Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the role of local civic pride projects in the levelling-up agenda; and if he will bring forward plans for funding park, public realm and local environmental improvements, as part of that agenda.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Levelling up is about empowering local leaders and communities to seize their own destiny; boosting living standards, particularly where they are lower; spreading opportunity and improving public services, particularly where they are weak; and restoring local pride in places across the UK. As the most recent part of this agenda, we are investing £9 million to level up urban green spaces across the UK through the Levelling Up Parks Fund. Grants will be given to, and administered by, local authorities, to deliver new green spaces in over 100 of the neighbourhoods most deprived of green space.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to increase investment in jobs, skills and transport infrastructure in parts of the Denton and Reddish constituency; and if he will meet with the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss plans to level-up communities within the Denton and Reddish constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Spending Review demonstrated Government's commitment to Levelling up by supporting community priorities. £1.7 billion was confirmed for the first 107 successful places within the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund. The Greater Manchester area will receive £112.8 million of this first wave, including £19.87 million to regenerate Ashton Town Hall, bordering the Honourable Gentleman’s constituency.
Government recognises that local transport networks, particularly public transport, have been a weakness holding back the productivity of city regions outside London. That's why we have created City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), providing major city regions with the freedom to address local challenges and improve services. At the Spending Review, we announced £5.7 billion of CRSTS funding for 8 city regions, with Greater Manchester, including Denton and Reddish, receiving the largest single allocation of £1.07 billion. Over the coming months, Transport for Greater Manchester will begin to develop its programme business cases to confirm how their portion of the fund will be used.
Also announced at the Budget was Restoring Your Railways funding to reinstate a passenger rail line between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockport, which the Honourable Gentleman personally campaigned for. I congratulate him on the success of this campaign and look forward to seeing these proposals develop over the coming months.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
SUGGESTED REDRAFT: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what weight his Department gives to the level of unemployment in an area when considering a bid to the Levelling-up Fund.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Applications to the Levelling Up Fund were all scored against the published assessment framework set out in the Levelling Up Fund Technical Note. As part of the strategic fit criteria, places were invited to set out the local challenges and barriers to growth, and alignment with wider local priorities and strategies, which were taken into account in our assessment of bids.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what input he has into the allocation of Restoring Your Railways funding as part of the wider levelling-up agenda; and whether he has seen the bid for the line between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockport, serving Denton and Reddish South stations.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
My Department has regular input into the Restoring Your Railway Programme at official and Ministerial level. The former Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, the Hon Member (Luke Hall MP), was on the Restoring Your Railways Ideas Fund Panel which considered the bid for the line between Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockport.
The outcomes were announced on 27 October and the Hon Member's bid to the Ideas Fund for development funding was successful.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to make an announcement relating to the Levelling-up fund bid for a start-up business and employment hub at the former Reddish baths building in Stockport.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Outcomes from the first round of bids for the Levelling Up Fund were announced on 27 October.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Coastal Powerhouse Manifesto published on 16 September 2021 by Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We appreciate Maritime UK and the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group's detailed and insightful Coastal Powerhouse manifesto and we recognise the value of the recommendations made. We welcome the continuous engagement of the sector as we are progressing with our levelling up agenda. In this respect, we share the view expressed on the need to continue the strong partnership that exists between Government and key stakeholder groups.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support he is providing to the UK’s coastal communities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We have continued to make significant progress in supporting coastal communities in a number of areas, demonstrated by the Coastal Communities Fund now having supported 359 projects, totalling over £229 million since 2012, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities across the country including in coastal areas.
Further to this, our coastal areas have already benefited from over £600 million through successful bids into Town Deals and the Future High Streets Fund. Of the 101 towns receiving a Town Deal, 22 of them are coastal towns.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a £7 billion sustainable urban futures fund to support local leaders to invest in (a) infrastructure improvements, (b) new housing projects and (c) town centres to support the economic recovery from the covid-19 outbreak in urban areas.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
This Government is committed to supporting local leaders to create sustainable urban centres following Covid-19. For example, the National Home Building Fund (NHBF) was announced at the 2020 Spending Review and brings together existing housing land and infrastructure funding streams into a single, flexible, more powerful pot. This will support the government's ambition to deliver 1 million homes over the Parliamentary term and the 300k homes per year. £4.8 billion of the funding brings together existing capital programmes across land and infrastructure and confirms a continued commitment to the £400 million Brownfield Fund
The department is investing over £10 billion in local growth funds, including the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund, to deliver regeneration across the UK. Additionally, the Build Back Better High Streets strategy was published in July which sets out Government's long-term plan to support the evolution and regeneration of all high streets across every part of the UK.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in the report published on 10 September 2021 by the Local Government Association, entitled A vision for urban growth and recovery, comparing the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on local and rural areas and the long-term fiscal security of urban communities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
We appreciate the Local Government Association detailed and insightful ‘Vision for Urban Growth and Recovery’ report and we recognise the value of the recommendations made. We welcome the continuous engagement with the sector as we are progressing our levelling up agenda. In this respect, we share the view expressed on the need to continue the strong partnership that exists between Government and key stakeholder groups.
Britain’s cities are at the heart of our national economy, accounting for more than 60% of jobs, productivity and taxes, despite accounting for less than a tenth of land. As we look towards the new normal, cities and towns across the UK will continue to be powerhouses across the UK, driving economic growth and of crucial importance to the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The report highlights the significant and more pronounced impact of covid-19 on urban centres than non-urban centres. We recognise that the impacts of covid-19 have been significant on health, the economy and our society, but most keenly felt across our urban centres. The immediate focus of policy making in the last eighteen months has been to support individuals and businesses through the pandemic and to promote the quickest recovery and is therefore why our package of support for businesses through this period totals over £352billion, including through business grants, the coronavirus loan schemes and Job Retention Scheme.
In Government, we are keen to continue working with the Local Government Association and partners from right across the public and private sectors to deliver our levelling up agenda for our urban centres and beyond, and continue to welcome such insightful, relevant and comprehensive engagement.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the rate of recovery of footfall in retail premises in urban areas and the impact of that rate of recovery on urban economies following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department engages regularly at both Ministerial and official level with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a range of joint issues affecting urban areas, including the recovery of footfall in the retail sector and recovery following the covid-19 pandemic.
The Government is providing support to local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, giving them expert advice to support their high streets and town centres to adapt and thrive. Over five years this is providing hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts. The Task Force has set up a Sector Leaders Group and a Professional Research and Data Group, who are playing a vital role in supporting the recovery of our local economies by providing intelligence and evidence to support the High Street Tasks Force and Government in its response to the pandemic. The Professional Research and Data Group provides regular data analysis, including footfall trends, on the Task Force website (https://www.highstreetstaskforce.org.uk/).
More broadly, our ambition is to ensure that town and city centres continue to flourish now and in the future. On 15 July, we published the Build Back Better High Streets Strategy, where we committed to continue working with the sector on its long-term strategic needs to ensure that businesses are profitable, resilient, innovative and support local economies in socially and environmentally responsible ways.
The Government also set up the Urban Centre Recovery Task Force last year to consider the impact of covid-19 on our cities and offer recommendations on practical measures that government could take to help cities adapt and take advantage of new opportunities. This includes the permanence of any changes, how to support city economies to adapt and how to take advantage of any opportunities, with a focus on regeneration, repurposing, housing and other relevant areas such as planning.