Draft Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2023 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie, for what I think is the first time since I took on this role. The draft regulations were laid before the House on Wednesday 7 June 2023, under section 23(6) of the Business and Planning Act 2020, for approval by resolution of each House. If approved and made, they will extend the temporary pavement licence provisions for a further 12 months, to 30 September 2024. They will come into effect on the day after they are made.

The temporary pavement licence provisions created a faster, cheaper and more streamlined consenting regime for the placement of removable furniture, including tables and chairs, on pavements outside premises such as cafés, bars, restaurants and pubs—great local institutions, I think we can all agree. Such businesses have found it easier to offer al fresco dining with outside seating—and with the weather we have been having of late, I think we all appreciate that. The decline of high streets is a well-worn tale that negatively impacts local economies. Therefore, I am sure that hon. Members will welcome this extra support for businesses, especially as we seek ways to transform town centres into vibrant places to live, work and visit.

Now is not the time to switch off our support to the hospitality sector, which was one of the hardest hit by covid-19. The end of the pandemic was not the end of the impact of the pandemic, with inflationary pressures persisting to this day. It is therefore crucial that we extend these provisions for 12 months to give businesses certainty and to avoid unnecessary confusion while we seek to make the provisions permanent through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.

I will briefly remind hon. Members of what led to us this important debate. Part VIIA of the Highways Act 1980 sets out a permanent local authority licensing regime for the placement of furniture such as tables and chairs on the highway. The process involves a legal minimum of 28 days for consultation, which is problematic because many local authorities take much longer to determine applications. There is also no statutory cap on the fee that a local authority may charge.

Therefore, with effect from 22 July 2020, temporary pavement licence provisions were introduced under the Business and Planning Act 2020 to support the hospitality sector in response to the covid pandemic. The draft regulations use enabling powers in the Business and Planning Act 2020, which allow the Secretary of State to extend the temporary provisions, subject to parliamentary approval, if they consider it reasonable to do so to mitigate the effect of coronavirus.

I will turn briefly to the details of the draft regulations. Their sole purpose is to change the four references to the expiry date of the temporary pavement licence provisions in the legislation from 30 September 2023 to 30 September 2024. They do not change any other part of the temporary pavement licence provisions, so the process for applying for a licence during the extended period will not change.

Subject to the regulations being approved and made, businesses will be able to apply for a licence under the process set out in the pavement licence provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 for the extended period until 30 September 2024. The regulations do not automatically extend licences that have already been granted under the current provisions. Therefore, businesses will need to apply for a new licence if they wish to have one in place during the extended period.

Local authorities are encouraged by guidance to take a pragmatic approach in applying the relevant provisions, so that it is as convenient as possible for businesses to apply for a licence during the extended period. As the process for applying for a licence will remain unchanged, I will only briefly outline those steps. Licence applications are subject to a seven-day public consultation period starting the day after the application is made. A further seven-day determination period then follows, during which a local authority is expected to either grant a licence or reject the application.

If a local authority does not determine the application before the end of the determination period, the licence will automatically be deemed to have been granted in the form in which the application was made. A business can then place the proposed removable furniture, such as tables and chairs, within the area set out in the application for the proposed purposes.

Licence application fees will be set locally but capped at a maximum of £100. Those fees are unchanged from the licence application fees under the current temporary provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020.

[Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)]

I welcome the provisions put forward by the Minister. On fees, I urge her to ensure that local authorities do not get excited and start to see this as another way of earning revenue. I hope that, if there is pressure from local authorities to increase the fee from £100, the Minister and her officials will clamp down hard. Many of these businesses are still recovering from the pandemic, and the last thing they want is increased fees.

[Dehenna Davison]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. In developing the provisions, we have engaged extensively with the Local Government Association and a range of local authorities, and we have paid attention to the costs and resourcing for the applications. The rationale behind the extension of the temporary arrangement is to try to make it cheaper and easier for businesses to operate outside—that is our top priority in extending the provisions.

All licences will be subject to a national no-obstruction condition and a smoke-free seating condition, as well as any local conditions set by local authorities. It is important to note that the grant of a pavement licence covers only the placing of removable furniture on the highway. It does not negate the need to obtain approvals under other regulatory frameworks, such as alcohol licensing.

Once a licence is granted or deemed to be granted, the applicant will also benefit from deemed planning permission to use the highway land for anything done pursuant to the licence while the licence is valid. That could include using furniture to sell or serve food or drink supplied from a premises.

The draft regulations will enable food and drink hospitality businesses to continue to obtain a licence to place furniture on the highway outside their premises quickly and cheaply. I firmly believe that the regulations will provide essential economic support for many food and drink businesses. If the regulations are passed, we will publish an updated version of the pavement licence guidance for local authorities and businesses so that they are aware of the continued support on offer.

I must stress—it has to get serious sometimes—that if the draft regulations are not introduced, there is a real risk that the steps that food and drink hospitality businesses have taken to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic will be undermined. We are seeking to make this measure permanent through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, and a failure to extend it would result in an unnecessary gap in service and a return to the process under the Highways Act 1980, which would be confusing and costly for businesses and local authorities alike.

I am sure that many of us have enjoyed al fresco dining at pubs, cafés and restaurants and can see the positive impact that it has had on customers and the vibrance of our brilliant high streets. Since introducing a simplified route to obtain a temporary pavement licence, we have heard many examples of local businesses being able to increase their outdoor capacity quickly and at low cost. I am sure that we can all think of examples in our own constituencies.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

Draft regulation 2 states:

“These Regulations extend to England and Wales.”

But the explanatory memorandum states:

“The territorial application of this instrument…is England.”

Will the practical introduction of the statutory instrument in Wales be left to the Welsh Government, or will the measure now be stopped in Wales?

