Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Paula Barker
Main Page: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)Department Debates - View all Paula Barker's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Oral Answers to Questions
Paula Barker Excerpts(2 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Clarke
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his reminder, but I need no reminder of the importance on the need for levelling up. That is indeed why my colleagues and I were elected in 2019, and we will bring forward our answers on round 2 by the end of this year.
Paula Barker (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab)
How can the Minister claim to be levelling up when his Government have presided over a net loss in funding for large parts of the country, such as the north-west, which will lose out by £206 million under the shared prosperity fund?
Mr Clarke
I can absolutely defend our record on levelling up. There is a £4.8 billion levelling-up fund, which is transforming opportunities across this country. The hon. Member need only look at the response of communities across the north-west to our manifesto in 2019, when we were joined on the Government side of the House by so many fantastic colleagues from that region, to see that people buy into that vision.