Figures released this week show that in the first six months of 2023 almost 400 pubs across England and Wales closed their doors for good, more than two per day and almost as many as in the whole of 2022.

This has largely been down to rising energy costs, low growth, and perhaps most importantly a cost of living crisis and stagnating wages that mean people simply no longer have the disposable income that they once had to spend in the pub at the weekend.

While some people may shrug off the closure of pubs and the potential for drunkenness and disorderly they might bring, this news is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dismantling of the social infrastructure across our communities over the past couple of decades.

A Local Trust report found that 760 youth clubs have closed since 2012 and a quarter of libraries have been lost since 2005. Other investigations have found that over a third of public swimming pools may have to close by 2030 if costs rise at the current rate, thousands of churches have shut their doors over the past decade as have working men’s clubs amidst a pervading sense of collapse of our high streets in general.

This social infrastructure is crucial for building a sense of togetherness and cohesion amongst communities, boosting economic outcomes, and fostering a sense of civic pride and belonging which in turn deters crime, improves community participation and resilience, and allows communities to work together towards common goals.

Over a decade of austerity has hollowed out this civic infrastructure leaving us more isolated and vulnerable then ever to the brutal realities of our current economic plight. The pandemic has finished off thousands more of our public spaces leaving us more starved then ever of the venues where we can come together to meet new friends, relax, and build connections across the community. Inevitably, this has affected the most deprived communities, who are the most reliant on this social infrastructure to begin with, the hardest.

The Tory’s continue to bury their head in the sand about this issue which has dramatically accelerated under their watch. We need a government who understands the importance of our civic spaces and is willing to use the power of the state to protect and support them.