[Dehenna Davison]

For fear of misleading the Committee, I will follow up on that point in writing immediately following this sitting, so that I can set it out firmly and clearly and based on the regulations more widely. I apologise for not having an answer immediately to hand.

I want to express my gratitude to local authorities for the huge effort they have made in this matter. Their hard work has enabled businesses to thrive, while building vibrant high streets, and it has led to the success of these measures.

The draft regulations will allow al fresco dining and drinking to remain a reality for businesses and provide much-needed continuity and certainty for another year while we seek to make these measures permanent through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dehenna Davison]

There was me thinking that we had agreement and that it was going to be nice, chilled session today. On the first core point about the Government’s support for high streets, I need to put on the record some of the incredible support the Government put in place throughout the pandemic, and before and since. Let us talk about additional support on business rates, the furlough scheme, the future high streets fund, the towns fund, the levelling-up fund, the high street rental auctions that are coming into play soon to help with vacant units, the high streets taskforce, the roll-out of high-speed broadband—

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

Would the Minister speak a little slower? I am profoundly deaf, and I am struggling to hear and make out what she is saying.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Chair]

That is all right, but it is entirely for the Minister to determine how she wishes to speak.

[Dehenna Davison]

I apologise for rambling, but I am so excited about the support that the Government have put in place for our high streets that I wanted to rattle off the list to reassure the Opposition that support for our high streets, and ensuring that they thrive into the future, are incredibly important. That is not to mention our devolution agenda, which providing more support, more funding and more local powers for local people to take control of their destinies—a Conservative approach to levelling up our high streets.

On the cost to businesses, which has been raised from the introduction of these provisions, we used the new burdens doctrine to ensure that councils would not be penalised for the monitoring, evaluation and enforcement of the measures. That is why the Government have reimbursed councils for the first year of the provisions. The sum came to just under £5 million, and that will continue as the measures are extended.

On the idea of taking a slice of business takings under these measures to pump back into local government, that seems to me exactly the opposite of what we should do when trying to support our incredible hospitality businesses. That is not something that the Government will support.

An important point was raised around accessibility, which we are taking incredibly seriously. We introduced the measures in response to a really difficult time for the hospitality industry. We received a number of representations from institutions such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Following the first year of the measures, we took those fully on board and introduced newer guidance. We consulted with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, the RNIB and Guide Dogs so that the most up-to-date guidance ensured that local authorities knew their obligations, ensuring that the pavement licensing regime is fit for purpose, in terms of both supporting businesses to trade outside and people who have accessibility issues.

[Sarah Owen]

I thank the Minister for those points, but could we please have an assurance that when we are, inevitably, here again next year, we will have an equality impact assessment so that we can see the results of the consultation and what those charities and organisations are calling for?

[Dehenna Davison]

We will not be here next year, because the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill will get Royal Assent to make the measures permanent.

[Nick Smith]

Paragraph 10 of the explanatory memorandum says:

“No formal consultation has taken place on this measure.”

The Minister said that there had been consultation in an earlier year with Guide Dogs and the RNIB. What did the RNIB ask the Government to do, and what have the Government done to support those organisations to help people to get around these obstacles on our pavements?

[Dehenna Davison]

I will certainly provide some more specific detail on that point, but the core point was ensuring that we update the guidance for local authorities, which we have done. As I said in my opening remarks, we will update the guidance further this year for the extension of the provisions.

[Nick Smith]

I am glad of that, but that is not what I asked, which was about what the RNIB asked for and what the Government then did.

[Dehenna Davison]

As I said, I will follow up on that specific point in writing. I do not want the fact that we have disagreements to take away from the fact that we agree on the extension of the measures and on supporting our hospitality industry in rolling out al fresco dining and other great things that we are all benefiting from in Britain. That is why I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Community Ownership Fund

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 3rd July 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

On Friday, I was delighted to announce the outcome of round 2 window 3 of the £150 million community ownership fund, which will see £12.91 million awarded to 52 projects across the United Kingdom. This additional funding takes our funding total to £36.83 million for 150 projects.

This investment will ensure that important parts of our social fabric, such as pubs, sports clubs, theatres and post office buildings can continue to play a central role in towns and villages across the UK.

The community ownership fund is helping to reduce geographical disparities across the United Kingdom. To this end, the funding provided in round 2 window 3 will see over £2 million awarded to projects in Scotland, £1.4 million to Wales and £1.4 million to Northern Ireland. This, so far, brings the total funding awarded across Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to over £11.3 million collectively, with each nation on track to receive its minimum allocation across the duration of the fund.

The funding provided in round 2 window 3 will also see £8 million awarded to projects in England. This brings the total funding awarded across English regions to over £25.5 million collectively.

The community ownership fund is already supporting 98 projects across the UK such as the Leigh spinners mill in Greater Manchester; the Queen’s ballroom in Blaenau Gwent, Wales; St Columb’s Hall in Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland; and the UK’s most remote pub, The Old Forge, in the Scottish highlands. These projects are making a genuine difference to their communities.

With the additional investment awarded in this bidding window, I am delighted to be supporting many more small but mighty local assets across the United Kingdom, levelling up the places we love and cherish.

Interested groups can submit an expression of interest form to start their application process at any time. The fund will be running until March 2025, so there is plenty of opportunity for interested community groups to apply to take over invaluable community assets and to run them as businesses, by the community, for the community.

[HCWS901]

Co-operatives and Alternative Businesses: Local Authority Support

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for what I think is the first time, Mr Dowd—what a very sound time it is. First, I congratulate the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier) on securing this incredibly important debate. We in Government share her desire to expand our understanding of what more can be done to support growth in different sectors and to learn from successful examples of best practice, as mentioned by hon. Members today. When I walked in, I admit that I was not expecting to go all the way back to 1777, which the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) mentioned, but it is always important to take on that historical perspective.

