The Prospectus, titled 2030 Agenda for Action, is a long-term strategic vision for Blackpool which aims to position the Town as the UK’s ‘Silicon Sands’ with a thriving digital economy. The Prospectus also aims to position Blackpool as a great place to live, work, grow up and visit, building on the work done since 2017.

The latest edition of the prospectus comes as the government pledged £90M of funding to Blackpool so that residents can benefit from regeneration investment to support the creation of new well-designed homes and neighbourhoods, as part of wider ambitions to transform local communities. Tackling housing is one of the key priorities outlined in the Prospectus for the Pride of Place Partnership. Since the launch of the first prospectus in 2018, more than £600m has been invested in the town, including £300m of government funding.

With an ambition to grow Blackpool’s economy by £1bn by 2030, the partnership is keen to build on this work and its existing strategic partnership with the UK Government, by working with other departments to deliver improved housing, health, education, skills and employment, and digital outcomes, and to ensure economic growth and regeneration for Blackpool and all its residents. The Prospectus has several calls to action for government, including:

• Building on the £90M capital announcement and committing to future phases of Housing intervention, comprising £400m investment in capital funding to intervene at scale in the failing housing market in inner Blackpool
• Co-creating a health strategy and budget for Blackpool to reduce health inequalities in the town by tackling the causes of poor health
• Piloting Blackpool as a charitable action zone, that supports the creation of a Blackpool foundation to attract philanthropic investment to support the renewal and regeneration of human capital in the town
• Supporting the town in piloting a broader college performance framework to allow our training providers to work in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education to reduce the number of young people not in employment, education or training and the economically inactive
• Building on the work that has been done to help Blackpool become a district heat network town that connects social housing and public buildings with renewable heat sources
• Supporting the development of the proposed innovative Silicon Sands Technology Demonstrator at Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone focusing on utilising local sustainable energy, liquid immersion cooling technology, effective re-use of waste heat, reduction of data centre energy use and cost of data centre operations, and significant reductions in carbon emissions so that Blackpool can become a leading innovator in the efficient re-use of data and AI-generated heat
• Funding £128M for the Poulton to Fleetwood tram train from the Restoring your Railway Fund and investing in a passing loop on the South Fylde line
• Providing £10M to fund the Blackpool Culture Hub, creating a centre for historic and contemporary art and cultural engagement, community development activities, and displays of world-class art
• Allocating £20M per year of capital and revenue funding for Blackpool’s Growth and Prosperity Programme, which will allow us to enable the development of inner Blackpool (including Claremont, South Shore and Revoe) to attract investment and fulfil their potential

The asks of government sit alongside the work that is being done on the ground led by local businesses and community organisations and supported by Blackpool Council.

BITC has been working in Blackpool since 2017 and has set out a blueprint to address some of Blackpool’s social challenges and develop its opportunities, the aim being to deliver long-term transformational change. In Blackpool, the 2030 objectives focus on creating and safeguarding at least 10,000 jobs and growing the economy by £1BN. This work also includes tackling the concentration of deprivation in the inner areas (the worst in England) raising it out of the bottom decile and creating 3,000 new quality homes.

John Fallon, Chair of the Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership, said:

Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said:

Andy Charles, Blackpool Place Lead, Business in the Community, said:

The Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership is a unique collaboration between the private, public and voluntary sectors, including Blackpool Council, set up to drive change for the people living and working in the town.

This prospectus continues the ambition set out in the 2018 prospectus, which included work to get a Town Deal from the government. As a result of this work, in 2021, Blackpool was awarded the largest single Town Deal of £40 million, and in 2022, Blackpool agreed a strategic Levelling Up Partnership with the government which has resulted in over £140M of Levelling Up Funding and a £90M commitment to help tackle housing in the town.

Blackpool Town Prospectus 2024 to 2030 [PDF 2.88MB]