Levelling Up Tipton: 'They need to create work, there's no jobs here'

Bill Newby manages a community centre in Tipton

Tipton in the West Midlands is among towns awarded money from the government's Levelling Up project. The BBC went to find out if people think the cash will make a difference.

"£20m, that's peanuts", says Bill Newby, raising his head from his long list of food parcel recipients.

The manager of The Well community centre in Tipton is forthright about the challenges facing families in the Black Country town.

While Mr Newby welcomes the multimillion pound cash injection from the government's Levelling Up fund, he feels it doesn't go far enough to tackle social inequalities.

"We've helped over 10,000 people over the years with the foodbank and advice, particularly around the cost of living.

"Tipton was a thriving town but the metalworks closed, factories shut and people are on the dole. They need to create work, there's no jobs here", Mr Newby says.

The Well community centre help people struggling with the cost of living crisis

Tipton, one of the six towns of Sandwell borough, was home to iron production and played a vital part of the industrial revolution.

At one time it was home to more than a dozen furnaces including Wednesday Oak Ironworks and Bloomfield Ironworks, which closed in 1902 to make way for mining operations known as Bloomfield Colliery.

But, as industrial decline swept the country in the 1970s and 80s, Tipton was hit hard and has struggled to recover.

There was 6.2% of Sandwell's population unemployed between October 2021 and September 2022, according to the ONS.

This is higher than the regional 4.9% in the West Midlands and 3.7% in the whole of Great Britain.

In his Budget address, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that Tipton town centre would benefit from £20m.

Sandwell Council will contribute an additional £2m.

Sandwell Council's Labour Leader Kerrie Carmichael said the new proposals will include affordable housing

Sandwell Council's Labour Leader, Kerrie Carmichael, says the proposals are "to provide new homes - including affordable housing - make improvements to the public realm and to replace a number of existing, under-used, poor quality commercial premises".

Shaun Bailey, the Conservative MP for West Bromwich West, told the BBC he welcomed the funding which he had been able to secure after the Council's bid was initially rejected.

So, what impact might the regeneration have in Tipton?

"It's been really difficult, not like it was years ago when people came to Owen Street in big numbers," says florist Julie Jones.

Julie Jones trained as a florist at the age of 13

Ms Jones, who owns Flower Connexions on Owen Street, recalls learning her trade at the age of 13, working for a local wholesaler.

She bought the shop she trained in and it's stayed in business while other retailers have closed up around her during and after the pandemic.

'Free parking'

"We think small businesses need to be looked after a bit better, for instance, last week they'd shut all the roads down so we couldn't park anywhere, and I parked over the road and got a £100 fine.

"I think there needs to me more shops in the square and longer free parking," she says.

Sandwell Council's regeneration plans are focused on several authority-owned buildings, which are made up of flats with shops underneath.

Union Street flats are set to be redeveloped

The former Tipton Conservative Club is empty and also set for redevelopment into flats.

Also on Union Street, a large block of mostly boarded-up flats is expected to be demolished and replaced with more flats and commercial premises.

'Improve the image'

"Obviously [the levelling up funding] it's great news. We hope it will change the perception of Tipton", says Keith Hodgkins, of Tipton Civic Society.

"What we need this money to do is to improve the image. We know it's not as good as it should be because we haven't got the facilities or quality of environment that we should have," Mr Hodgkins said.

Local campaigners are concerned about the future of the town's main library, run by Sandwell Council, from a privately-owned building.

The BBC's been told that the lease is up for renewal in the next two years, the local authority says Tipton will continue to have a library but wouldn't be drawn on its future location.

The shuttered shop windows on display here are not unusual for any town centre due to the pressure on retailers, and the ravages of running a business in a cost of living crisis.

People are watching their wallets more closely, and the growth of internet shopping has compounded their misery, so locals are looking for new places to socialise and enjoy leisure time.

Resident Katrina Woolley is worried about social housing and her daughter getting somewhere to live

But it's the search for social housing on Katrina Woolley's mind.

"I pay £675 a month, but ours is going up to £750 a month so my other half works, we have to top it up", says the mother-of-three.

Ms Woolley believes a shortage of affordable council homes are forcing families into an expensive private rental market and the costs are becoming unbearably high.

"My daughter is living with me at the moment with my grandson, her boyfriend lives with me as well so at some point, they either have to go private, or they are going to be on a waiting list for seven to ten years to get a council house," she says.

Sandwell Council says the Tipton regeneration scheme will support good community relationships and help to reduce social inequalities.

'Quality of life'

Traders and local residents have largely welcomed the government funding, but believe that more investment must follow if people's quality of life is to improve.

Thirty years ago, John Major's conservative government announced a City Challenge funding programme for Tipton.

It was, you might say, the levelling up scheme of the 1990s, and locally, it's said to have generated more than £170m of investment for the town including housing and health developments around the local canal network.

The Civic Society's Keith Hodgkin said the perception of Tipton needs to change

"We've felt ignored since", Mr Hodgkins says.

"The general perception is…if you look at the West Midlands, the Black Country comes last.

"If you look at the Black Country, Sandwell comes last and if you look at Sandwell, Tipton comes last, at least that's the perception."