Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 17 November 2022, Official Report, col. 854, how he defines left-behind areas; and what specific financial support he will provide for those areas.

With regards to Investment Zones, the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities will work with local stakeholders to determine the most appropriate locations for Investment Zones and develop a package of interventions, which will be announced in due course. More generally, the government already offers support to a wide range of left-behind places through the Levelling Up Fund and Towns Fund, each of which has its own public allocation methodology.