Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on improving social mobility in the most deprived parts of the country.

Levelling up is at the heart of the Government’s agenda to build back better after the pandemic. Responsibility for driving forward the levelling up agenda has recently moved to the new Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to embed levelling up commitments and create tangible improvements in every part of the UK.

The Minister for Women and Equalities announced the Equality Data Programme to ensure that geographic and socio-economic inequality is considered, alongside other factors, when identifying barriers to opportunity. Furthermore, since April, the Social Mobility Commission has been sponsored by the Equality Hub in the Cabinet Office, so that it can play a wider role in tackling socio-economic inequality.

Additionally, the Government will publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper later this year, setting out bold new policy interventions to improve livelihoods and opportunity in all parts of the UK.