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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on negotiations with Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire Councils on a county deal in the last 12 months; and if he will publish the minutes of meetings his Department has held with those councils.

Since the Levelling Up White Paper was published the Government has signed six brand new devolution deals, with a particular focus on Level 3, mayoral devolution models. Those six deals represent over 7 million people across England, and mean that 8 of the 11 areas we identified for new devolution in the White Paper have now received a deal. We are in discussions with the three remaining places named on the White Paper, including Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire, about the appropriate model of devolution for them, and I am hoping to meet the leaders of the respective local authorities soon to continue this discussion.