In looking at best practice today, I am grateful to the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch for her canter through the country’s co-ops and the excellent work that they do to support their local communities. I am also grateful to the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) for outlining the work that she is doing across the valley to develop a local co-operative; I am interested to hear how that work progresses in the months and years to come. I am also grateful to the hon. Member for Neath (Christina Rees) for highlighting some key Welsh co-operative champions, such as Robert Owen, and for her overview of the Italian experiences of the Marcora law. I would be delighted to meet her to discuss that, perhaps in Neath; I thank her for the kind invitation to visit her in her constituency.

We recognise that co-operatives and alternative businesses can and do play a vital role in boosting growth and opportunity, at both a local level, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) highlighted, and a national level. For instance, Co-operative UK’s 2021 report estimates that the UK’s co-ops have a combined turnover of almost £40 billion and employ around 250,000 people. It is also important to note the role that they have in supporting their local communities, as the hon. Member for Glasgow South West highlighted with regard to food poverty—an issue that he is incredibly passionate about and on which he is a vociferous campaigner. As for his private Member’s Bill, I do not want to give a commitment today, given that it does not sit within my brief, but I will certainly ask the relevant Minister to follow up on that point and have a discussion with him.

The role played by co-ops locally and nationally is why I am really pleased that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport recently launched the social enterprise boost fund, which will see £4.1 million of Government funding invested across six local authority areas to support the creation of new social enterprises and boost early-stage organisations. The fund will run until March 2025, and we expect local delivery partners to involve local authorities over the course of the programme.

In my Department, our £150 million community ownership fund allows community groups to bid for up to £1 million of match funding to help them to buy or take over local community assets at risk of being lost and to run them as community-owned businesses, supporting that sense of co-operative entrepreneurship. That important fund helps to safeguard the small but much-loved local assets that, frankly, we cannot put a price on, such as pubs, sports clubs, theatres and post office buildings. So far, £23.9 million has been awarded to 98 projects across the UK. I have had the pleasure of visiting a number of such projects and seeing the vital roles that they play locally. One of my highlights from my early visits was a visit to the Old Forge pub in Inverie, otherwise known as the mainland’s remotest pub. Certainly for the people in that community, it is more than a pub; it is very much a central pillar of their community, right at its heart.

In addition to those funds, the Government have supported a private Member’s Bill: the Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill. The Bill would grant His Majesty’s Treasury the power to introduce regulations to give mutuals further flexibility in determining for themselves the best strategies for their business regarding their surplus capital. The Bill completed its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 16 June and is entering its final stages. Hon. Members may recall that on the same day, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury announced that the Government will launch reviews of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and the Friendly Societies Act 1992, conducted by the Law Commission. Those comprehensive reviews aim to identify essential updates to legislation, thereby developing a more modern legal structure in which mutuals can be supported to take advantage of opportunities to grow.

We should also recognise the work of the local growth hubs across England, as outlined by the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch. I must say, as a Yorkshire-born lass, that I was delighted to hear that Sheffield is taking lessons to London, not the other way round. That is always very refreshing for me to hear in my levelling-up role. There are currently 37 local growth hubs, which are backed by Government funding, with each delivered by a local enterprise partnership or an upper-tier local authority. They provide local businesses of any size, any sector or any ownership status with advice and access to support for any stage of their business journey through a free and impartial single point of contact.

Growth hubs bring together the best of national and local business support from across the public and private sectors. They work with key partners and funding bodies, including local authorities, to shape provision around local needs, meaning that businesses can find the right support for them at the right time. I am pleased to tell hon. Members that funding for growth hubs of up to £12 million in 2023-24 is confirmed.

It is important that co-operatives and alternative businesses are seen as valued members of their community by local authorities. That is why, as part of the antisocial behaviour action plan, the Government announced a high street accelerator pilot programme. Accelerators will incentivise and empower local people to work together to develop ambitious plans to tackle vacancy and reinvent their high streets so that they are fit for the future. I really hope to see co-operatives and alternative businesses in pilot areas joining the accelerator to ensure that we continue to learn how to better support their growth in our town centres and high streets.

I thank the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch and all Members for their contributions to this important debate. While I am unable to make promises today, as I hope hon. Members will appreciate, some key issues that I will take back to my Department, and more widely to Government, include assessing the barriers for co-operatives in accessing local and national government contracts; whether there is an opportunity to create a central hub for co-operative advice in Government; and whether there is an opportunity for a regional co-operative development agency. I will take those away and follow up with the hon. Lady. In the meantime, if there are more examples of ways in which local authorities can support co-operatives and alternative businesses, I will be very happy to receive them.

Elections Act 2022: Implementation

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 19th June 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

My hon. Friend the Minister for Faith and Communities (Baroness Scott of Brybrook) has made the following written ministerial statement:

Through the Elections Act 2022, Parliament legislated to improve the accountability of the Electoral Commission. Following the electoral fraud exposed in Tower Hamlets, then, Sir Eric Pickles’ 2016 report “Securing the Ballot: Review into Electoral Fraud” recommended that a greater emphasis needed to be placed on tackling electoral fraud in Great Britain and that the existing system of oversight of the Electoral Commission by the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission did not provide an effective third-party check on the Commission’s performance.

To facilitate scrutiny by the UK Parliament of the Electoral Commission’s work while respecting the Commission’s operational independence, sections 4A and 4B of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (“PPERA”)—inserted by section 16 of the Elections Act 2022—provided for a power for the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to designate a strategy and policy statement for the Commission.

