Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the regeneration funds of £20 million each for Londonderry and Coleraine, announced on 6 March, will be released.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government has inherited an extremely difficult fiscal environment and has a responsibility to fix the foundations of our economy, to ensure economic stability.
The department will set out further details on next steps and confirmation of the revised timelines in due course.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to release the Levelling Up Fund Round 3 allocation ring-fenced for Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Further announcements will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much Round 3 Levelling Up funding has been ring-fenced for spending in Northern Ireland; and when, and by whom, the decision was taken to exclude Northern Ireland from the announcement on 20 November regarding the release of Round 3 funding for the rest of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Penn
£30 million has been reserved for Northern Ireland from Levelling Up Fund round 3. The Northern Ireland budget pressure is a critical factor affecting Northern Ireland’s economic prosperity and the lives of citizens. In this context it is right that UK Government should consider its approach to funding available for Northern Ireland in a rounded way. As part of our commitment to levelling up, we want to work with a restored Executive to find the best approach to supporting people in Northern Ireland, taking account of current budget pressures.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they had a policy in place to allow only one bid per local authority area in Northern Ireland to be awarded funding in Levelling Up Fund Round 2; and whether that policy was in place elsewhere in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Bids were assessed against the criteria set out in the Levelling Up Fund prospectus to deliver a shortlist of the strongest bids. Ministers then followed the published decision-making approach outlined in section 3 and section 5 of the Levelling Up Fund technical note.
As set out in the published technical note, the shortlists in Great Britain and Northern Ireland were separate.
Ministers agreed to prioritise a fair spread of approved projects in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is explained in the explanatory note published on 19 January 2023.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 2 February (HL4921), why the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 allocated (1) 9.98 per cent of funding to Wales against an entitlement share of 4.70 per cent of UK funds under the Barnett formula, (2) 3.41 per cent to Northern Ireland against an entitlement share of 2.75 per cent, and (3) 8.49 per cent to Scotland against an entitlement share of 8.08 per cent.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer to Question UIN HL4921 on 2 February 2023.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the amount allocated per head of population in round two of the Levelling Up Fund to (1) England, (2) Northern Ireland, (3) Scotland, and (4) Wales.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Details of the assessment and decision-making process for round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund are available in the published (attached) explanatory note(opens in a new tab). A detailed breakdown of funding requested and awarded in round 2 can be found in the published (attached) geographic and thematic analysis(opens in a new tab). The department does not request nor record the costs incurred by applicants to the Fund. As set out in the (attached) Written Ministerial Statement(opens in a new tab of 19 January, I am pleased to say there will be a third round of the Fund and we will outline more information on this in due course.
Unsuccessful applicants to this second round will be provided written feedback to support future applications into levelling up funds.
The published Levelling Up Fund Round 2 technical note set out the additional considerations that could be taken into account when making funding decisions. This included “ taking into account other investment in a local area, including investment made from the first round of the Fund to encourage a spread of levelling up funds across places.” The published explanatory note outlines the specifics of how decisions for the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 were made. Applicants to the Fund were informed of the outcome of decisions by letter sent on the 18 January.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a proportion of the additional £400 million added to round two of the Levelling Up Fund will be allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in line with the Barnett Formula.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
We received a large number of high-quality applications to the Levelling Up Fund and as such made the decision to allocate additional funds for this round.
This means that up to £2.1 billion will be granted to successful bids in this round across the UK - up to £400 million more than last time.
Over the first and second round of the Fund, we have committed that at least 9% of total UK allocations will be set aside for Scotland, 5% for Wales, and 3% for Northern Ireland, subject to a suitable number of high-quality bids coming forward. This is at least as much as would have been received through Barnett consequentials.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will announce the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 bidding process.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Levelling Up and driving growth across the UK is a key priority of this Government.
All bids to the second round of the Levelling Up Fund are currently being assessed in line with our published guidance. I expect to announce the outcome of round 2 by the end of the year.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for the final decision on successful bids from Northern Ireland to the Levelling Up Fund.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out in the published Levelling Up Fund technical note, decisions on the selection of successful bids will be made by UK Government ministers. In round 1, final decisions were confirmed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Levelling Up Secretary and the Transport Secretary.