NTCP Shop (13 March 2009)

The Northfield Town Centre Partnership (NTCP) shop provides practical help and advice to local people. Its mission is to be a “one stop shop” – providing training opportunities, help with searching for a job, advice on dealing with debt. This support is becoming even more important for local people as the recession begins to bite.

But the shop faces the threat of closure if an emergency lifeline cannot be put in place to secure its future when its current funding runs out at the end of this month.

Everyone agrees that the NTCP shop is a real success story. They don’t turn people away and they provide help and support when and where it is needed.

The shop also provides a base from which City Council officers can work with local businesses and residents to manage the shopping area, to identify issues of concern, and to push for the regeneration of Northfield.

That is why I have called on Birmingham City Council to back words up with action and provide the financial guarantees needed to make sure the shop survives.

The City Council says they support both the shop and the Town Centre Management project it houses. Birmingham has been given a lot of money by the Government to tackle worklessness and only a week or two ago Council Leaders were priding themselves on having enough money to keep Council Tax increases low. So it is not asking much for them to underwrite the shop’s costs for the next few months whilst they sort out the organisation of its long term funding package.

All we are asking is for them to give Northfield a fair deal.