Asked by: Robert Goodwill (Conservative - Scarborough and Whitby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government will meet its target of delivering 4,000 zero emission buses within the 2019 Parliament.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We are providing over £525 million dedicated funding for zero emissions buses (ZEBs) this Parliament, though a number of funding schemes:
Funding from other funding schemes, such as the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS), can also be used by local areas to support the introduction of ZEBs. In addition, the rate at which the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) can be claimed for ZEBs was increased from 6p to 22p per km in April 2022. This supports operators to introduce ZEBs by reducing the overall cost of ownership.
Table 1 below presents the estimated number of zero emission buses that have been funded in England since February 2020. Where available, information has been provided on the status of the buses and the name of the bus manufacturer has been included. The numbers in Table 1 are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore subject to change.
Funding scheme | Funding awarded to | No. Buses | Status | Bus manufacturer |
ZEBRA | Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority | 30 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Kent County Council | 33 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Leicester City Council | 96 | 6 buses on the road 68 buses ordered 22 buses funded | 6 buses on the road supplied by Pelican & Coach UK and manufactured by Yutong 68 buses ordered from Wrightbus Bus manufacturer for 22 buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Milton Keynes City Council | 56 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Warrington Borough Council | 120 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | South Yorkshire Combined Authority | 27 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Norfolk County Council | 15 | Ordered | Wrightbus |
ZEBRA | North Yorkshire County Council | 39 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council | 34 | Ordered | Wrightbus |
ZEBRA | Blackpool Council | 115 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Nottingham City Council | 78 | 12 ordered. 66 funded. | 12 buses supplied by Pelican & Coach UK and manufactured by Yutong. Bus manufacturer for 66 buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 170 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Hertfordshire County Council | 27 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | West Midlands Combined Authority | 124 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | City of York Council | 44 | Ordered | Wrightbus |
ZEBRA | West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 111 | 32 buses ordered 79 buses funded. | 32 buses ordered from Wrightbus Bus manufacturer for 79 buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
ZEBRA | Oxfordshire County Council | 159 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
All Electric Bus Town or City Scheme | West Midlands Combined Authority | Up to 300 | 130 buses ordered | 130 buses ordered from Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Transforming Cities Fund | Leicester City Council | 18 | 18 buses on the road | Supplied by Pelican & Coach UK and manufactured by Yutong |
Transforming Cities Fund | Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | 20 | Ordered | 20 buses ordered from Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Transforming Cities Fund | West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 8 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement | Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 50 | Ordered | Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | Brighton & Hove Buses | 20 | Ordered | Wrightbus |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | First West Yorkshire | 9 | On the road | Supplied by Pelican & Coach UK and manufactured by Yutong |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | Go North East | 9 | On the road | Supplied by Pelican & Coach UK and manufactured by Yutong |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | Nottinghamshire County Council | 4 | On the road | Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | Stagecoach Manchester | 32 | On the road | Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | The Big Lemon | 3 | On the road | Supplied by Harris Group and manufactured by Higer |
Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 5 | On the road | Alexander Dennis Ltd |
Local transport authority funding | Surrey County Council | 34 | Funded | Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator. |
Local transport authority funding | Hertfordshire County Council | 1 | On the road | Switch Mobility |
Local transport authority funding | Transport for London | 600 |
|
|
Total |
| 2,391 |
|
|
Table 2 below presents information on the estimated number of zero emission buses that have been funded in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since February 2020. The numbers in Table 2 are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore subject to change.
Funding Scheme | Number of Buses |
UK Government funding for Wales through the Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | 68 |
Welsh Government funding | 16 |
Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme | 272 |
Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund | 276 |
Northern Ireland Executive Funding FY 2020-21 | 100 |
Northern Ireland Executive Funding FY 2021-22 | 38 |
Northern Ireland Executive Funding FY 2022-23 | 100 |
Total | 870 |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
On 20 September, the Ugandan Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Mubende District, central Uganda. As of 17 October, there were 60 confirmed cases and 24 confirmed deaths. The British High Commission in Kampala is monitoring the outbreak closely and is in regular contact with the Government of Uganda, World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners on the ground. FCDO Travel Advice is updated regularly to reflect the latest situation and advises against all but essential travel to Mubende District in Central Uganda. It also reflects the Government of Uganda's decision to impose 21-day partial lockdowns on Mubende and Kassanda Districts. On 12 October 2022, the UK announced £2.2 million of funding to support different elements of the response: £900,000 to UNICEF for community engagements and hygiene measures in health facilities and schools; £900,000 to the World Food Programme for transport, storage and logistical support; and £400,000 to the WHO for co-ordination, local surveillance and laboratory diagnosis.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) youth crime and (b) anti-social behaviour in (i) Bournemouth East and (ii) England in the last three years; and what steps she is taking to help tackle those crimes.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We know the serious impact that persistent ASB can have on both individuals and communities.
