Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that an assessment of (a) economic equality across all regions and constituent parts of the UK, (b) environmental impacts, (c) equality and diversity factors and (d) effects on people's well-being is made when evaluating Shared Prosperity Fund applications.

The 2019 Conservative Manifesto committed to creating a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) which tackles inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations. This builds upon previous commitments to create a fund which tackles inequalities between communities by raising productivity, especially in those parts of the UK whose economies are furthest behind. As is usual Government policy, the fund will be designed and delivered in a way that ensures it complies with the public sector equality duty and environmental impact assessments. Final decisions on the UKSPF will be made after a cross-Government Spending Review.