Dimension 05 of 05
Shape the system
Giving local people a louder voice to guide how money is spent.
Public spending in England is around £13,100 per head each year. This means that in a neighbourhood of 10,000 people - roughly the average Pride in Place area - around £131m a year is spent, or 66 times the scale of Pride in Place. That is likely to be an underestimate, since Pride in Place is concentrated in economically deprived areas where spending per head runs higher.
This is not to say a programme like PiP does not matter. Most public spending is heavily over-committed, so a discretionary £20m investment can make a big difference. What it does mean, however, is that one of the biggest effects Pride in Place can have is by influencing the wider system. This is even more true now that Pride in Place sits alongside so many other reforms to give communities more power. This includes the government’s ambitions for participation and deliberative methods, and for neighbourhood governance.
Neighbourhood Boards can work more widely to strengthen the say local people have over decisions, complementing initiatives like the Community Power Pilots; Test, Learn and Grow; and neighbourhood health. Below we have shared some examples of community-led development to help show what this looks like.
Case studies
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The West Midlands integrated settlement (opens in a new tab)
WMCA receives £2.6bn over four years as a single settlement consolidating 30 funds from eight government departments, with freedom to move money between six policy areas. Seven mayoral authorities now hold settlements of this kind, worth £15.9bn between 2025/26 and 2029/30.
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Neighbourhood health centres (opens in a new tab)
NHS England plans 120 neighbourhood health centres by 2030 and 250 by 2035, built around neighbourhoods of roughly 50,000 people, with sites prioritised by deprivation. The associated guidance instructs commissioners to involve Neighbourhood Boards where areas have received Pride in Place funding.
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Live Well (opens in a new tab)
An initiative to support everyday health and well-being in every neighbourhood in Greater Manchester, running since 2023 across 2.8 million residents. The work has made a particular effort to cut across silos and create space for the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector.
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Assets of community value, and what replaces them (opens in a new tab)
Between 2011 and the end of 2022, 6,680 assets were nominated as assets of community value. Fewer than 200 were acquired by communities. The Community Right to Buy in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 will create a new, strengthened right of first refusal. A £61m fund to support community acquisitions was announced on 16 June 2026.
Most relevant practical materials
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Neighbourhood governance: what councils told us (opens in a new tab)
Free
Insights from local councils about their experience of implementing the neighbourhood governance duty, with worked models from Rochdale and Barnsley.
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Community commissioning (opens in a new tab)
Free
An analysis of four escalating mechanisms for transferring power to communities - operational engagement, non-binding deliberation, binding deliberation, and formal governance.
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Tool
The Powercube (opens in a new tab)
Free
A framework to understand and name different forms of power - visible, hidden, and invisible - and different ways power plays out in a space.
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Tool
Participatory systems mapping (opens in a new tab)
Free
A toolkit for participatory mapping, in which people working or living in a system work together to map its links and power dynamics.
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Event
Stronger Things (opens in a new tab)
An annual national conference exploring themes of community power and ownership, local forms of democracy, and methods for civic renewal. Free for small community organisations.
Other creative ways to explore this dimension
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Film
How Lawrence Weston got a wind turbine (opens in a new tab)
Free
Interviews recorded over a decade with residents of a Bristol estate who battled the planning system to build England's largest onshore wind turbine.
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Film
Community Wealth Building - From Cleveland to Preston (opens in a new tab)
Free
A film exploring the role of anchor institutions redirecting their procurement spend to local suppliers.
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Interview
Investing in the future of our communities (opens in a new tab)
Free
An interview with former CEO of Local Trust, Matt Leach, exploring why left-behind neighbourhoods often lack the civic infrastructure needed to apply for and invest funding.
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Book
Seeing Like a State (opens in a new tab)
A book by James C. Scott offering a big picture understanding of why ambitious government schemes often fail when they try to replace local practical knowledge.
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Training
An introduction to community wealth building (opens in a new tab)
An online course on the five pillars of community wealth building, run by the organisation that helped to develop the Preston model.
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Event
Community Wealth Building Summit (opens in a new tab)
A one-day conference exploring ways to keep spend local, with discounted tickets for voluntary and community organisations.
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Event
Stronger Things (opens in a new tab)
An annual conference for exploring themes related to community power, community wealth-building, and ways to foster community democracy and voice. Free for small community organisations.