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Question
Questions were asked regarding the validity of reports suggesting the Secretary of State's inability to spend capital without Treasury approval, implications for levelling-up agenda and housing crisis, underspend in affordable housing budgets and levelling-up funds.
Minister reply
The Minister clarified there was no change to policy objectives or budget, denying any failure to deliver. He emphasised daily delivery of opportunities through the towns fund since 2019 and assured adherence to commitments made under the town deal.
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Question
Asked if capital funds would remain available despite potential delays in projects due to Treasury interference.
Minister reply
Funds for committed projects will still be provided. An example given was Clay Cross and Staveley receiving £25 million each under the town deal.
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Question
Critiqued levelling-up agenda’s reported unravelling, citing interference from Treasury in project approvals.
Minister reply
Denied unravelling and emphasised successful capital spending announcements. Encouraged areas without funding to apply for future rounds.
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Question
Asked if the Government should maintain stringent checks on expenditure, ensuring taxpayers' money is wisely spent.
Minister reply
Agreed that stringent checks are necessary to ensure taxpayer funds support effective transformations in ignored areas.
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Question
I congratulate the Minister on a valiant attempt at deflection. He has said that the budget and the policy had not changed, and they have not; what has changed is that the Treasury no longer trusts the Department to spend the money without Treasury approval.
Minister reply
We continue to look forward to working with the Treasury, and with all other Government Departments, to achieve the outcomes we all want in this House, whichever Bench we sit on.
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Question
Given the social and economic division created by the Government over 13 years, the announcement of levelling up led to a reasonable expectation that money would be directed to the areas of greatest deprivation. Will the Minister confirm that the single criterion for the direction of funds will be based on deprivation?
Minister reply
There has been a significant transformative opportunity through the towns fund and the levelling-up fund, which will make a huge difference to those places that traditionally have been left behind.
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Question
Colleagues will note that the Minister attempts to obfuscate through refusals to address the fundamental question of whether the approval process has changed. What supposedly drew the ire and frustration of the Secretary of State’s colleagues was a speech in Manchester on 25 January suggesting that further funding would be available for some northern councils.
Minister reply
There was no obfuscation. I was absolutely clear at the beginning of my response about what has changed and why that is the case.
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Question
As other Members have noted, it has been reported that the Treasury has intervened in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ban new capital projects because of concerns that the Department is not effectively managing public money. Does the Minister agree that the Government should get their existing Departments in order before making costly decisions to set up four more?
Minister reply
I refer the hon. Lady to my answers at the outset, which explained very clearly the changes and how there is no ultimate change to what is being spent in communities up and down the land.
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Question
Let me put it in local government terms for the Minister. When a council is told that it cannot spend any more money without specific approval, it is called a section 114 notice. What is it like for his Department to get the equivalent of a section 114 notice?
Minister reply
This Government’s budgets are not changing, this Department’s objectives are not changing, and this Government’s ambition is not changing on levelling up.
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Question
The Secretary of State is not here, but I wonder if the Minister can talk to the Secretary of State so that he can talk to the Treasury about the importance of support for local authorities with capital for repair and maintenance of highly important, much-loved but also sadly rapidly dilapidating existing buildings.
Minister reply
Obviously, I will speak to the Secretary of State; we talk very regularly about some of the challenges that the hon. Gentleman highlights.
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Question
Local councils, now and in the days and weeks ahead, will be going through their budget-making processes. The news that they may not be able to draw down on capital funding, whether it has already been agreed or is to be agreed, will put some of those budget-making processes at risk or add additional layers.
Minister reply
I explained the change at the outset: there is no change to the budgets that we have provided and there is no change to the local government finance settlement.
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Question
Let us be under no illusions: this is wealth redistribution, but not the wealth redistribution and investment practised by the EU. This is Tory wealth redistribution, taking from areas that need investment and giving to areas that already have it.
Minister reply
My constituency, North East Derbyshire, did not receive any significant money under the European Union in recent years, but as soon as we left the EU it received towns funding and levelling-up funding.
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Question
The Minister’s Department covers some of the funds that are most vital to our communities. As it is, we do not have enough of them. He has been very clear that there is no change in the budget, but can he be absolutely clear that the Treasury will not stop decisions being made on important projects that we need in our communities?
Minister reply
It was only a few days ago that the Chancellor himself visited a successful levelling-up round 2 budget area, which demonstrates the commitment of the Treasury—just like the commitment of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities—to deliver on what we say.
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Question
The Minister has said in various answers that the ambition has not changed, the policy has not changed and the budget has not changed. The reality is that the sign-off process has changed: the Treasury now signs projects off for his Department because it does not trust the Secretary of State.
Minister reply
Just for clarity, the Treasury signs off budgets across Departments without any issue.
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Question
The first line of the policy paper “Levelling Up Fund Round 2: prospectus” states that investing in infrastructure has the potential to improve lives. I am anxious to find out how such infrastructure improvement can take place on coastal roads, where the environmental impact of erosion is leading to the isolation of communities.
Minister reply
I should be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, along with the Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Dehenna Davison), to discuss that further.
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Question
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I know you have saved your favourite till last.
Minister reply
We are happy to talk to councils about the challenges that they face, and we are happy to accept that inflation is a challenge. This is one of the reasons we need to get inflation out of the system. The difficult decisions made by the Chancellor will allow us to do that and will allow the money to go further, not just in the levelling-up fund but elsewhere in government, and in the private sector as a whole.