10th February 2022

Mid Sussex Labour Chair Pam Haigh’s response for the Mid Sussex Times article “As levelling up is calling time on a postcode lottery what are the benefits for West Sussex?”

“The levelling up white paper is the latest in a series of missed opportunities from the Conservatives. After 12 years in office on their own or as partners with the Lib Dems, Mid Sussex has seen a real terms reduction of 45% in the grants and funding streams available to councils outside of the Council Tax and Public Health grant. This has resulted in above-inflation increases in council tax, the closure of children’s and family centres, the loss of key cultural facilities such as the Martlets in Burgess Hill and Clair Hall in Haywards Heath, and the failure to regenerate town centres.

“Without further spending commitments, the 12 missions of the white paper will stay as paper promises with nothing substantial achieved. £1.65 billion of funding from the EU’s Shared Prosperity Fund has been lost and nothing has been offered to replace it.

“Here in Mid Sussex, we do face deprivation: in meeting the urgent need for housing that is genuinely affordable rather than driving up house prices for everyone by overheating the buy to let market; in education, where a previous Labour government introduced the Sure Start scheme to link early education, childcare and healthcare to give children the best start in life; and where we now face shortages of schools, of teachers and even of basic equipment.

“Labour would make integrated regional planning a priority, spreading much-needed new development away from protected areas to places in need of regeneration. Infrastructure would be an absolute prerequisite to any new development, ensuring that neighbourhoods are created with schools, health and shopping facilities close at hand without adding to the carbon footprint by requiring car journeys for the basic needs of life.”