Regional Planning and Development: Sustainable Development

(asked on 7th March 2022) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the levelling up missions set out in the Levelling Up White Paper will align with the targets the Government has committed to under the Sustainable Development Goals.


Answered by
Neil O'Brien Portrait
Neil O'Brien
This question was answered on 16th March 2022

The UK remains committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, and all government departments have responsibility for aspects of the SDGs that relate to their policy remits. At the same time, the Levelling Up White Paper has set out 12 ambitious new missions - also with a 2030 time horizon - that are targeted, measurable and time-bound declarations of the progress needed to achieve levelling up.

There are a number of helpful parallels between the levelling up missions and the SDGs. As well as specific overlaps in areas such as education, skills, health and inequality, both the missions and the goals can only be achieved through long-term, concerted action across central and local government, the private sector and civil society. Robust monitoring and accountability is a crucial part of this; in addition to welcoming ongoing scrutiny through established Parliamentary mechanisms, the Government will introduce a statutory obligation to report annually on progress towards meeting the Levelling Up missions.

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