The draft statement sets out the Government’s strategic and policy priorities and the roles and responsibilities of the Commission in enabling the Government to meet those priorities, such as the Government’s determination to tackle issues such as voter fraud, to improve accessibility of elections and to improve participation. These are important aims and ones it would be wholly appropriate for an electoral regulator to support. The draft statement also sets out guidance relating to particular matters in respect of which the Commission has functions.

The procedural requirements for the statement—set out in new sections 4C to 4E of PPERA—require, among other things, the Secretary of State (Michael Gove) to consider the views of the Electoral Commission, the Speaker’s Committee and the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on a draft statement, making any changes the Secretary of State deems necessary, before laying a draft statement and a report on the Government’s response to the consultation before Parliament for representations to be made.

On 22 August 2022, the Government published a draft statement on www.gov.uk and wrote to the statutory consultees as well as Members of the Parliamentary Parties Panel and other relevant stakeholders to inform them about the start of the statutory consultation. The statutory consultation closed on 20 December 2022. We also received and took into consideration comments from the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Association of Electoral Administrators. The Government are grateful for the consultees’ time and engagement with the consultation on the draft statement.

On 8 June 2023, the Government laid before Parliament a document containing the revised draft strategy and policy statement. Specifically, pursuant to section 4C(4) of PPERA, the document includes the explanation of the Secretary of State’s proposals, those proposals set out in the form of a draft strategy and policy statement and the report prepared in accordance with section 4C(3) of PPERA that sets out the Government’s response to the consultation carried out in accordance with section 4C(2) of PPERA. The Government are clear that the statement must always be compatible with the foundational principle that the Commission should remain operationally independent. The Commission will only be required to have regard to the statement in the exercise of its functions. Notwithstanding this, the Secretary of State has listened to the feedback of the consultees and has amended the draft statement to make a number of clarifications and provide additional reassurances that the statement in no way amounts to the Government directing the Commission.

Pursuant to section 4C(5) and (6) of PPERA, this document has been laid before both Houses for a 60-day period within which Members of both Houses may make representations in relation to the document. The Secretary of State must consider these representations, before preparing the draft statement for laying for parliamentary approval. The 60-day period excludes any period when Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, or when both Houses are not sitting for more than four days. It will end on 14 September 2023.

To facilitate parliamentarians’ access to the document and exercise of their right to make representations, the document has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 13 June.

[HCWS864]

Elections Act 2022: Implementation

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Wednesday 7th June 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

My hon. Friend the Minister for Faith and Communities (Baroness Scott of Bybrook) has made the following written ministerial statement:

The Elections Act 2022 delivers our commitment to maintain the integrity of UK elections making sure they remain secure, fair and modern. Through the Act, Parliament resolved to update the franchise for European citizens to reflect the decision made by the UK people in 2016 to leave the European Union, and the new relationship we have with Europe.

The automatic right that European citizens have to vote and stand in local elections in the UK granted solely as a consequence of our EU membership is not one which can continue. There has never been a general right for European nationals to vote in Parliamentary elections—choosing the next UK Government is already rightly restricted to British citizens and those with the closest historic links to our country, and this will not change. Going forward, the local voting rights of EU citizens living in the UK should be considered alongside the rights and interests of British citizens living abroad.

In future, the rights of EU citizens living in the UK will rest on the principle of a mutual grant of rights, through agreements with EU member states. These bilateral voting and candidacy agreements ensure that we also protect the rights of British citizens living in EU countries. We have already secured such agreements with Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg and Poland.

In line with the Government’s commitment to respect the rights of EU citizens who chose to make the UK their home prior to the end of the implementation period, all EU citizens who have been living in the UK since before 31 December 2020 will also retain their voting and candidacy rights, provided they retain lawful immigration status.

As part of the process of implementing the Elections Act, I have today published the draft statutory instrument, the Representation of the People (Franchise Amendment and Eligibility Review) Regulations 2023, with an accompanying draft explanatory memorandum. The statutory instrument will make the requisite changes to voter registration and electoral administration processes to implement this franchise change. It makes changes to processes to facilitate the future registration of eligible EU citizens under the updated criteria, and it also sets out a fair and transparent process by which electoral registration officers will undertake a one-time review of those EU citizens who are currently registered to determine if they remain eligible to vote in the relevant polls. We will continue to engage with key stakeholders to support efficient delivery of these important changes, as we have throughout development of the policy and processes.

These changes will apply to all levels of local election in England and other local polls or referendums, and to Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. A parallel statutory instrument will also apply these changes to local elections in Northern Ireland and elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Other local and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales are within the remit of the devolved Administrations and so are not in scope.

The statutory instrument is published in accordance with the procedure required by schedule 8 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and agreed with Parliament. The statutory instrument is being published, in draft, at least 28 days before being laid in draft to be considered under affirmative procedures in parliament.

[HCWS830]

Oral Answers to Questions

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 5th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

19. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of criteria for awarding levelling-up funding.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

My Department has undertaken a robust assessment and decision-making process in both rounds of the levelling-up fund. Taking on board feedback, we made a number of improvements to better support applicants in the most recent round, including by making £65 million of support available to help with the delivery of projects. We are currently reflecting on the lessons learned from the first two rounds of the fund, and we will be making an announcement on round 3 shortly.

[Chris Elmore]

It is deeply concerning to hear from Bridgend County Borough Council officers that the Minister’s officials are suggesting that any local authority that was successful in the second round will get no additional funding in the third round. My Ogmore constituency has lost out on all levelling-up funding, despite Department for Transport officials suggesting that the only way I could get a level crossing closure in my constituency was by accessing levelling-up funds. What assurances can the Minister give the officials in Bridgend County Borough Council and my constituents that the much promised levelling-up funding will be delivered to the people of Ogmore? Or is it another case of the Tories misleading the people of Wales?

