In one Salford suburb, children do their homework in McDonald’s because their families can’t afford Wi-Fi at home.
A charity shop keeps its prices at £2 so customers still have enough to shop there.
A mother skips meals so she can buy her daughter food.
A hundred miles away in Richmond, cafes, restaurants and boutiques are doing a roaring trade.
Yet Richmondshire – Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary constituency – has been ranked as more deserving of taxpayers’ money.
“A lot of my stuff is £2,” says Natalie Darcey, who manages the St Ann’s Hospice shop in Little Hulton’s District Centre.
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“If it was more, a lot of people round here couldn’t afford it.”
Little Hulton was largely created after the Second World War as families moved from inner city areas as part of the slum clearance programme.
The proportion of people on unemployment benefits is twice the national average, with male life expectancy six years – and women four years – below the average for England.
While Salford is home to MediaCity and BBC North, the borough is ranked as the 18th most deprived area in the country.
But when a list was published this year, it was placed in the second of three categories judged as most warranting cash from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.
In October, it was announced Salford Rise had been awarded £13.2m from the fund, The Mirror reports.
The project includes a “boulevard in the sky”, a bridge that will connect Salford University campus to an “Innovation Zone”.
Paul Dennett, the Labour mayor of Salford, is still baffled as to why the area is not in category one, and with it the prospect of more money.
“Even to this day we don’t really know,” he says, adding one other project was turned down.
“We’ve got huge aspirations for growth, to tackle poverty and inequality.”
Central government cuts have slashed Salford council’s annual spending power by around £220m compared to a decade ago.
Mayor Dennett slams the Government for its lack of industrial strategy which, rather than simply spending money on building roads and other infrastructure, could deliver decent jobs in areas such as Salford that are crying out for them.
And he claimed the set-up meant local authorities were left competing for funds, rather than working together. Mayor Dennett also said the Treasury’s “green book” rules meant areas where property and land prices are high are more likely to get taxpayer cash.
“If you look at what’s been happening in local government over the last 10 years of austerity and cuts, what’s happening with welfare reform, and the recent decision to cut the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift, those things aren’t about levelling-up,” he says.
Grandmother Natalie Darcey, 48, is clear what she would like ministers to do.
“Live for one day up here, give up your chauffeurs and see what life is really like,” she says.
“A lot of the people round here are on benefits. My daughter misses meals so she can afford to feed the children.”
Florist Emma Harwood said there were many ways money could be spent improving Little Hulton, but she insists: “It has a good community spirit. There are a lot of things the area could benefit from.”
