Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Lake Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for making that important point. He represents a beautiful part of east Berkshire, and it is important that we maintain our protections for areas of environmental importance and areas of aesthetic distinction. We all need to recognise that sustainable additions to the current housing stock are an important part of making sure the next generation also have a chance to own homes, too.

[Ben Lake (Ceredigion) (PC)]

T9.   The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised that Wales will not lose any powers or funding as a result of our exit from the EU. If Wales is to receive £167 million from the levelling-up fund, as opposed to the £375 million a year it received from EU structural funds, from which funding pot can the people of Wales expect to receive the shortfall?

[Michael Gove]

I would challenge the hon. Gentleman’s arithmetic, but I know time is short. All I will say is that when I visited Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd less than a fortnight ago there was jubilation, not on my arrival but on the arrival of the money from the levelling-up fund that is helping fantastic figures in Welsh local government to deliver for their citizens. I hope I have the chance to visit Ceredigion to see how we can support more projects there.