Rachel Reeves confirms ￡56m boost for major Liverpool project in budget speech

By Dan Haygarth | 30/10/24

Hello,

Your Daily Post is with you later than usual today to bring you all the news from the budget. Rachel Reeves delivered the Labour government’s first budget to the Commons this afternoon and said she would “invest, invest, invest” but added the “black hole” left by the Conservatives requires tens of billions of additional taxes.

The Chancellor said her budget will increase taxes by ￡40bn, but there will be no rise to working people’s income tax, VAT or employee National Insurance payments. She confirmed plans to hike employers’ National Insurance contributions and increase capital gains tax, while also making changes to inheritance tax and stamp duty.

There were a couple of big announcements for Merseyside, which I will bring you below. For the other key updates, you can read this.

And in other parliamentary news, West Derby MP Ian Byrne said he has "never been prouder to be a Scouser" as the campaign to save Zoe's Place moved within ￡1m of its goal. In a parliamentary debate on funding for children’s hospices today, Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock MP praised the West Derby MP for his "heroic" efforts to save Zoe’s Place.

Thanks for reading.

Rachel Reeves confirms ￡56m boost for major Liverpool project in budget speech

Investment in housing and its role in growing the economy were central to the budget, as Ms Reeves confirmed final Treasury approval of a ￡56m investment from Homes England into Liverpool’s Central Docks development. She told the Commons: "We will provide investment to renovate sites across our country, including at Liverpool Central Docks - where we will deliver 2,000 new homes."

Central Docks, which was mentioned by Ms Reeves in her first speech as Chancellor, is Liverpool's largest brownfield site and the biggest neighbourhood within the Liverpool Waters project - property giant Peel's plan to regenerate the city's northern docklands over the next 30 years. There are currently around ￡1billion's worth of new developments under construction across Liverpool Waters.

These include the new 52,888-seater Everton Stadium, the Mersey Heat district heating network served by a Water Source Heat Pump energy centre, and over 600 new homes currently being built – adding to the nearly 1,200 homes already completed and occupied across the Princes Dock and Central Docks neighbourhoods. The Isle of Man’s new ￡70m ferry terminal also located within Liverpool Waters completed in June this year.

In July, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet agreed to enter into an agreement with Homes England to accept Brownfield Infrastructure Land grant funding and act as an accountable body on behalf of Peel Waters to deliver site infrastructure and follow-on development.

With full planning approval for the site preparation work, the plans for Central Docks include the creation of an interconnected network of public spaces. The proposed new landscape will involve the planting of hundreds of trees, with the centrepiece being ‘Central Park,’ a 2.1-hectare space, set to become one of the city’s largest urban green spaces.

According to Peel, Central Park’s design will celebrate the site’s industrial heritage and coastal location, blending coastal and woodland plantations, wetlands, and open parkland. The park will include shelters, sports and recreational facilities, play spaces and wildlife habitats, to be enjoyed by both residents and visitors.

Central Docks was also identified by the Liverpool Strategic Futures Panel, chaired by Mayor Steve Rotheram, and forms part of Liverpool’s 20-year plan for the whole of its iconic waterfront. Liverpool City Council has also made a similar brownfield site commitment in its draft housing strategy, currently subject to a public consultation, which supports the delivery of 2,000 new homes every year to 2030 and to double the number of affordable homes across the city.

Peter Denton, Chief Executive of Homes England, said: “Following the signing of our Strategic Place Partnership last month, this funding is further evidence of our commitment to the Liverpool City Region. Our role is to work with the mayor and local leaders to help them drive forward their visions for housing and regeneration and bring forward complex sites like Central Docks, transforming them into thriving communities that people are proud to call home.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: "Britain is under new management and now we’re really starting to see the difference. Working hand in hand with government at a national, regional and local level we can make an enormous difference and drive growth locally.

"The development of Central Docks, alongside the ongoing work to regenerate Bramley Moore and Bootle, has the potential to be a catalyst for growth and wider regeneration for great swathes of South Sefton and North Liverpool, creating jobs and attracting investment.

"The Central Docks site was identified in the Liverpool Strategic Advisory Panel’s final report as a site for potential development. The ￡56m we’ve received is an enormous statement of intent – on top of the ￡31m we secured for the city back in March this year.

"I’m delighted that the Treasury has given us the go-ahead for this investment, which promises to be a really significant development for our city region."

Leader of Liverpool City Council, Cllr Liam Robinson, said: “Peel Waters’ Central Docks is a hugely ambitious brownfield regeneration scheme and I’m delighted it has the support of our Government. It underlines the growing confidence to deliver at scale and quality in Liverpool.

“This scheme has the potential to transform historic disused dockland into an amazing new neighbourhood befitting our iconic waterfront.

“The creation of thousands of new homes, with supporting community facilities, a new park, cycle lanes, green streets and rain gardens, as well as the new businesses it would attract, will be a phenomenal boost to the city’s economy and environment. It would act as a beacon for what housing developments in this country in the 21st century can and should be.”