[Dehenna Davison]

I know the hon. Gentleman has been campaigning hard for the level crossing in his constituency. As I said, we are reflecting on lessons learned, but no decision has yet formally been made on allocations in round 3. We will keep the House updated.

[Christine Jardine]

North Edinburgh Arts in my constituency recently joined the City of Edinburgh Council in a project to provide a new state-of-the art venue in a deprived area, building on already vital work, but that project failed to receive funds in both levelling-up rounds. Only 21% of bids are currently successful, and only 8% of the funds are going to Scotland. Does the Minister think we should review the criteria to make applications more efficient, so that communities can benefit from the levelling-up fund?

[Dehenna Davison]

I am certainly willing to meet the hon. Lady to discuss the project. It is worth noting that the allocations we have made to Scotland meet the commitments that we made in our first levelling-up fund prospectus, but of course we want to ensure that the funds reach the areas that need them most.

[Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)]

Given the soaring costs in the construction sector, many local authorities, including Pembrokeshire County Council in my constituency, will find it a real challenge to meet the full scope of their successful levelling-up bids. I know that the Minister has been proactive in reaching out to councils, but can she assure the House that she and her team will continue to provide all possible support for local authorities to ensure that money is spent well on meaningful projects that fulfil our levelling-up objectives?

[Dehenna Davison]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his engagement with his own levelling-up funding projects. As I have said, we have made £65 million available specifically to support the development and completion of projects, which will include some cost engineering in some cases, because we recognise that inflation has been extremely hard on the construction industry, but my officials and I stand ready to help in any way we can.

[James Morris (Halesowen and Rowley Regis) (Con)]

Halesowen town centre has recovered well from the covid pandemic, not least as a result of the work done by Vicky Rogers of the Halesowen business improvement district and Eve O’Connor of the Cornbow shopping centre, but we were not successful in the last round of levelling-up bidding. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the Halesowen bid and how it might need to be improved to meet any criteria for the third round?

[Dehenna Davison]

My hon. Friend’s council will now have received written feedback explaining why the bid was not successful, but he is a fantastic champion for Halesowen, and I shall of course be happy to meet him to discuss the project further.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

The Committee recently produced a report on levelling-up funding, which I hope the Minister has had a chance to read by now. Commenting on the current arrangements, we said that despite the Government’s commitment to reducing requirements for competitive bidding, we had seen no evidence that it had yet been implemented. We were also shocked to discover that the Department did not know how many

“pots of money across Government contribute towards levelling up”.

Does the Minister accept the Committee’s finding that the policy currently lacks

“a long-term, substantive strategy and funding approach”,

and does she agree that the Government need to sort this out if levelling up is to be delivered—given that, in principle, there would probably be widespread support for that on both sides of the House?

[Dehenna Davison]

I disagree with the Select Committee Chair, in that we do have a long-term vision for levelling up. Indeed, our White Paper “Levelling Up the United Kingdom” set out our 12 core missions. I have engaged with the hon. Gentleman in the past about the funding point. I have also told the House that we will be publishing a funding simplification plan; that is coming soon, and I shall be happy to meet him to discuss it when it has been published.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Alex Norris (Nottingham North) (Lab/Co-op)]

Nearly 18 months after the publication of the levelling up White Paper, instead of meaningful levelling up, all that we have is disorganisation and disappointment. The levelling-up directors were supposed to cut through the dysfunction to help areas obtain the support that they needed, and it was announced with great fanfare that there were nearly 600 applications for those roles. But as with everything this Department does, it was all smoke and mirrors, because the roles have now been quietly dropped and no levelling-up directors are to be appointed. Will the Minister come clean? The Government have given on levelling-up directors because they have given up on levelling up, have they not?

[Dehenna Davison]

Absolutely not.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to help local authorities with budgetary pressures caused by inflation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for levelling up, the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Dehenna Davison), has been generous with her time in discussing the future of Essex. Can she reassure the House that no plans for a combined authority will go forward without the support of the majority of Essex MPs, because at the moment I am pretty sure that none of us wants it?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

We are absolutely clear that any devolution deals must be locally led with local consent. I have consulted my hon. Friend, and we will continue to have such conversations, but ultimately this is about getting the best for the people of Essex, and I know he shares my ambition to deliver that.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

T7. Homes England’s new strategic plan contains commitments to work with local leaders to deliver “a brownfield first approach” and to “support biodiversity” by working with partners “to protect, enhance or create new environmental assets”,yet there are plans to put 260 housing units on Brislington meadows, a beautiful nature-rich site in my constituency, going against the wishes of the council, local residents, the mayor and me. Does the Secretary of State really think the plan is worth the paper it is written on if Homes England does not put its principles into practice?

Elections Act: Postal and Proxy Voting Safeguards

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd May 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Baroness Scott of Brybrook, has made the following written ministerial statement:

Today I have published the draft statutory instrument the Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 with an accompanying explanatory memorandum. An impact assessment has been drafted and will be available when a draft of the statutory instrument is laid.

The changes set out in these regulations deliver on our manifesto commitment to protect the integrity of our democracy, as legislated for by Parliament through the Elections Act 2022. It is paramount that we preserve trust in our electoral processes and ensure elections remain secure well into the future. The Elections Act stemmed from recommendations made by—then—Sir Eric Pickles and his review into tackling electoral fraud. Voter identification has already been commenced; these regulations now commence provisions relating to postal and proxy voting.

Under these regulations, we are introducing appropriate safeguards to reduce the opportunity for individuals to exploit the absent voting process and steal votes. The new measures limit the total number of electors for whom a person may act as a proxy to four, of which no more than two can be for “domestic” electors for all constituencies or electoral areas.

