Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to point 51 of the Liverpool City Region Devolution agreement, what progress his Department has made on giving the Liverpool City Region Mayor the power to place a supplement on business rates to fund infrastructure, with the agreement of the local business community through the Local Enterprise Partnership; and what timescale he has set for giving that power?

Government is committed to ensuring that the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has the appropriate powers to help promote local growth, and we are considering the most effective way to deliver those powers.