Recommendation 26

When we asked the Department whether it expected to be able to get this data quickly enough to be able to measure what impact the funds under its levelling-up agenda were having, the Department told us it would be able to make some progress quickly but some of it would need time to develop.76 We questioned whether there was sufficient capacity at a local level to gather and analyse useful data, the Department told us that some local authorities were already doing this but acknowledged that not all would be in that position. The Department considered that conversations with local authorities, communities and businesses about the health of their economies could provide proxy indicators in the absence of good data.77