Levelling Up Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Keeley
Main Page: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Keeley's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
(3 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberI can absolutely offer my hon. Friend that assurance. What is important is that those bids will be assessed on deliverability, value for money and strategic fit. As I said, that strategic fit element will include the support of an excellent local MP, such as my hon. Friend.
Despite having higher rates of child poverty and unemployment, Salford has been categorised as priority 2 for investment, behind the constituencies represented by the Communities Secretary and the Chancellor. We now know that the single biggest factor in prioritisation was the length of commute by car. Can the Minister explain why funding is being diverted to relatively affluent commuter towns, rather than being used to create jobs in areas that need them, such as Salford?
I suspect that like me, Mr Deputy Speaker, you are a keen reader of the Salford Star, where I read the hon. Lady’s comments about pork-barrel politics and accusations of Conservative party political influence on the allocation of funding, which is peculiar given that Oldham, 12 miles away across Greater Manchester, has been placed in category 1, as have Leicester and Gateshead. It is difficult to argue that the Conservative party is manipulating money when it is ending up in a large number of Labour seats.