Growing Place-based Giving
| The local giving schemes to receive funding are: |
| Barking and Dagenham Local Giving, led by the London Borough Council of Barking & Dagenham |
| Bristol City Funds, led by Quartet Community Foundation |
| East Manchester Collaborative Funding Project, led by One Manchester |
| The Stanley Fund, led by the County Durham Community Foundation |
| Stoke Giving Bank, led by VAST Services |
| Yorkshire Coast Catalyst, led by Two Ridings Community Foundation |
News story: UK House Price Index (UK HPI) annual review 2018
In 2018 the UK saw the slowest annual growth in house prices since 2013. While annual growth in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all strengthened in 2018 compared with 2017, England experienced a slowdown.
Annual house price growth (%), countries of the UK, 2013 to 2018
| United Kingdom | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | -2.8 |
| 2014 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 7.7 |
| 2015 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 7.3 |
| 2016 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 1.4 | 4.2 | 6.5 |
| 2017 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 3.8 |
| 2018 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
The North and the Midlands experienced a slight slowdown between 2017 and 2018, but this weakening growth was more evident in the South and East of England with house prices in London falling over the year in 2018.
Annual house price growth (%), by English region, 2017 and 2018
A similar picture is observed when looking at the local authority level. Strong annual growth in the Forest of Dean, Newport and Torfaen is likely linked to the abolition of the Severn Bridge tolls, making it more affordable for those who work in Bristol to live on the opposite side of the River Severn. In Scotland, strong growth in West Dunbartonshire may be due to the area’s direct trains to both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Top 5 UK local authorities, by annual growth, in 2018
| Local authority | Average price (£) | Annual growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Forest of Dean | 235,833 | 11.0 |
| Newport | 175,447 | 10.5 |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | 107,787 | 9.5 |
| Torfaen | 141,055 | 9.4 |
| West Dunbartonshire | 106,795 | 9.4 |
London boroughs dominate the areas where prices have fallen over the year. The Bank of England November inflation report highlights that the slowdown in the London market since mid-2016 is probably due to the area being disproportionately affected by regulatory and tax changes, and also by lower net migration from the European Union.
Bottom 5 UK local authorities, by annual growth, in 2018
| Local authority | Average price (£) | Annual growth (%) |
|---|---|---|
| City of London | 787,027 | -7.1 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 728,072 | -3.8 |
| City of Aberdeen | 159,243 | -3.5 |
| Wandsworth | 597,641 | -3.3 |
| Tower Hamlets | 445,004 | -3.1 |
Note: The figures in this article are annual estimate and will therefore show different annual growth rates and average prices to our monthly statistics.