City policy: next contracts delayed by three months

The next city contracts, which were to come into force at the start of 2024 and run until 2030, must finally be signed "no later than March 31, 2024", according to a press release from the State Secretariat.

"In order to better carry out the development of the future 2024-2030 generation of city contracts, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Secretary of State in charge of the City, extends the citizen consultation allowing the inhabitants of the priority districts of the policy of the city ​​to express themselves on their expectations and their priorities", he justifies.

The consultation period for residents of priority neighborhoods currently underway has been extended until the end of October, according to a circular sent to the prefects on August 31 and consulted by AFP.

This extension is particularly justified by the riots which ignited many working-class neighborhoods at the start of the summer.

City contracts, negotiated between the State and local authorities, set the framework for city policy for several years in terms of urban renewal, integration or safety in priority neighbourhoods.

The last were concluded in 2014 and already extended twice under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, until December 31, 2023.

The executive intends to focus future city contracts more on local issues, in order to better stick to the difficulties of each territory.

The new list of priority neighborhoods eligible for city policy (QPV) must be published no later than December 31.

Non-priority neighborhoods will be able to benefit, "in a derogatory and circumscribed way", from funding provided for city policy, also indicates the Secretary of State, in order to fight against "threshold effects".

"Recent episodes have notably illustrated the difficulties in certain areas that do not strictly meet the criteria of the priority geography of city policy but present certain characteristics", according to the Secretary of State, in reference to the riots at the beginning of the year. summer, which also involved towns usually spared from urban violence.