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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the letter from the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to the Lord Speaker, dated 13 May, represents Government policy.

The Government is clear that it is up to the House of Lords to decide where they wish to be located, including during any potential decant of Parliament. The previous Secretary of State said in his letter that he would welcome the House of Lords playing a role in the levelling up agenda and he suggested a number of illustrative options.

The freehold of the QEII Conference Centre is held by the Secretary of State. The Restoration and Renewal programme is currently being reshaped. Tangentially, the department is taking steps to deliver clarity for the commercial users of the Centre, and good outcomes for the British taxpayer.