Extra cash to make Norwich a test bed for a new drive to improve the life chances of children has been welcomed by local leaders.

Education secretary Justine Greening announced the city would be one of the first six pilot areas where the government will focus efforts on giving today's youngsters the chance of better paid jobs and education.

The city will receive a share of a new £60m pot of cash, announced at the Conservative Party conference today.

Norwich MP Chloe Smith set up the Norwich Social Mobility Project earlier this year after research by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission identified it as one of the worst places to grow up if you were from a poorer background.

The Department for Education is expected to work with the local project on initiatives such as linking teachers, schools, communities and businesses. They will be given extra support and partnered with schools which have been turned around elsewhere in the country.

Schools minister Nick Gibb people said they wanted to make sure that young people were given all the things that the most advantaged children took for granted, including a quality education, work experience, work placements and visits to companies and other activities to 'widen their horizon'. He said they would identify what did and didn't work in the different trial areas.

Former education secretary Baroness Gillian Shephard, who is chairing the Social Mobility Project while Ms Smith is on maternity leave, said it was 'marvellous news' for young people in Norwich and Ms Smith had worked tirelessly to get the difficulties that face some young people in Norwich recognised. 'Now they have been recognised, it is up to schools, young people, parents and employers to make the most of the opportunities they are being given.'

Norwich South MP Clive Lewis said he welcomed anything that would help the city's most disadvantaged, but wanted to see more detail. He warned that government plans should give everyone the best chance possible, claiming the government plan to bring back grammar schools would only help a select few, and undermined equal worth. How could life chances be improved? Email edpletters@archant.co.uk