Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour plans to deliver "fundamental change" to voters and put "power and resource" into the hands of communities.

Speaking on a visit to The Anenexe Community Centre in Hartlepool, the Labour leader told The Echo that he believes communties should be given more power in order to improve their local areas.

He was in the North East alongside Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to discuss the issue in antisocial behaviour in Hartlepool and residents experiences with it.

Read more: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in Hartlepool ahead of local elections

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When asked about what Labour would need to do to win back the 'Red Wall' and improve on levelling up issues such as educational attainment and life expectancy in the North East, he said they want to deliver on people's "strong desire" for change. 

He said: "What we want to deliver to voters is fundamental change.

"I think most people now, if asked the question, 'are things better now than they were 13 years ago when the Conservatives came into power?

"Most people would say 'no, my NHS isn't better, my local hospital isn't better, our schools aren't better, our streets aren't safer, my living standard haven't gone up,' and therefore I think there's a strong desire for change.

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"In order to bring about change, we want to do proper levelling up which means to strategic plan every part of the United Kingdom that doesn't involve people in Westminster and Whitehall deciding which bits of money might go to different places around the country, but actually puts power and resource closer to people.

"I'm a big believer that communities and people with skin in the game make the best decisions for their communities."

Meanwhile, he said he felt this belief had been bolstered by his experience meeting Hartlepool's community leaders who he said knew their patch, what needed to be done, and wanted a government to match this ambition.

He said he believes Labour is the government to deliver on this, and added he plans to match the ambitions of communities on a UK-wide scale.

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"That's what you get from a Labour government, a government that matches the ambition of communities across the North East and across the United Kingdom," he added.

This comes after Sir Keir, alongside Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, spoke with Hartlepool residents about their concerns regarding antisocial behaviour in the neighbourhood.

In this meeting, he promised Labour would put more neighbourhood police on the streets to help curb this type of behaviour.