Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 27
27
We asked the Department how it intended to pull together all this data to show...
Conclusion
We asked the Department how it intended to pull together all this data to show a big picture, as well as a local picture, to demonstrate the effectiveness of government’s levelling up agenda. The Department told us it had committed to reporting annually on levelling up and its performance against the missions but it had not yet committed to a timescale.78 We encouraged the Department to consult on the contents of these reports and to provide consistent data on a consistent basis that would enable us to compare one year with another.79 73 Q 107; Page 12 – Levelling Up the United Kingdom: missions and metrics Technical Annex (publishing.service. gov.uk) 74 Q 107 75 Q 107; Government’s White Paper: Levelling Up the United Kingdom, Page 150–151 76 Q 108 77 Q 110 78 Q 125 79 Qq 127–128 Local economic growth 17
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Summer 2023 7.2 Although the government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation it disagrees with the conclusion on which it is based. 7.3 As mentioned in the Levelling Up White Paper’s technical annex, we have a good understanding of how we will be measuring progress for most missions on a consistent basis across geographical areas and time scales. For missions that are exploratory, such as pride in place and well-being, or where more granular and timely subnational data is needed, further work is being undertaken to develop these. 7.4 The department has established a Spatial Data Unit to drive forward the data transformation required in central government. The Unit, working together with the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and other government departments, will produce indicators, looking at alternative data sources in absence of good quality local data, address current data gaps and measure progress against the levelling up missions at local level. 7.5 The ONS have published a summary outlining their work plan over the next few years to develop a solid information base with production and dissemination of more timely, granular, and harmonised subnational statistics for regional and local decision-making. 7.6 The department also benefits from a refreshed concordat on statistics (October 2021) between the UK government and the devolved administrations. The concordat sets out how the administrations will work together to deliver an agreed suite of coherent, reliable, consistent and timely statistics about and across the UK.