Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce legislation on decent homes standards which includes the private rented sector, and on what timescale.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We will legislate to introduce a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether funding for Priority Education Investment Areas is intended to provide an element of continuity funding to some of the previous Opportunity Areas; and whether they plan to distribute this funding in time to enable activity to continue during the current academic year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Schools White Paper: Opportunity for all, published in March 2022, announced that Priority Education Investment Areas will receive a share of around £40 million of funding to address local needs.
The previous Opportunity Areas make up 12 of the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas. They will receive funding to support targeted interventions to improve attainment in literacy and numeracy at key stage 2 and 4, in line with the priorities for each area. Delivery of this support will commence this academic year.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the funding for Priority Education Investment Areas will be announced.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Schools White Paper: Opportunity for all, published in March 2022, announced that Priority Education Investment Areas will receive a share of around £40 million of funding to address local needs.
The department will publish the distribution of funding in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the allocations for this year's Community Renewal Fund will be announced; and whether they still expect that these projects will be delivered in the current year.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
Successful projects for the UK Community Renewal Fund were announced on 3 November.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Prime Minister's levelling up speech on 15 July, what measures and outcomes they intend to use to evaluate the success of this agenda in the short, medium and long term; and how they will take wellbeing into account.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Levelling up is at the heart of the Government’s agenda to build back better after the pandemic and deliver for the people of the UK. The Government will publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper in the Autumn, articulating how bold new policy interventions will improve opportunity and boost livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 4 March (HL13627), whether there are funds remaining from (1) the £1.6 billion Stronger Towns Fund, announced on 4 March 2019, and (2) the £675 million Future High Streets Fund, announced on 29 October 2018; whether any such remaining funds are now included as part of the total of their £4.8 billion Levelling Up fund, announced on 25 November 2020; and if so, whether the criteria that must be met for local authorities to bid for such funds has changed.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK and will operate UK-wide, extending the benefits of funding for priority local infrastructure across all regions and nations. It supersedes and brings together previous funding streams, including allowing towns to apply for funding for high street and town centre regeneration previously funded from the Towns Fund and the Future High Streets Fund. The prospectus sets out further detail for local areas on how to submit bids for the first round of funding for projects starting in 2021-22.Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the prospectus for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and what criteria will be used in assessing bids.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK for places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people who face labour market barriers.
The Government will publish a UK-wide investment framework in the Spring and confirm multi-year funding profiles at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the relationship between (1) the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, (2) the Stronger Towns Fund, and (3) the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government is committed to levelling up opportunities across the UK, which we will deliver by boosting jobs, wages and prospects for all communities so that everybody gets the same access to opportunities in life. The recent Spending Review confirmed investment to support this agenda, including £220m in 21/22 to support local areas across the UK to pilot programmes and prepare for the introduction for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; £621m in 21/22 to regenerate towns through the Towns Fund (which includes both the ‘Stronger Towns Fund’ and the Future High Streets Fund); and £4.8bn for the UK-wide Levelling Up fund to invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria will be used for assessing bids to the Levelling Up Fund; and what part the indices of multiple deprivation will play in those assessments.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centre and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets. The Government launched the prospectus for the Fund at Budget, opening bids UK-wide for the first round of funding starting in 21-22. The prospectus provides guidance to local areas on the process for submitting bids, the types of projects eligible for funding, and how bids will be assessed.
Asked by: Baroness Valentine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the prospectus for the Levelling Up Fund announced in the Spending Review 2020, published on 15 December 2020.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centre and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets. The Government launched the prospectus for the Fund at Budget, opening bids UK-wide for the first round of funding starting in 21-22. The prospectus provides guidance to local areas on the process for submitting bids, the types of projects eligible for funding, and how bids will be assessed.