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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to launch the consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The November 2020 Spending Review set out the main strategic elements of the UKSPF in the Heads of Terms. We will publish a UK-wide investment framework later this year and confirm multi-year funding profiles at the next Spending Review.

In addition, to help local areas prepare over 2021/22 for the introduction of the UKSPF, we will provide additional UK funding to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches. Further details will be published soon.

Government officials have been working closely with interested parties and will continue to do so as we develop the Fund.

Officials have held 26 engagement events in total, including 25 across the UK and one in Gibraltar. These were attended by over 500 representatives from a breadth of sectors and designed to aid the development of the Fund.