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First impacts of £22 million Levelling Up investment revealed by County Council

Business / Thu 9th Mar 2023 at 09:02am

MAJOR achievements in improving the life chances of Essex people now and in the future came under the spotlight today at a special event at the House of Commons in the presence of senior Ministers and MPs.

Essex County Council has an ambitious Levelling Up agenda that aims to ensure all residents in the county have an equal chance to improve their lives and ‘reach for the stars.’

A parliamentary event today (Wednesday 8 March, 2023) showcased the achievements for the first year and was an opportunity to outline the work to Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education and Harlow MP Robert Halfon alongside parliamentary officials, MPs and a range of partners, charities and Essex businesses.

Dozens of projects are already having a positive impact on improving the lives of local residents and communities throughout the County, underpinned by £23million of funding.

Angel Cogger, from Basildon, highlighted to MPs the impact of the support she received through a community organisation called Active, Thrive, Flourish (ATF), which helped her and her family come through a difficult time. This then inspired her to learn the skills needed to help other families do the same.

The event also heard more about the Harlow Futures project, which aims to provide opportunities for children and young people and now through its recent collaboration between the Local Authority and district council, schools, settings and colleges is able to provide programmes to enhance the social, emotional and mental health support in the town.

Cllr Louise McKinlay, Deputy Leader of Essex County Council and Cabinet Member for Community, Equality, Partnership and Performance, said: “Over the last year, we have seized the Levelling Up agenda with both hands – not just responding to national initiatives, but actively creating additional opportunities for residents across Essex, giving them the support they need to make lasting improvements to their lives.

“We are committed to driving forward our Levelling Up campaign, as set out in the Everyone’s Essex strategy, and making it work for every county resident.”

Cllr Kevin Bentley, Leader of Essex County Council, said: “I am incredibly proud of all that we have achieved over the first year of our journey to level up Essex. There is much more to do and the next year will see the introduction of many more new initiatives targeted at key places and people.”

Rt Hon Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow and Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, said: “I am pleased to be able to host Essex County Council in Parliament today to showcase the work being done to support the Levelling-Up agenda in our local community. My thanks go out to Cllr Kevin Bentley and Cllr Louise McKinlay who have worked with me day and night to transform our region, and in particular, my constituency of Harlow.

“Over the past two years, I have been proud to secure over £40 million of levelling up funding to regenerate our Town Centre. This comes alongside the £85 million for the new Junction 7A, £16.5 million to upgrade Harlow College and open the Advanced Manufacturing Centre, £27 million for our new Enterprise Zone, £23 million to upgrade local school buildings and hundreds of millions of investment to move the UK Health Security Agency to Harlow.

“Under this Government, and through the positive collaboration with ECC, Harlow, and the Eastern Region has had investment like never before, demonstrating the power of local government in supporting our local residents. Building an even better Harlow and Eastern region will make it a great place to live, work and grow up, allowing our community to reach its full potential and deliver for generations to come.”

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6 Comments for First impacts of £22 million Levelling Up investment revealed by County Council:

Jerry
2023-03-09 09:39:28

How about "levelling up" our dreadful roads by filling in the potholes !

Kim Oconnor
2023-03-09 09:51:57

All sounds lovely doesn't it. But that's all well and good, when it seems all this regeneration, new school s ect ect,, when there no mention of extra staffing, theses services and the people that run theses services,, are doing the work of three people, through your government s cuts to people s jobs . What are you doing about this. The pressure on them is anonymous. People lost there jobs, skilled people through cuts. You can not create all theses things with out infrastructure, the same goes for building all theses unaffordable housing estates on our borders, we will not benift from this as council tax will go to Herts and Epping.. and infrastructure will not be built to cater for theses anonymous estates, ie health care, school s,ect ect, till all theses 20,000 houses are build,,, if at all. Putting more and more pressure on Harlow services..And 20,000 more cars on a all ready grid locked Harlow. We were promised 40% affordable housing, now we have been told 20% With Harlow s 5,000 on waiting list here, people that can not afford to buy. And all this at a great cost to our river stort valley, Ecosystem s, our old tress, wildlife habitat s the list goes on. You talk of wellbeing, when your taking the very thing that makes us better, OUR nature nature.

David FORMAN
2023-03-09 10:32:39

The Harlow Futures project sounds interesting. Anything that improves people's mental health and life chances is most welcome.

Turkey
2023-03-09 14:02:32

Kim . You sound very bitter about what's happening in Harlow. I have a suggestion for you.MOVE

Kim Oconnor
2023-03-09 19:01:24

Carnt afford to , Mr turkey.

Turkey
2023-03-10 12:34:35

Kim What makes you think I am a man

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