Coventry has been given £10 million to help bring deprived neighbourhoods back to life.

The cash, which will spread over three years, will be used to tackle a range of problems within communities.

The government is leaving it up to individual areas to target the cash most effectively. Nationally £800m has been made available.

Coventry qualified for the money because it was calculated to have 87,000 people living in the ten per cent most deprived wards in the country.

The city will receive £1,322,000 next year followed by £3.9m and £5.2m in subsequent years.

Cllr Tom White, cabinet member (Community Wellbeing) said there was still a lot to be worked out on how the funding will work in practice, but praised the announcement.

He said:

“The Government recognises that Coventry is at the forefront of partnership working which will play a key role in implementing the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund in the city.

“This is good news and will bring about a range of benefits which will improve life chances for those local people who need it most.”

Cllr White said neighbourhood groups would be included in discussions about what to do with the money and where the priorities would lie.

Six areas are recognised as being the most in need in city: Wood End, Foleshill, Hillfields, Canley/Tile Hill, Willenhall/Stoke Aldermoor and Radford/Spon End. There are also other pockets of the city with problems.

Cllr White said a mechanism was already in place for picking the areas to benefit, and it was possible that all the efforts would be concentrated in section of the city.

He said:

"Wood End and Henley have got the New Deal for Communities money and Foleshill has had SRB money, so it could be argued that one of the other areas should get the help this time.

"There will be vigorous debate about it involving the council and other bodies, and as with the New Deal For Communites money, neighbourhood communities will be involved." 

Announcing the fund, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, spelled out what it was to achieve. He said:

"This fund will help our most deprived communities in these areas tackle their main concerns, creating stronger, more inclusive communities for everyone. This is vital if we are to successfully improve the quality of life in this country.

"The fund will provide extra, non ring-fenced money to help local authorities in the most deprived areas spend more on teachers, police officers, crime prevention programmes, social services or any other services which deliver real improvements for the community."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said the aim was to help the worst-off areas meet targets to counter social problems such as crime, low achievement at education and crime.

He said:

"While much previous spending has been directed to dealing with the consequences of economic and social failure, it is time now to invest in tackling the causes of failure - and these are poor school results, poorer standards of public health, and low levels of economic activity.

"Today in a major shift in funding, we are setting tough new standards that the poorest areas must meet to receive the money we have set aside.

“Educational performance must be raised so that we increase in each area pupils obtaining GCSEs at A-C and we must also increase employment rates, improve health outcomes and reduce burglaries by 25 percent with no local authority having more than three times the national average by 2005."