To further strengthen the security of the ballot, an identity check will be introduced for all applications for an absent vote. This change will apply to applications made on paper and online and bring the absent vote application process in line with the individual electoral registration “Register to Vote” process. This change accompanies a new requirement to reapply for a postal vote at least every three years, replacing the current five-year signature and date of birth refresh. Transitional processes will be in place for electors with existing postal or proxy vote arrangements.

These regulations will also support the delivery of a new digital service which will enable electors to apply for a postal or proxy arrangement online. The Government anticipate that an online service will alleviate some of the pre-existing challenges for electors and electoral administrators, by reducing the need to rely on manual processes. The online service is currently being built and will be tested to ensure it is robust and accessible for electors.

Although this statutory instrument does not directly relate to Brexit, it does make amendments to 2001 regulations which were made in part under the European Communities Act. In that light, the statutory instrument is published in accordance with the procedure required by schedule 8 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and agreed with Parliament. The statutory instrument is being published in draft at least 28 days before being laid in draft to be considered under the affirmative procedure in Parliament.

These regulations will apply to UK Parliamentary elections and other reserved elections, referendums and recall petitions. Local elections in Scotland, and local elections in Wales apart from police and crime commissioner elections, are devolved, and thus not in scope of these measures.

[HCWS791]

Launch of Community Ownership Fund Round 3 Prospectus

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 15th May 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

Last Friday I announced that the £150 million community ownership fund, which will launch its third bidding round on 31 May 2023, has published a new prospectus detailing positive changes to the eligibility requirements of the programme. The new prospectus can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-ownership-fund-prospectus.

A summary of the key changes to the eligibility requirements for the relaunch of the fund include:

Increasing the amount of funding all projects can bid for from £250,000 to £1 million;

Reducing the match funding requirement; where previously the community ownership fund would contribute up to 50% of total capital funds required, it will now contribute up to 80% of the total capital funds required, with applicants required to raise the other 20% from other sources of funding. Projects in areas of the greatest need will only need to raise 10%; and

Allowing parish councils—and their equivalent town and community councils—to apply in the same way that community groups do now.

These changes will allow more assets to be saved across the UK and will come in from round 3 onwards.

Coupled with support from the fund’s development support provider, who will provide assistance with developing project business plans, organisational governance and financial planning, and potential access to small revenue grants to secure specialist support. These measures will help support as many community groups as possible to save their treasured local assets, ensuring that important parts of our social fabric, such as pubs, sports clubs, theatres, and post office buildings, continue to play a central role in towns and villages across the UK. These changes are explained in full in the updated prospectus available on www.gov.uk.

The community ownership fund is already supporting almost 100 projects across the UK such as the Leigh Spinners Mill in Greater Manchester; the Queen’s Ballroom in Blaenau Gwent, Wales; St Columb’s Hall in Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland; and the UK’s most remote pub, The Old Forge, in the Scottish Highlands. These projects are already making a genuine difference to their communities. I look forward to supporting many more small but mighty local assets across the United Kingdom, levelling up the places we love and cherish.

Interested groups can submit an expression of interest form to start their application process at any time. The fund will be running until March 2025, so there is plenty of opportunity for interested groups to apply to take over invaluable community assets and to run them as businesses—by the community, for the community.

[HCWS768]

Wythenshawe and Sale Town Centres: Regeneration

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

I sincerely thank the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) for securing this important debate and for speaking so powerfully on behalf of his constituents and his constituency. I know he has been, and remains, a tireless champion of the people and businesses of Greater Manchester more broadly, as has been exemplified by his service as a local councillor and portfolio holder, in a past life, and by his time as a Member of Parliament in this place.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the points he raised. One particular sentence stuck with me: he said that town centres are the heart and soul of our communities. On that point, I could not agree more. I saw that in my own constituency this weekend, at the Bishop Auckland street-food market. I definitely need to visit Stockport on Foodie Friday, as that sounds right up my street.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for highlighting some of the persistent economic and social challenges facing his Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency, and the deep-rooted disparities between communities, with parts of Wythenshawe that are highly disadvantaged starkly contrasting with areas in Sale that are much more prosperous. That is born out in the data in the indices of multiple deprivation, which ranks the constituency as the 53rd most deprived in England, with unemployment more than double the English average.

It is fair to say that communities in the hon. Member’s constituency stand to benefit the most from the Government’s levelling-up agenda and our ambition to close the regional disparities in health, education and attainment that are holding communities back. We have made some real strides in that endeavour in recent years.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned unsuccessful bids, and I will say something about that shortly, but I think it worth noting that Trafford Borough Council was successful in the most recent round of the levelling-up fund. It is set to receive more than £80 million for regeneration of the Partington sports village, with new changing rooms and a new BMX track at the park in Cross Lane. That will mean a big improvement in the health and leisure offer for local residents, encouraging more people to take part in sporting and leisure activities. It is complemented by the £85,000 grant from our levelling up parks fund for Southwick Road Park in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. I know that several committed local residents have long been calling for that investment.

The hon. Gentleman spoke about his council’s unsuccessful applications to the levelling-up fund, specifically the regeneration bids for Wythenshawe and Sale town centres. I fully appreciate that everyone involved in preparing and submitting those bids will have been deeply disappointed by the result. We certainly do not underestimate the time, care, attention and, indeed, heart that council officers and members put into the work. I shall say more about that shortly as well, but I know the hon. Gentleman was one of the strongest backers for those bids as well.

It must be said that the response to round 2 of the fund was overwhelming. More than 500 bids were received from all over the UK, totalling over £8 billion, but we had £3.1 billion to allocate, which meant that, unfortunately, some difficult decisions had to be made. It is also worth noting that although this is the—in capital letters— LUF, it is not the only—small “l”, small “u”—levelling-up funding that the Government have provided. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specific applications, but I know that officials in my Department have now given detailed feedback on unsuccessful bids, and I shall be happy to sit down with the hon. Gentleman to discuss that further following the debate.

