Wolverhampton shoppers have their say on what levelling up cash should be spent on

For people across Wolverhampton, it has been a time to try and work out what the Government's Levelling Up White Paper will mean to them and the continual development of the city towards the year 2030.

The city, alongside Sheffield, is the first of 20 areas picked to benefit from the new regeneration programme launched by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

The white paper carries a number of promises, which range from raising pay to bringing up transport standards, improving training to increasing life expectancy and reducing the number of violent crimes to increasing the number of first-time home buyers.

The paper was launched by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, who said the people of the North and the Midlands have been overlooked and undervalued for years by politicians.

In Wolverhampton, there was a sense of mystery about the paper for shoppers and workers in and around the city centre, with many people saying they still didn't know entirely what the paper was about.

Craig Smith was in the city centre with friends on a day out from Pendeford and admitted he wasn't fully aware of what the white paper was.

The 23-year-old said: "I had no idea what it was before, and I think it would have been good to have more communication about it to help know what was in it.

"However, I've been able to check it and I think, first of all, it would be really good for Wolverhampton and offer a lot of opportunities for the city, offering more investment and improving its fortunes."

For Craig, the biggest factors for him from the white paper would be the work to help homeless people and to find jobs and investment in the city.

He said: "I think helping homeless people would be a big thing right now, as well as offering more training opportunities to get on in life.

"I think Wolverhampton can be very deprived at times, so the paper and the new government department will help to bring more money to the city.

"I'm also looking for work in the future and I've been denied opportunities with training courses, so this is one thing that definitely needs to come from the white paper."

Irene Anderson was on a day out from Bilston and the 76-year-old, who has lived in and around Wolverhampton for 50 years, said the white paper should focus on bringing more traders to the city.

She said: "It needs to ensure more people are coming into the city, as it seems very quiet at times, and we really need to see more stores come in as all we have is Frasers and Marks and Spencer, which just feels like an ordinary store.

"The state of the city is very low at the moment, with it looking like it's picking up one day, but then feeling dead the next.

"I hadn't known a lot about the paper, but the biggest things to me from what I've heard is bringing more jobs and investment here, so we need to see more shops and traders coming in."

For people working and running businesses in Wolverhampton, it was an announcement which meant more footfall for them and an investment in the future of the city.

The manager of Laney Rays cafe, Rhonda Bridgart, said the white paper could help bring long-term benefits to the city.

The 55-year-old from Penkridge said: "It's going to see more people coming into the city and visiting businesses, so we are going to see more trade here.

"It's great news because, like a lot of businesses, we've been affected by Covid and things have taken a long time to start up and we've been struggling to keep our heads above water.

"I'm looking forward to seeing more people come in to the city and I hope the city gets a real boost as a result."

For some people, the announcement was being met with suspicion, with Gill Phillips one of many to question whether it was new money or not.

The 71-year-old from Compton said: "As I understand it, it's not new money, but is really money which has already been pledged for other things and they are claiming is new money.

"For what it is, I think it should be used to regenerate the city centre as it's not lively at all, whereas if you go to Birmingham, you see people zipping around and it seems happy and safe, while Wolverhampton feels different.

"To me, the idea of this is great, but it's a question between what's been promised and what will be delivered at the end of the day, and I think it needs to be explained a lot clearer than it had been."