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

If he will review the Levelling Up Fund criteria to assess the potential merits of using competitive funding rounds to reduce economic inequalities in the UK.

The application criteria for Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund have been published.

In Great Britain, the Index of Priority Places is used to target funding towards places most in need of this type of investment. The index metrics include productivity, unemployment, skills, transport and commercial vacancy rates.

We will evaluate existing rounds of the fund before committing to the timing, format and criteria of future rounds.