EDM 965: Coalfields Regeneration Trust funding

That this House recognises the invaluable contribution of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) in supporting economic regeneration, employment, and growth in coalfield communities across the UK; notes that the CRT was established in 1999 by the then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to address the economic and social challenges resulting from the closure of coal mines in the 1980/90s; acknowledges that the CRT received direct Government funding between 1999 and 2015 and has since developed an innovative community wealth-building model that reinvests rental income from industrial units into local economic and social initiatives; further notes that the CRT is requesting £10 million per annum in capital funding over the next five years to develop a minimum of two industrial unit projects per year, providing 500,000 square feet of new industrial space and generating over 1,000 new jobs upon completion, alongside hundreds of construction jobs and additional supply chain benefits; further recognises that this investment would generate up to £4 million annually in self-sustaining revenue for coalfield communities; highlights the independent evaluation by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies which found that the CRT delivers an annual economic benefit of £413 million, generates £7.50 in local community returns for every £1 invested, and provides £35.4 million in annual cost savings to the state; and urges the Government to approve the CRT’s funding request as a key part of its mission to bring growth to every part of the UK and as part of the Government’s neighbourhoods and communities strategy.