Park campaigners celebrate as major Merseyside dual carriageway scrapped in budget

Campaigners are celebrating after plans for a dual carriageway which they say would have "destroyed" a Merseyside country park were cancelled in the budget. The decision to cancel the A5036 Port of Liverpool Access Road dual carriageway in Sefton was included in the full autumn budget statement. It read: “As part of the government’s commitment to growth, it will take difficult decisions where there is not a clear value for money case to invest.

"After a review the Transport Secretary has decided not to progress with the following unfunded and unaffordable road schemes on the strategic road network: A5036 Princess Way."

The road would have run through the Rimrose Valley country park, which forms a border between Crosby and Litherland. Campaign group Save Rimrose Valley has worked to oppose National Highways’ A5036 Port of Liverpool Access Road plans since they were announced in 2017.

The group has long-called for better solutions to port access to be developed instead, including increasing rail freight capacity and innovative freight logistics technology. It says thousands of members of the public attended protests and demonstrations in opposition to the plans.

In response to the announcement, campaign co-ordinator Stuart Bennett said: "Today’s outcome is the culmination of seven years’ hard work, community action and vindication that what we’ve been saying all along, is correct. The road proposal was the wrong ‘solution’, which would have destroyed the last green space of its kind in what is already a heavily urbanised and polluted part of Liverpool. The fact that it was ever on the table is a disgrace and National Highways has serious questions to answer.

“Our campaign is incredibly proud that, by uniting as a community, standing up for ourselves, and working with our local and regional politicians, we were able to slam the brakes on these plans and force the government to think again. We would like to thank them for listening to us and for proving that democracy is alive and well.

“At the same time, we recognise that the cancellation of the road does nothing to solve the ongoing issues created by the Port of Liverpool’s operations and its impact on our everyday lives. This is why we’ll continue to fight for better, sustainable solutions to port access, just as we have done throughout our campaign. We will work with neighbouring communities to achieve this through our role as part of the South Sefton Communities Alliance.

“As for the future of the park, our campaign has been organised by the charity Rimrose Valley Friends, which was formed to promote, protect and enhance this amazing piece of green space. Today’s announcement means that we can finally devote 100% of our time and energy to achieving these goals, without the worry of the bulldozers moving in.

"We have great plans for enhancing the park and firmly believe we can have a huge, positive impact on the lives of people in the surrounding communities and beyond. For the first time in almost a decade, the future looks bright.”

National Highways has been contacted for comment.?

Ian Byrne has 'never been prouder to be a Scouser' as Zoe's Place campaign nears goal

West Derby MP Ian Byrne said he has "never been prouder to be a Scouser" as the campaign to save Zoe's Place moved within ￡1m of its goal. Mr Byrne has been at the forefront of the city-wide campaign to raise the ￡5m required to allow the children's hospice on Yew Tree Lane in his constituency to remain in Liverpool.

In a parliamentary debate Mr Byrne secured on funding for children’s hospices today (October 30), Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock MP praised the West Derby MP for his "heroic" efforts to save Zoe’s Place. Mr Byrne used the debate to argue that the care provided by children’s hospices like Zoe’s Place "isn’t a luxury. It’s a vital service.”

He quoted parents who depended on the service, such as Jennifer, mum of Theo, who said Zoe’s Place "is our family. We are devastated at the thought of Zoe’s Place closing its doors. It has been a massive support and lifeline."

Mr Byrne highlighted that children’s hospices are in crisis across the country, with rising costs and falling funding. He called on the Government to provide more funding for children’s hospices and said unless this happens, “more children’s hospices will be put at risk, just like Zoe’s Place.”

He particularly called on the Government to maintain and increase the ￡25m Children’s Hospice Grant, the main source of public funding for children’s hospices. In response, Health and Social Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock MP, said he was “working very closely with NHS England to get [maintenance of the Children’s Hospice Grant] confirmed as a matter of urgency”.

He praised Mr Byrne, saying “I know the [children’s hospice] sector is very close to his heart and I’d like to thank him for all the work he is doing to support and raise awareness of the issue generally, but also in particular of course for the heroic work he is doing for Zoe’s Place.”

Mr Byrne called on the government to get behind a Private Members’ Bill he introduced to Parliament yesterday, which would require the government to publish plans to guarantee all children in need have access to palliative care.

The MP concluded his speech saying “In Liverpool, the people have risen to the challenge and we are on the cusp of saving Zoe’s Place. Now this place has to rise to the challenge as well, and we have to give children’s hospices the funding they need to survive and thrive. The children and families who rely on these incredible institutions do not have time to waste.”

The news that Zoe's Place faced closure sparked a huge city and region-wide campaign, with people told that ￡5 million needed to be raised within just 30 days if there was to be any hope of saving Zoe's Place in Liverpool. The campaign has seen people from all walks of life doing their bit to raise money for this most-cherished facility.

On Monday, the campaign received its biggest boost to date, one that means that Zoe's Place Liverpool is now on course to be saved. TJ Morris Ltd, the company that owns discount chain store Home Bargains, pledged a huge ￡2.5m to the cause. This significant contribution accounts for half of the ￡5 million funding gap required to keep the hospice open and means that ￡1 million is needed in the next two weeks to take the total across the finish line.

At the time of writing, the total for the fundraiser stands at ￡5.5m. It must reach ￡6.4m by November 9.

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