Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Tuesday 6th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mark Logan (Bolton North East) (Con)]

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

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

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

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

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

--- Later in debate ---

[Amanda Solloway]

My hon. Friend paints a fantastic picture of Bolton North East. He really is a wonderful advocate for his constituency, and he has a keen interest in ARIA, which I am delighted by. No decision has yet been taken on ARIA’s location, and I do not expect one to be reached until the chief executive officer and the chair are in post, but my hon. Friend will be delighted to hear that the open recruitment process for a visionary chair began yesterday, and I would encourage him and other hon. Members to share this exciting opportunity widely to reach as diverse a pool of candidates as we possibly can.

[Peter Gibson]

Whether it involves investing £105 million in Bank Top station, investing £23.3 million through the towns fund or establishing a new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy presence in Darlington, this Conservative Government are delivering on their manifesto commitment to level up. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is therefore short-sighted of LNER to propose to cut services to Darlington?