Pride in Place Programme extended by £800m thereby benefitting a further 40 communities
11th February, 2026
The government has extended the "Pride in Place Programme" by a further £800m, providing grants of up to £20m to another 40 deprived communities. In this article, public funding lawyer Alexander Rose explains how the Pride in Place will work in practice, including the areas of risk for local authorities supporting the delivery of this public funding programme.
How will the Pride in Place Programme work?
The Pride in Place Programme is a fund that was originally launched in September 2025 as a means to address some of the most pressing local issues within 339 of the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods. Stated to be worth £5bn the fund aims to give “communities the resources and tools to drive change themselves”.
What is novel about the Pride in Place Programme is that “residents, local businesses, civil society and community organisations” will lead upon decision making ” working in partnership with their respective local authority”. Therefore, it will be local people who decide the projects that they think are best to “rebuild and transform their neighbourhoods”.
How did Pride in Place funding change in February 2026?
On 5 February 2026 the Prime Minister announced an £800m expansion to the Pride in Place programme, including areas such as Bexhill on Sea in Surrey, Nechells in Birmingham and the High Street and Dyfatty area in Swansea. This is an expansion to the existing fund.
What steps need to be taken when an area is allocated funding?
Each of the chosen areas will now be tasked with establishing a Neighbourhood Board to develop a 10-year Regeneration Plan, setting out how the £20m of public funding would be spent.
Projects put forward will need to align with one or more of three core objectives:
- to build stronger communities – all places should have strong relationships and a collective sense of belonging to their community. This helps bring people together to build community cohesion and resilience, helping people to feel proud of their area and safe in their neighbourhood.
- to create thriving places – every part of the UK deserves to have vibrant neighbourhoods and communities with busy high streets, a good range of local amenities and high-quality physical infrastructure.
- to empower people to take back control – everybody should be empowered and in control of their lives and have a say over the future of their community.
What compliance requirements apply to the programme’s delivery?
The Neighbourhood Board will need to comply with the governance requirements, which in practice means working closely with the accountable body (the local authority) to ensure that the public funds “are distributed fairly and effectively, and that funds have been managed in line with the Nolan Principles and Managing Public Money principles” but also any grants or other awards of funding comply with all “legal responsibilities in relation to subsidy control, state aid and procurement”.
Therefore although the fund is intended to be light touch and locally led, public authorities are making sure that their legal teams are closely involved with the setting up of the Pride in Place arrangements and reviewing all proposed grants to ensure these align with subsidy control rules. Depending on the characteristics of the awards of public funding, external advice may need to be obtained.
How is the Pride in Place Programme audited?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has a three phase system of audit in place. At the first level the regularity of expenditure is overseen by the Chief Finance Officer of the local authority in line with their legislative obligations.
The second line of audit involves MHCLG officials undertaking checks, on a risk and sample basis. Local authorities will be required to engage with this process, which means that it will be necessary to collect records during delivery showing how all the governance and compliance requirements have been satisfied. The third line of audit will be carried out by MHCLG’s independent team of auditors.
Conclusion
The Pride in Place Programme is built around a recognition that local knowledge can help improve regeneration projects. However local authorities need to ensure that the decision makers fully understand the wider legal framework, including compliance with areas of law such as subsidy control and public procurement.
Ward Hadaway has one of the UK’s leading Public Funding teams providing expert advice on issues such as Grant Funding Agreements, subsidy control and public procurement. If we can be of assistance to you, please do get in touch.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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