Jo Platt

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Pritchard. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Mrs Russell) for leading this important debate. I stand in Westminster Hall again to highlight the urgent need for a strategic, place-based approach to investment in our towns. Earlier this month, I led a debate on improving transport connectivity in the north-west, and this debate feeds quite nicely into the same narrative. As I mentioned in my last speech, growth goes where growth is, leaving towns such as ours struggling for investment. Without targeted intervention, deprivation becomes entrenched and opportunities are lost. As chair of the Labour MPs group on local growth funding, alongside the Industrial Communities Alliance, I have worked closely with colleagues across the UK who represent former industrial communities—places that have been overlooked for too long. The Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity is therefore one I wholeheartedly support, but it must be backed by investment that reflects long-term, transformative impact. Leigh and Atherton rank high on the indices of multiple deprivation, with lower life expectancy, higher unemployment and poor transport links. Our cities have deeply deprived neighbourhoods, but they also benefit from economic vitality, larger workforces and greater infrastructure investment. In contrast, smaller towns experience deprivation more acutely. Towns such as Leigh and Atherton suffer from long-term underinvestment, lower job diversity, reduced access to essential services and poor transport connectivity, making it harder to recover and attract new economic opportunities. That is why the Green Book review is so important; it must go beyond Treasury metrics and ensure that investment decisions align with the Government’s regional growth goals. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. We need a model that recognises the unique challenges and potential of different places and improves public health, revitalises high streets, enhances transport links and creates local jobs. There is also a lack of clarity about the extent to which the Green Book should apply within devolved regions, especially when funding comes from the devolved administrations rather than from here in Westminster. The review offers a chance to both guide and empower devolved regions and local authorities in deciding where growth funds should be allocated and to ensure that investment reaches the areas that are most in need without adding another frustrating layer of bureaucracy. I appreciate the Government’s commitment to reassessing the Green Book. However, that should not be solely a Treasury initiative; it needs to be a cross-departmental effort that prioritises communities in the decision-making process. By doing that, we can create a fairer, more inclusive economy, ensuring that towns like Leigh and Atherton receive the opportunities that they deserve.