Chancellor Rachel Reeves in Leeds' visit over 'game-changing' Pride in Place funding

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, MP Rachel Reeves talked of empowering communities through Pride in Place funding.

And, questioned over pub closures, she said she recognised the impact of keeping pace with rapid wage growth and inflation. Ms Reeves said business rates have been “re-weighted” to keep costs down for high streets and smaller businesses, and particularly for the retail and hospitality sector.

“I recognise that higher wages can often be challenging, but at the same time we know that around one in five people are not paid a wage that they can afford to live on,” she said.

“Increasing the national living wage is about making sure that people, who go out and work hard, have enough money to be able to go out and afford to live on.

“We have listened to what businesses – particularly on our high streets – have said," she added. “We are trying to address some of those challenges.”

Some 500 pubs have folded in Yorkshire since 2019, analysis by this newspaper with Camra previously revealed, with Otley's The Fleece closing this week citing high wages and costs. And earlier this year chef Tommy Banks, of the Michelin-starred Black Swan and Abbey Inn, also spoke out over a “real lack of understanding”.

Today, distillers have also warned that a 17 per cent hike in spirits duty has been “catastrophic” for the sector over three years. Natalie Hall, director at York Gin, said “punishing”taxes are threatening an industry already under strain.

The Chancellor joined Communities Secretary Steve Reed on a visit to Armley and New Wortley in her Leeds' constituency yesterday.

This is one of nearly 300 areas to see up to £20m in funding to "take back control" under the Government's Pride in Place programme. With its own Neighbourhood Board, each area would set its own ambitions, shifting power and spend from Westminster.

The pair paid visits to Christchurch in Armley, Yum Food Pantry and Community Fridge and the New Wortley Community Centre.

Rev Phil Arnold, chair of the area’s Neighbourhood Board, said Pride in Place was a “game changer” for areas like this, with long-term funding shifting the cycle of short-term wins.

And this project funding, said the Chancellor, was the “best thing” that’s happened to Armley in her nearly 16 years as an MP here.

“It’s not Government saying ‘right this is what we're going to do with the money’, it’s up to local people to really shape this," she said.

And Communities Secretary Steve Reed said the only limit is “people's imagination”.

"Communities see themselves what needs to change," he said. “They have the ideas but not the power. Now they are getting the money and they're getting the decision making power to put pride back at the heart of their own community."