As for how the applications were judged, we have published an account of this and are entirely transparent about it, but I will run through it once more for the benefit of the House. As in the first round, our funding was targeted at the areas most in need according to the index of priority places. The index takes account of the need to address issues such as under-regeneration, low productivity and poor connectivity, and each bid was assessed by the officials from the Department against the published assessment criteria. Our officials then came up with a shortlist based on the highest scores. To ensure that we had a fair spread of bids across the UK, Ministers then made funding decisions based on the assessment score, but also taking into account factors such as geographic spread and past investments. However, an area’s relative need is baked into the process as well. In this round, 66% of investments went to category 1 places.

The second round of funding is going predominantly to areas in Great Britain that have not received funding before, in order to ensure that investment reaches as many places as possible across rounds 1 and 2. However—I must highlight this point—there will be a third round, and we should not lose sight of that. We will give further details in due course, and I will of course make sure that the hon. Gentleman is informed. We want to support as many areas as possible with this truly transformative funding.

As I have said, however, the levelling-up fund is not the only means of levelling up investment in Greater Manchester by my Department. The hon. Gentleman will know that in his neighbouring constituency, Stretford town centre has benefited from £17.6 million from our future high streets fund—real investment to transform Stretford Mall and the surrounding town centre, with spaces for open-air markets and a host of new cultural events that will indeed be genuinely transformative. Local people will benefit from the new high-quality and affordable housing in the town centre, increasing pride in the place and fostering a sense of community.

Greater Manchester more broadly has benefited greatly from some game-changing pots of money from central Government in recent years, in support of our shared levelling-up ambitions. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the combined authority was awarded £54.2 million from our Getting Building fund to deliver seven major capital work projects across the city region, including 7 acres of landscaped public park near Piccadilly Station, the new Manchester innovation activities hub, and a vocational training centre dedicated to the rapid upskilling, reskilling and retraining of local residents. Moreover, £150,000 from the Department’s community ownership fund has been awarded to Healthy Me Healthy Communities, a social enterprise group in Gorton. That will secure a community facility for the charity to tackle food poverty, helping those who are struggling to find jobs to gain new skills, as well as giving budget advice and support to those on low incomes.

Despite the investments that we have made, I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s principal point that, more broadly, we need to reform the way that we support our people and places by moving away from the model of councils bidding into loads of separate pots of money and all the form-filling and hoop-jumping that goes with that. That point was very well made by the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Andrew Western).

[Andrew Western]

On that point, could the Minister tell us exactly how much money was spent by local authorities on pulling these bids together?

[Dehenna Davison]

That information is held by the authorities, but I will certainly write to the hon. Gentleman with some further information following this debate.

We want to move away from those bidding pots to pursue a more sustainable, longer-term solution—in other words, one single settlement not a million miles away from the ones enjoyed by Scotland and Wales—to allow authorities such as Greater Manchester to really push the boundaries of levelling up in education, skills and innovation and to pursue on their own terms projects such as the regeneration of Wythenshawe and Sale, working hand in hand with local businesses and communities. Since first getting involved in politics, I have said that local people know best what is right for them, rather than us sitting here in Westminster and Whitehall, so we really are putting our money where our mouth is on this, through our radical devolution agenda.

The hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East will know that we took a big step towards that goal earlier this year when we agreed a trailblazer devolution deal worth billions of pounds with Greater Manchester. It hands unprecedented powers, money and control to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority so that it can realise its ambition of creating a fully connected London-style transport system by the end of this decade as well as delivering the UK’s first integrated technical education system. On the transport point, putting power into local hands means giving Andy Burnham more control over things such as the Metro, so it will definitely be worth badgering Andy about the extension of the Metrolink. I am happy to sit down and discuss this with the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra), and I can only apologise that the former Prime Minister did not get back to him. I will certainly meet him to discuss this a bit more formally.

On transport, I am also incredibly pleased about the £84 million package from central Government to Greater Manchester to increase the reliability of trains through Greater Manchester in the Manchester recovery taskforce. We still have a way to go to get those trains up to scratch but central Government working hand in hand with local government through the GMCA are absolutely doing the right things. For the Government’s part, we have made no secret of our ambition to see more areas benefiting from these enhanced freedoms and flexibilities through devolution, and we hope to kick off talks on these D for Devolution arrangements with other Mayors very soon.

I have given a bit of a flavour of what the future holds for Greater Manchester and for the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East’s constituency: more freedoms and more funding to pursue locally led regeneration. In the here and now, I hope that he can rest assured that my Department and I are committed to working with him and with Members all across the House, on both sides, to get more levelling up projects off the ground, whether through the third round of our levelling up fund, through working with the combined authority, as in this case, or through using any of the tools at our disposal to bring real economic benefits to the businesses and communities we represent. This really is our shared ambition and it is what we will deliver in the weeks and months ahead. I am looking forward to working with the hon. Gentleman on this.

Question put and agreed to.

Levelling-up Funding: Broomhill Pool

Dehenna Davison Excerpts

Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) for securing the debate. I congratulate him on doing so, as well as my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) on his passionate contribution. Both my hon. Friends have been, are, remain and will long be tireless advocates for Ipswich and for Suffolk. They are both deeply committed to championing projects that improve the quality of life of local residents, and create new and exciting opportunities those residents can benefit from. That very much extends to the Broomhill lido, which we have heard about today.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich for bringing the project to my attention some months ago, not least given it is a beautiful art deco building—that is my favourite architectural style—and for raising the project in the House again today, ensuring it is firmly on the mind of Government. I thank him sincerely for his continued support in helping to bring the pool back into use for the benefit and enjoyment of residents. I also thank local residents involved with the Broomhill Pool Trust for the incredible work they have done in bringing it back into use.

