Oral Answers to Questions

Mark Eastwood Excerpts

Tuesday 6th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Government’s levelling- up agenda.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the Government’s levelling- up agenda.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Amanda Solloway)]

We have made a commitment to level up all areas of the country. The plan for growth is a critical part of this and we will go further with the publication of a levelling-up White Paper later this year.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

We now go to Alexander Stafford. Not here. Let’s go to Mark Eastwood, who is here.

[Mark Eastwood]

I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge (Miriam Cates) and I have put forward a £48 million joint levelling-up fund bid to support improvements to the Penistone line, which runs through our constituencies. Will the Minister agree to work with the Department for Transport and the Treasury in supporting this bid, which, if successful, would help to boost local businesses and bring much-needed jobs to my constituency, especially in Kirkburton and Denby Dale?

[Amanda Solloway]

My hon. Friend has been a tireless advocate for his constituency, most notably in his advocacy of the Dewsbury town deal. As he will know, the support of MPs is important for bids to the levelling-up fund, but he will understand that I cannot go further than that while the bids are being evaluated.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

As I mentioned in an earlier answer, I met a number of trustees a few weeks ago and we discussed a number of issues in detail. I left them with a number of issues to go away and consider. The proposition as it currently stands is one that the Government do not wish to take forward, but I have asked the trustees to come back to me once they have considered the questions we discussed.

[Mark Eastwood (Dewsbury) (Con)]

I am delighted that Dewsbury has been awarded £24.8 million after its towns fund bid. Will the Minister outline the benefits that that investment will have for retailers and other businesses in my home town?

[Paul Scully]

What a fantastic story. In just 18 months, my hon. Friend has shown the impact of his work across his home town. He is absolutely right. Dewsbury’s transformative £24.8 million investment will make it a more attractive place to live, work and invest by supporting projects that deliver that enhanced business environment, such as the arcade to be reopened to small independent businesses and Dewsbury market to be transformed into a modern-day market, with fibre network improvements and repurposing underused sites. This is really going to boost Dewsbury’s reputation as a place for starting and growing a business.