Key Facts

• Amendments 3, 5, 10, and 12 are related to establishing an independent evaluating body.
• New clause 1 would require the Secretary of State to assign an independent body to assess progress on levelling-up missions and make recommendations for improvements.
• The independent body would prepare parallel reports that assess progress in delivering each mission and recommend actions for future delivery.
• Amendment 3 would require independent scrutiny of levelling up missions.
• Clause 2 requires annual statements on progress towards levelling-up missions.
• The Levelling Up Advisory Council advises on levelling up but lacks independence from the Government.
• Back Benchers are called first followed by Front Benchers.
• No need to 'bob' for Back Benchers wishing to speak.
• Clause 1 deals with the levelling-up missions: what, when and how.
• Independent evaluation is crucial to prevent skewing or concealing of progress.
• The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) provides an example of independent scrutiny in other areas like climate issues.
• Hackitt report on Grenfell highlights intersectionality in addressing complex issues.
• The Bill lacks accountability measures for each of the 12 levelling-up missions.
• Amendments 3, 5, 10, and 12 seek to address the lack of accountability.
• An independent body is proposed to oversee and judge progress on levelling up.
• Levelling up is a moral, social, and economic programme for the whole of government.
• The Levelling Up Advisory Council includes Katherine Bennett, Sir Tim Besley, Sir Paul Collier, Cathy Gormley-Hennan, Sally Mapstone, Laxman Narasimhan, Sacha Romanovitch, Hayaatun Sillem, and Sir Nigel Wilson.
• The Government will produce an annual report on progress against levelling-up missions.
• The statement discusses the importance of independent bodies like the Climate Change Committee in holding the Government accountable.
• Ian Paisley Jnr reminds Members that they have time for line-by-line scrutiny of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.
• Alex Norris expresses his enjoyment of these detailed discussions, highlighting their significance in understanding how amendments will be addressed.
• The statement includes an Opposition amendment to the Bill.
• Listed regulators like Ofsted, Ofgem, and Ofcom are cited as comparisons.
• The Levelling Up Advisory Council is mentioned with its esteemed members.
• Amendment 13 proposes to require the Government to publish resources allocated to communities for levelling-up.
• The Public Accounts Committee reported billions of pounds wasted on ill-thought-out plans through levelling-up funds.
• Nottingham, Gloucestershire, and East Sussex are cited as examples where gains from levelling-up funds do not offset cuts in central government funding.
• The high street fund has been distributed in various parts of the country without achieving long-term economic growth.
• Local authorities have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on bids for competitions, with only one winner.
• York's biotech industry, rail and transport cluster, and creative arts sector are potential areas for investment to bring about significant job creation and skill enhancement.
• BioYorkshire aims to upskill 25,000 people and create 4,000 new jobs as part of a green new deal initiative in York.
• The Rural Services Network research indicates that if rural England were a separate region, it would perform more poorly than every other geographical region of England.
• In Cumbria, fewer than 500 people are unemployed in the constituency, but house prices are between 10 and 15 times average incomes.
• There are about 10,000 second homes in the same district as the south lakes community with nearly full employment.
• Scotland was promised £1.5 billion annually as part of Brexit but received 40% less funding than under EU programmes.
• Scotland has experienced a 5.2% cut in its resource budget and a 9.7% cut in its capital budget.
• The Scottish child payment initiative provides £20 per child per week.
• Her Majesty’s Treasury publishes regional breakdowns of expenditure through PESA.
• A spatial data unit has been established within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to drive forward data transformation.
• £5.7 billion is being invested in Yorkshire transport improvements through city region sustainable transport settlements.
• Poorer half of local authorities received 71% of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and 74% of round 1 levelling-up funding.
• Ian Paisley Jnr interrupts Alex Norris during a debate on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.
• The discussion was initially about Great British Railways and its relevance to levelling up initiatives.
• The quantum of funding has been drastically squeezed over the past decade-plus.
• PESA is the Minister's favourite regional dataset.
• There are more than three years-worth of reports from the Public Accounts Committee on various funds including the towns fund.
• The Government's programme is criticized for failing to recognize its impact on organizations.
• The Public Accounts Committee sees issues with the government programme.
• The MP awaits the Government’s response and a potential debate.