Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 5
5
The current available documents on the policy instruments the Government aims to use to level...
Conclusion
The current available documents on the policy instruments the Government aims to use to level up—the Conservative Party Manifesto, its submission to this inquiry and the 2021 Queen’s Speech—show a wide ranging and disjointed programme of random policies from an obesity strategy, an increase in police officers, to funding on A roads and the creation of Freeports. Although these policies are all very interesting and welcome, it is difficult to see how they all tie together under one over-arching strategy. The cohesion of the whole has not been well described to identify how these fit together. If the Government is serious about levelling up and for it to be a substantive strategy rather than merely a slogan, it must spell out a coherent ‘plan’ as a matter of urgency. (Paragraph 30) Post-pandemic economic growth: Levelling up 33
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The Government is committed to publishing the Levelling Up White Paper to articulate how we will improve livelihoods across the country as we recover from the pandemic, and level up in every part of the country, from Aberdeen to Aylesbury, Belfast to Brecon. We hope that the Prime Minister’s remarks on 15 July 2021, shortly after this paper was authored, show a focus from the very top of Government on this important agenda and, in particular, offered additional information on some of these points. Within that speech, we would highlight the focus upon health and educational differences, along with the importance of private sector involvement and infrastructure improvements, particularly when the Prime Minister was contrasting regional variations both within the United Kingdom and more broadly. The Select Committee’s comments are very helpful in allowing the Government to formulate the precise detail and scope of that paper. Further detail on our plans will be included in the Levelling Up White Paper.