Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he will take with Cabinet colleagues to deliver proposals set out in the levelling up White Paper; and whether accountability for that delivery will sit within his Department or other spending departments.

Achieving the bold national missions we have set out in the Levelling Up White Paper will rely on a ‘system change’ of how government works. These missions will be cross-government, cross-society efforts. The UK Government will introduce a statutory obligation to report annually on progress towards meeting the Levelling Up missions, with each Whitehall department accountable for its contributions towards the collective effort.

We have set up a new Cabinet Sub-Committee with a specific focus on Levelling Up, chaired by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up and bringing together cabinet colleagues to collaborate, share information and resources, and take collective decisions on policies which will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK. Government’s resources, energy, and focus throughout the 2020s will be re-oriented around achieving these missions - and thus squarely focussed on helping the people and parts of the country most struggling.

Whilst the missions are UK-wide ambitions, in the many instances where they are driven by devolved policy levers, the UK government wishes to work hand in hand with the devolved governments to achieve them.