Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to page 132 of the Industrial Strategy, published in November 2017, what the process will be for the Government to take greater account of disparities between productivity and economic opportunity between different places when making future investment decisions.

The Government’s ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy sets out a long term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. We are committed to providing high quality infrastructure to support economic growth and prosperity across all regions of the country, and our approach to major investments will reflect this. While cost-benefit analysis will remain central to our decision-making, we will also make use of broad-based and dynamic assessment techniques that reflect the full potential for infrastructure to support local economies.