Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings and recommendations on the primary education and skills levelling up missions in the report by the East of England APPG and EELGA entitled Levelling up in the East of England - the East of England's progress towards the Government’s twelve levelling up missions; and if she will make a statement.

The Department is determined to improve the quality of education for all children no matter where they live. The Government introduced the Levelling Up White Paper, which sets targets to raise school standards and outcomes for children and give pupils from all backgrounds the opportunity to succeed.

The Department is providing significant support to 55 Education Investment Areas (EIA), of which 24 are Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIA). There are three PEIAs in the East of England: Ipswich, Norwich, and Fenland and East Cambridgeshire.

Over the next three years, up to £86 million in trust capacity funding and £150 million for extending the Connect the Classroom programme are being prioritised in EIAs. In EIAs, the Department is also offering the Levelling Up premium, worth up to £3,000 tax free, to eligible teachers. In the 24 Priority EIAs, we will offer further investment in addition to the significant support available to all EIAs, to address local needs and drive improvement.

The Levelling Up White Paper also sets out a mission that by 2030, the number of people successfully completing high quality skills training will have significantly increased in every area of the UK. In England, this will lead to 200,000 more people successfully completing high quality skills training annually, driven by 80,000 more people completing courses in other areas. The Government is continuing to progress this, underpinned by £3.8 billion funding in further education over this Parliament.