Making the Pride in Place Programme Work for Local Communities

Turning Investment into Impact: Making the Pride in Place Programme Work for Local Communities

The UK’s communities are changing. With the launch of the Government’s £5 billion Pride in Place Programme, the focus on locally driven regeneration has never been stronger. This ambitious ten-year fund aims to improve 339 of the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods, giving residents, local businesses, and community groups a genuine voice in shaping the future of their areas.

For organisations involved in placemaking — from councils and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to universities and market managers — this programme represents a huge opportunity. But it also brings a challenge: how do you know if your community interventions are really working?

That’s where Serve Legal’s Place Management Audits can help. 

A New Model for Local Regeneration

Announced in September 2025, the Pride in Place Programme builds on the earlier Plan for Neighbourhoods initiative, which awarded 75 communities £20 million each to improve their local infrastructure and wellbeing.

This new fund expands that approach nationwide, aiming to:

1. Build stronger communities – fostering belonging, cohesion, and pride.
2. Create thriving places – revitalising high streets, amenities, and infrastructure.
3. Empower people – giving residents real control over the future of their communities.

What makes Pride in Place different is its bottom-up structure. For the first time, “residents, local businesses, civil society and community organisations” will directly shape decision-making — working in partnership with local authorities.

While this people-first approach is widely welcomed, it introduces complexity. Local authorities must act as accountable bodies for the public funds involved, ensuring that every project meets transparency, fairness, and value-for-money standards.

That’s where independent, evidence-based auditing becomes critical.

From Policy to Practice: How Serve Legal Can Help

At Serve Legal — together with our acquired business Storecheckers — we have decades of experience in community development, compliance, and resident experience auditing. Our new Place Management Audit service is designed to give local authorities and BID teams clear, independent insight into how residents and visitors perceive their spaces.

In September 2025, our team met with members of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to discuss how our audits can support safer, more welcoming neighbourhoods through data-led insight.

By capturing authentic, on-the-ground feedback, our audits help councils and boards understand whether local investment is genuinely improving the quality of life for residents — and how to target future funding more effectively.

The Tools to Build Pride

Our Place Management Audit suite offers a range of methods that align directly with Pride in Place’s goals of community empowerment and safety:

• Environmental Mapping & Perception Reviews – benchmark the cleanliness, safety, and accessibility of public spaces, identifying where improvements make the biggest difference.
• Safety Perception Audits – assess how safe residents and visitors feel, particularly at night, supporting safer streets and women’s safety initiatives.
• Levy Payer Consultation & Market Research – provide BID and local authority leaders with clear insight into the business community’s needs, sentiment, and engagement.
• Event Feedback & Focus Groups – measure how cultural and community events impact local pride, inclusion, and economic activity.
• Staff Security & Theft Prevention – support retail and hospitality areas in reducing losses and improving staff vigilance.

Each audit is designed to show what’s really happening on the ground — giving community leaders the evidence they need to make investment decisions that truly reflect local experience.

Insight That Strengthens Accountability

The Pride in Place Programme gives local people power — but also gives local authorities responsibility. Councils are expected to act as accountable bodies, ensuring that every pound of public funding delivers measurable benefit and complies with principles such as Managing Public Money and the Nolan Standards of Conduct in Public Life.

Serve Legal’s audits can help public bodies meet those expectations by:

• Demonstrating the tangible impact of regeneration projects,
• Providing impartial, verifiable evidence for funding reports, and
• Supporting continuous improvement in place management and safety.

Building Pride Through Partnership

The Pride in Place Programme is more than just a fund — it’s an opportunity to rebuild trust between local authorities and the communities they serve.

At Serve Legal, we believe that independent insight is the foundation of accountability. By working in partnership with councils, BIDs, and community boards, our audits ensure that public investments lead to safer, more vibrant, and more inclusive places.

Because pride in place doesn’t come from policy — it comes from people who feel heard, valued, and safe in the places they call home.

If your local authority, BID, or organisation is preparing for Pride in Place delivery or planning its next regeneration phase, contact Service Manager, Matt, or visit our Place Management Audits page to learn more about how we can help you build communities that truly thrive.