(Barnsley
Central) (Lab):...An indication of what we need is the UK2070
Commission’s recommendation: to triple the new UK shared prosperity fund to
£15 billion a year for 20 years, which would be a total of £200
billion of new funding. That is for all deprived areas, but it
shows the scale that we should be talking about. The moment to do
that was at the comprehensive spending review, but in the current
crisis is understandable that the Government are carrying out a
more modest one-year review instead. However, that must not become
an excuse to delay the transformative investment we need if
levelling up is really to mean something...
...Lastly, the Government should make some critical structural
changes, especially reforming the Green Book to reduce the
in-built bias towards more affluent areas in Government
investment decisions and following through on proposals to move
significant parts of the civil service. Perhaps the Minister
could update us on that today. Of course, beyond the spending
review, the new shared prosperity fund must also
embed the same ambitions. Like the European Union funds that it
replaces, it must be based heavily on need. It should be as
devolved as practically possible. All this is not just about
making the northern economy bigger; it is about making it
better—more high-tech and more high value, more sustainable and
more equitable...
(Aberdeen South) (SNP):...I am conscious of time, so I
will bring my remarks to an end by reflecting on the wider
situation in Scotland. As it stands, we have no clarity on the
Scottish budget. Next year, we will have to rely on the UK
Government telling us how much we will have before we can spend
it on our vital public services. We have no clarity on what
the shared prosperity fund will
look like or whether Scotland will have additional borrowing
powers...
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