Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Jarvis Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Richard Fuller]

I do not think that any Member who has met constituents who have been affected by the loan charge can have failed to be moved by the emotional and psychological impact that it has had on many of them. It is therefore right for me, as a Minister, to look at the issue carefully, and I can say to the hon. Member that I will engage all interested parties.

[Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) (Lab)]

12. What fiscal steps his Department is taking to fund the Government’s levelling-up agenda in the north of England.

[Judith Cummins (Bradford South) (Lab)]

17. What fiscal steps his Department is taking to support levelling up.

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Felicity Buchan)]

It is a pleasure to answer my first question at the Dispatch Box, and to reply to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis), who responded to my maiden speech.

The White Paper “Levelling Up the United Kingdom” set out a clear plan to level up every corner of the UK by 2030. We are also driving growth and unlocking housing across the UK with our new investment zones, and we are continuing to invest billions in regional infrastructure. That includes £1.7 billion allocated under the levelling-up fund, of which £500 million went to the north.

[Dan Jarvis]

It is a pleasure to see the Minister at the Dispatch Box, and I congratulate her on her appointment.

Previous Chancellors have not delivered the level of transformative resource required for levelling up. I know that the present Chancellor understands the huge potential that exists throughout the north of England, but it seems to many of us that the levelling-up agenda is sipping in the last chance saloon. Can the Minister say what will be done differently under this new Chancellor?

[Felicity Buchan]

We are absolutely committed to the levelling-up agenda. South Yorkshire received £570 million through the regional cities transport scheme, £95 million through the levelling-up fund and £46 million through the shared prosperity fund, and our ambitions for levelling up continue.