Press release: Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods launches

Former Social Exclusion Minister Baroness Hilary Armstrong to lead a Commission to build evidence for a government focus on the country’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

Launched today, the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON) will explore and address significant challenges faced by the country’s most deprived neighbourhoods. The initiative aims to build on existing research, generate new insights and propose concrete actions that could improve the lives and prospects of people living in these areas.

The Commission comes at a time when inequalities within, not just between, regions are becoming more pronounced than ever before. Research shows that some of England’s poorest communities sit alongside areas of great affluence, yet they are often overlooked by current policies aimed at larger geographies, such as towns, cities or entire regions.

Many of the government’s most pressing challenges are rooted in these neighbourhoods. By focusing on a hyper-local approach, the Commission aims to elevate them as a central pillar of national policy, with the aim of providing opportunity to all regardless of where they live, and:

• addressing health inequalities
• reducing crime
• encouraging growth
• achieving a fair transition to net zero.

Baroness Hilary Armstrong, former Social Exclusion Minister responsible for the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, will chair the Commission. On the Commission, she said:

“Policy moved out of the neighbourhood in the 2010s and effectively ignored the spatial nature of many of the problems the government and the country now faces.

“The time has come for a thorough examination of the state of our deprived neighbourhoods, so I am delighted to be leading the Independent Commission and eager to get started.”

Baroness Armstrong’s leadership, combined with the expertise of a diverse group of commissioners, will guide the Commission in identifying solutions to the complex issues facing deprived communities across England.

Alex Norris, Minister for Democracy and Local Growth, welcomed the launch of the Commission, saying:

“For too long, where you were born has determined your path in life and held back communities from achieving their full potential.

“This is unacceptable and we are determined to put an end to this cycle. We will make sure opportunity is spread as evenly across the country as the talent is, so that every person can benefit from our mission for growth.

“I look forward to seeing the insights from this independent commission into how we can best tackle regional inequality and restore a sense of pride in our communities.”

Local Trust is supporting ICON through its set-up phase, and looks forward to contributing evidence drawn from over a decade of delivering the Big Local programme in disadvantaged neighbourhoods around the country.

The Commission’s work is funded by Local Trust but will be run by an independent secretariat and shaped by a collaborative approach, engaging a range of voices from policy makers to people with lived experience of neighbourhood deprivation. Find out more on the ICON website.