Written statement on Levelling up: Update - Jan 25

Statement of Missions

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up (Jacob Young): In 2019 we set out the Government’s commitment to level up and unite the country, making it our guiding mission to spread opportunity around the United Kingdom. The Levelling Up White Paper set out a broad prospectus on the long-term steps we would take to deliver on this ambition. On 26 October 2023, the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 received Royal Assent. To cement the Government’s commitment to levelling up, and meet the requirements of the Act, I am laying before each House a Statement of Levelling Up Missions, setting out the Government’s levelling up missions and the metrics against which we will measure them.

As has always been our intention, this first Statement reaffirms the 12 long-term and ambitious missions set out in the Levelling Up White Paper. In the Statement, we detail the definitions and metrics we will use to assess the two missions that were exploratory in the White Paper, Well-being and Pride in Place. As this is the first time we have set out this detail, we have also published an accompanying narrative – setting out how we developed the definitions and metrics for the missions and the rationale behind some of the decisions we have taken during the exploratory phase.

In making our commitment to level up and unite the country across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we set ourselves deliberately stretching missions designed to drive all levels of government, the private sector and civil society to think innovatively about how to address these challenges. Since then we have continued to push new and innovative ways to transform communities and respond to the issues that people care most about. Whether that is transferring powers away from Whitehall, investing in local growth and pride through the Levelling Up Fund and Community Ownership Fund, or through our investment in cities through Investment Zones and Innovation Accelerators that are driving nationwide economic growth.

Our progress

Cross-government efforts to deliver Levelling Up mean we have made significant progress – but there is more to do. Starting with transport, over £36bn previously earmarked for extending HS2 will now be re-invested in transport improvements that will benefit far more people, in far more places, far more quickly. This will benefit towns, cities and rural areas through improvements to roads, rail, trams and buses. Every penny committed to the Northern leg will go to the North and every penny committed to the Midlands leg to the Midlands. This means £19.8bn and £9.6bn is reserved for transport investments in the North of England and Midlands respectively. This adds to the work already done by the Department for Transport to make sure that every local authority has a plan for improved bus services and the extension of the £2 bus fare cap until December 2024.

Digital connectivity is as important as transport. The 5G element of the mission, which commits to basic 5G coverage for the majority of the population, has been met. The Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, commits to an ambition of spreading advanced 5G coverage to all populated areas. On R&D, the £100m Innovation Accelerators programme is empowering local areas by bringing together national and local government, industry, and R&D institutions in a long-term partnership. The programme is investing in 26 transformative R&D projects to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth. And the UK continues to lead the way in attracting significant foreign investment into the UK, with the latest data showing we delivered the highest jobs total in Europe with more jobs per project than our European partners and the most ‘new’ projects.

On education, we have put in place targeted support in our 55 Education Investment Areas across England to improve outcomes in the areas where attainment is weakest, including through the Levelling Up premium, giving teachers up to £3k annually, aimed at helping schools retain the best teachers in high-priority subjects. The Government is also offering additional intensive investment in 24 Priority Education Investment Areas in England, including through the Local Needs Fund, providing up to £42m to support schools boost pupils’ literacy, numeracy and attendance.

In October we launched the Long-Term Plan for Towns, a £1.1bn lifeline to drive ambitious plans to regenerate local towns across the UK over the next decade, recognising that it is both our towns and our cities that are the engines of delivering change. Through the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, we are giving communities, police and local authorities the tools they need to protect the spaces and places they most care about. Our Levelling Up Partnerships have shown that central government, working alongside local leaders, MPs and the communities they represent, can support bringing about real long-lasting change in the places that need it most.

Our levelling up funds have continued to provide much needed capital to bring back into use or transform cultural and town-centre assets. Towns, cities and communities across the UK have benefited from significant funding through the Levelling Up Fund, Future High Streets Fund and the Towns Fund. Across the three rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, £4.8bn has been awarded to 271 projects across the UK, driving prosperity and boosting Pride in Place in communities. Investment zones are exemplifying our commitment to unlocking growth potential, and driving innovation in city regions across the UK. And all eight Freeports in England (East Midlands, Freeport East (Felixstowe and Harwich), Humber, Liverpool, Plymouth and South Devon, Solent, Teesside, and Thames) are now open for businesses, offering attractive tax incentives to companies looking to invest and create jobs. These incentives have recently been extended to 2031, giving businesses the long-term certainty to invest. In 2023 we also announced two new Green Freeports in Scotland (Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Firth of Forth Green Freeport), as well as two new Freeports in Wales (Celtic Freeport and Anglesey Freeport), which are currently working through government approvals and will be open for business later in 2024.

Finally, we have made significant progress against our local leadership mission. Today’s devolution deal signing with Devon and Torbay means that government has agreed 10 devolution deals with 26 different local authorities since the Levelling Up White Paper was published in February 2022. Taken together these deals take the proportion of the English population living in a place with a devolution deal up from 41% when the White Paper was published, to 60% today, an increase of over 10 million people. Over 90% of the North of England, and 55% of the Midlands now stand to benefit from devolution, with over £5 billion of new long-term funding committed as part of devolution agreements in the last 18 months. In total these deals will see the election of seven new mayors or directly elected leaders in the next two years, with voters having their say on a new mayor in York and North Yorkshire, East Midlands, and an expanded North East, for the first time this May. As well as extending devolution, we have also deepened arrangements, with two trailblazer deals in Greater Manchester and West Midlands announced last year, and the offer of a deeper “level 4” to all eligible institutions. We continue to extend and deepen devolution in England with further live negotiations, including new trailblazing provisions for the North East.

We also committed to publishing a current analysis of geographical disparities in the UK and a document showing how we have had regard to the considerations of the devolved administrations in relation to the missions. These accompanying documents will be published on gov.uk in due course. We will also deposit all relevant documents in the Libraries of the House.

This is just the start, and there is more to do but we will continue to drive change across the United Kingdom.