Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee

Recommendation 10

Third Report - Post-pandemic economic growth: Levelling up Published 22 Jul 2021 Paragraph 46 Addressed to Department for Business and Trade

Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Post-pandemic economic growth: Levelling up - local and regional structures and the delivery of economic growth All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

Funding for levelling up should be explicitly and directly linked to the identified issues that the Government are seeking to address, with clear metrics on what that money is seeking to deliver. There is an inequality in the capacity of local areas to bid for government funds. Whitehall should have mechanisms or procedures in place to ensure that it is not the most well-resourced authorities who are successful in securing funding. The Government needs to ensure that those without this capacity do not lose out, including ensuring appropriate funding is available for future rounds.

From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Third Report - Post-pandemic economic growth: Levelling up (HC 566), paragraph 46, 22 July 2021

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 3 December 2021 (deadline 22 September 2021).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government's response welcomes the Committee's report as a contribution to the forthcoming Levelling Up White Paper, accepting some recommendations while stating it has answered others only "insofar as possible without prejudicing live policy development".

On Covid-19 analysis, it "recognise[s] the importance" of factoring this into levelling up planning and says it is undertaking "a programme of work" to understand structural shifts in the economy, to feed into the agenda.
On a coherent plan, it is "committed to publishing" the Levelling Up White Paper and says "Further detail on our plans will be included" there, without giving a date or a detailed road map.
On departmental contributions, it "agree[s] with the Committee's recommendation" and says the White Paper "will assist in setting out how the work of different Departments fits into a wider Levelling Up strategy".
On metrics and accountability, it points to Spending Review 2020 priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans, and says "Updated priority outcomes and metrics will be published at the next Spending Review."

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