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

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions and consultations they held with political parties, district councils and civic society in Northern Ireland in advance of their decision to refuse to allocate levelling up monies to the region in their latest funding announcement on 21 November.

In the context of the growing pressure on Northern Irish budgets it is right that the United Kingdom Government should consider its approach to funding available for Northern Ireland in the round. £30 million has been reserved for Northern Ireland from Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. As part of our commitment to levelling up, we want to work with a restored Executive to find the best approach to supporting people in Northern Ireland, taking account of current budget pressures.

DLUHC wrote to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and the Northern Ireland Civil Service directly to let them know of our approach to Northern Ireland for Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund. All Northern Ireland MPs were notified by a letter from Minister Young and DLUHC officials contacted relevant Northern Irish stakeholders on the day of the announcement.