Fund grassroots projects to breathe life into forgotten areas, Reeves told

Red-wall Labour MPs are urging Rachel Reeves to fund grassroots "social infrastructure" such as parks, community centres and libraries, as well as high-profile transport projects, to ensure voters in left behind areas can benefit from growth.

- Heather Stewart

The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), chaired by the Labour peer Hilary Armstrong and supported by a string of backbenchers, has identified 613 "mission critical" local areas.

It is calling on the government to pilot community-led regeneration schemes in places such as these - which are defined as those furthest from meeting Labour targets, including on growth and social mobility.

Such neighbourhoods are characterised by higher unemployment rates, "dramatically higher" welfare spending, and 40% lower productivity than the national average, Icon finds - and many voted Reform UK in last month's local elections.

Before next week's spending review, Reeves revealed plans for an additional £113bn in capital spending over the next five years, including £15bn on transport projects outside London and the south-east. The chancellor's rewritten fiscal rules allow for a significant expansion in borrowing to fund such investment.