I know my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich shares the Government’s view that sport and physical activity have a central role to play in our levelling-up agenda, particularly in tackling the health inequalities that persist across the UK today. That was clear in the “Get Ipswich Active” bid to the levelling-up fund, which he mentioned.

The data on health outcomes in this country is particularly stark. On average, people living in the most deprived communities in England have over 18 years less of their lives in good health than those living in the least deprived areas. Frankly, we should all feel shocked by that fact, because health cannot and should not be a postcode lottery. That is why the Government are committed to improving outcomes for people across the UK, from young people growing up in Ipswich to older adults living in Inverness.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich will know, in the levelling-up White Paper, we set a 2035 target of raising healthy life expectancy by five years, while narrowing the healthy life expectancy gap in areas where it is most pronounced by 2030. One year on from that paper’s publication, we remain equally committed to those goals and we are making real progress towards them.

Good health is, in many ways, the essence of levelling up. It allows people, wherever they live, to enjoy fulfilling, happy and productive lives. We can all agree that for too long geographic disparities have been a barrier to good health for many people. There are many factors behind the geographic divide. Access to and quality of health services vary dramatically by area, as does the quality of housing and the availability of affordable, healthier food. As today’s debate has shown, access to high-quality sports facilities in places such as Ipswich is another factor fuelling health inequalities in this country.

Many well-loved pools, gyms and leisure centres have been under considerable pressure for some time now. Covid-19 had a profound impact on the sports and leisure sector, forcing many well-loved, vital local facilities to restrict their services or, sadly, to close entirely. The current cost of living pressures have exacerbated that trend, with rising energy costs squeezing sports facilities even further.

The last thing we want to see is pools and leisure centres forced to close their doors to the very people who need them most. That is why we announced £60 million of new funding for public swimming pools in England in the spring Budget. That much-needed funding will not only help swimming pool providers with the immediate cost pressures of high energy bills, but allow facilities to invest in energy-efficient renovations, making them more sustainable in the long term. The funding will keep the doors open— and, in some places, the wave machines on—at pools across the country. Importantly, it will mean that communities can continue to access the facilities that they depend on for their physical and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich mentioned, mental health.

Our work does not stop there. Whether someone is a keen swimmer, a gymnast or a five-a-side footballer, we all know that physical activity has much wider benefits for society than the obvious health merits. Sporting activities bring people together, as we saw when the Lionesses united the country in support of their incredible victory. They create a sense of pride in place and they reduce social isolation, all the while providing skills and jobs that boost the economy.

Local leaders all over the country know that investing in sport and physical activities will bring much wider benefits for their communities. I am glad to see places using their town deal funding to support people in getting and staying active. From establishing a multimodal green travel route in Carlisle to delivering a new multi-purpose sport and leisure hub in Stevenage, I am pleased to see places prioritising their residents’ health and wellbeing in their town deal projects.

Ipswich is no exception. As my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich knows, his constituency has been awarded £25 million from the towns fund, with a portion of that funding earmarked for health and wellbeing initiatives across Ipswich. Some £3.75 million of Ipswich’s allocation is being used to transform a former waterfront silo building into a new leisure complex that, once finished, will become home to the UK’s highest external climbing wall—exactly the type of forward-thinking, multi-use regeneration project that the towns fund is proud to support.

In addition, £1.31 million of the towns fund allocation will be put towards a new pedestrian and cycle bridge at Ipswich waterfront, improving active travel access in the town and enabling a circular route across the picturesque marina for the first time in Ipswich’s history. A further £1.96 million will be spent on the Greener Ipswich project, which will link the waterfront to the town centre, encouraging more walking and cycling throughout the town and opening up new green spaces along the way.

Taken together, this package of projects will have a real, measurable impact on the health and wellbeing of people living in Ipswich. This is true levelling up in action, and I for one am excited to see these projects coming forward for my hon. Friend’s constituents. I thank him for all his hard work to bring them to fruition.

While I am certainly encouraged by the Government’s progress to date in tackling health inequalities and boosting wellbeing, it is clear to me that there is still a long road ahead. Health inequalities still persist across the UK, and too many people’s health and wellbeing remain dictated largely by where they live. That has to change, but I am confident that it will. We have the support of brilliant local leadership and dedicated community champions and politicians such as my hon. Friends the Members for Ipswich and for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. I understand that they are due to meet officials in my Department soon to explore possible funding options to bridge the funding gap; I will certainly support them in that endeavour and am happy to meet them separately to discuss the matter.

I love getting offered visits in this Chamber, because it is a place where I absolutely cannot say no. I am very happy to visit Ipswich to come and see the lido in person, as well as to see the incredible benefits of the towns fund projects that my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich has been working so hard to support.

[Tom Hunt]

I really want to re-emphasise the importance of that visit, because actually going to the lido made a big difference for me. Anyone who visits the building and the old café can see its beauty and see the potential for the new café and the fitness suite: it is a beautiful building, even when it is not in use. I cannot underline enough how much my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) and I, along with the pool trust, would welcome the Minister.

[Dehenna Davison]

I am very grateful for those warm words. I am giving my officials in the Box the nod to make a note that we will definitely come and visit, not least so that I can see at first hand the incredible art deco architecture, which is my favourite style. I am very excited to see it.

There is an important takeaway from today’s debate, in which we have heard about the potential benefits of Ipswich’s Broomhill lido. When we talk about billions or millions being invested, we need to remember that local projects that may seem small through a national lens really are at the very heart of communities. These projects are huge for local residents: I do not think it an overstatement to say that they can and do change lives. As we move ahead with our levelling-up missions in the months and years ahead, it is vital that we keep local communities and local priorities, such as saving the Broomhill lido, very much at the heart of what we do.

Question put and agreed to.