Covid-19: Levelling-up Agenda

Lord Bradshaw Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, since the pandemic, the Government have provided £6.4 billion of additional funding to local authorities, but, in addition to this, for those areas that faced restrictions prior to the second lockdown, extra support was put in place for businesses that were closed or had their business severely affected by those restrictions. Local authorities got additional funding for grants to support the local economy.

[Lord Bradshaw (LD) [V]]

My Lords, rumours emanating from who knows where in government are talking about cutting back HS2 phase 2b—the bit that goes from Birmingham to Leeds. This would mean that the journey times from Toton would go from 27 to 85 minutes for Leeds and from 93 to 106 minutes for Newcastle. How is this sort of thing compatible with government protestations about levelling up?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I do not pay too much attention to rumours circulating, and the Government remain committed to the High Speed 2 project.