SHADOW chancellor John McDonnell announced the formation of a new team of experts yesterday to help councils bring services back in house and develop local economies.

Labour’s new “community wealth building unit” will bring together councillors, unions, think tanks and independent experts with experience of delivering frontline change, building on groundbreaking work by Preston council, Mr McDonnell explained.

The Preston project has reportedly returned almost £200 million to the local economy and supported more than 1,600 jobs by using local government contracts to keep money at home and develop worker-owned co-ops.