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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the role of local civic pride projects in the levelling-up agenda; and if he will bring forward plans for funding park, public realm and local environmental improvements, as part of that agenda.

Levelling up is about empowering local leaders and communities to seize their own destiny; boosting living standards, particularly where they are lower; spreading opportunity and improving public services, particularly where they are weak; and restoring local pride in places across the UK. As the most recent part of this agenda, we are investing £9 million to level up urban green spaces across the UK through the Levelling Up Parks Fund. Grants will be given to, and administered by, local authorities, to deliver new green spaces in over 100 of the neighbourhoods most deprived of green space.