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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent progress has been made on the Shared Prosperity Fund in Northern Ireland.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK in places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people who face labour market barriers.

It will operate UK-wide, using the new financial assistance powers in the UK Internal Market Act 2020.

The November 2020 Spending Review set out the main strategic elements of the UKSPF in the Heads of Terms.  The Government will publish a UK-wide investment framework later this year and confirm the funding profile at the next Spending Review.

In addition, to help local areas prepare over 21/22 for the introduction of the UKSPF, we will provide £220 million additional UK funding through the UK Community Renewal Fund to support our communities to pilot programmes and new approaches.