Information, intelligence and insights from the genecon team

Genecon were pleased to see the MHCLG’s £1.5bn Plan for Neighbourhoods unveiled yesterday. This replaces the Long Term Plan for Towns programme introduced by the previous government before the 2024 election. We look forward to building on our previous work with Wigan Council, Burnley Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council, supporting Neighbourhood Boards to achieve […]

The publication of Reform UK’s manifesto on Monday 17th June saw the last of the main UK-wide political parties release their proposed legislative pitch to the national electorate ahead of the General Election on Thursday 4th July. Now whilst much of the commentariat have understandably tended to hone in on the respective political parties’ plans […]

  The £20m endowment-style funding provided to Town Boards through the Long-Term Plan for Towns programme to allocate across three investment themes over the next decade represents a place-based approach to levelling-up which is forward-looking and agile in its approach. Whilst there is no requirement on how towns utilise funding across the three investment themes, […]

Many people think of art as painting, drawing – the visual arts you go to a gallery to see. But art is much more than that – its any object or experience that communicates an idea, an emotion, or a view of the world, and it can take many forms.  ‘Art isn’t just what we […]

Completing a robust Long-Term Plan for Towns (LTPFT) submission to government in a relatively short space of time is very challenging. Allocating £20m of “endowment style” funding over a 10-year period, across a town, and split between three themes (Safety and Security; High streets, Heritage and Place; and, Connectivity and Transport) will require some tough decisions, […]

The push to net zero is well and truly underway. Several hundred councils have declared a climate emergency. More than half of these have produced at least a sketch of a climate action plan for reaching the net zero ambition by some target date between 2030 and 2050. Now comes the much harder work of […]

In January 2023, as part of the Governments latest round of Levelling Up Funding, Eden Project North was announced as the flagship project. With an award of £50 million Eden Project North is destined to be a nationally important project that will transform both the landscape and economic fabric of Morecambe and indeed the wider […]

The Barnsley Futures Levelling Up Fund Round 2 bid, which Genecon supported, has secured £10.2m to transform cultural and well-being facilities in the town centre. Specifically, the funding will be used to deliver: The creation of a new Northern Academy for Vocal Excellence (NAVE) to deliver outstanding singing tuition to young people and serve as […]

  Residential buildings are estimated to consume almost a third of the UK’s energy supply and be responsible for 16% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions (source). Since the 1990s the UK government has delivered a variety of large-scale housing retrofit programmes (and the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy supply) as a mechanism for achieving […]

  Understanding crime, including where it comes from and how people engage with it is important. It helps us understand places and address issues that may arise from crime and how to prioritise safety.    Whether inside or outside, at home, or in the public domain, when people feel safe and not at risk of harm, […]