The Government introduced a range of flexible tools and powers for local agencies, including police forces, local authorities, and landlords, to tackle anti-social behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’). Local areas decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances.
Home Office statutory guidance, which was updated in June 2022, supports all local agencies in using the powers from the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and in taking the multi-agency approach that is needed to tackle and prevent anti-social behaviour in a way that takes account of the needs of the victim and the wider community.
Last year the Beating Crime Plan laid out the Government’s plan for tackling crime and ASB and committed to working with local agencies and partners to drive down ASB using the full range of powers and tools in the ‘2014 Act’.
The Home Office announced in March this year that ASB would be one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the fourth and fifth rounds of the Safer Streets Fund. This is a total of £150m over two rounds which aims to support local areas in preventing and tackling neighbourhood crimes, ASB and violence against women and girls.
The Levelling-up Fund (LUF), which is a total of £4.8billion, will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets. Crime and ASB forms part of the LUF prospectus, which means that local areas will be able to include reduction of crime and ASB within their bids for funding. The Minister for Crime, Policing and Probation wrote out to all Police and Crime Commissioner’s in April 2022 encouraging them to work closely with local authorities on their bids to incorporate crime and ASB reducing elements.
The ONS publish data on trends of anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police in England and Wales at Police Force Area (PFA) level annually and the latest figures can be found here:
Data is not held centrally at Parliamentary Constituency level.
For ten years, the Youth Endowment Fund has invested £200million in early intervention and support initiatives to support young people at risk of involvement in serious violence. Violence Reduction Units divert young people away from crime, they reached 26,000 in their second year of funding.
Trends on juvenile offenders is held by the Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board and statistics on young people (aged 10 to 17) receiving cautions and convictions at court are published on a quarterly basis and the latest statistics can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2021
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their reported alternative plans for the Dover Inland Border Facility site; and when they expect to apply for planning permission for these alternative plans.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following HMRC’s decision not to build the Inland Border Facility (IBF) at Dover, the site will now revert to Department for Transport (DfT) as the owners of the land. Given the interest in minimising disruption on the strategic and local road network in Kent and at the ports, DfT is currently exploring alternative options for the development of the land including for easing pressure at the border. Any planning applications will depend upon the decisions on alternative use.
DfT will continue to engage with local stakeholders, businesses, residents and MPs to ensure that any development will benefit the local community and economy.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what routes are available for women to raise concerns on pedestrian routes identified by them as unsafe.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport is committed to improving the safety of women at every step of every journey, as part of the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
The Department is currently updating Manual for Streets, our key piece of design guidance on creating streets for people. Last year the Department ran a call for evidence on personal safety measures in streets and public spaces. This was to find out more about how people, particularly women, feel unsafe using the street and experience harassment, intimidation or unwanted sexual behaviour in public spaces. The aim was to gather information to understand the problem, identify possible solutions, to inform the advice in the updated Manual for Streets.
Responsibility for traffic management, including street design for pedestrians, rests with the relevant local authority, as they are best placed to consider how local needs can be effectively met. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature and scope of policies and to balance the needs of residents, emergency services, local businesses and those who work in and visit the areas.
In September 2021, Government launched the pilot of an online tool, StreetSafe, which enables the public to anonymously report public places where they feel unsafe because of environmental issues, for example street lighting, or because of the behaviour of others.
To date, the tool has received almost 14,000 reports. These have been used by local policing teams to work with local authorities and community partnerships to inform targeted safety activities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government issues guidance on how pedestrian route designs can best incorporate the safety of women.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport is committed to improving the safety of women at every step of every journey, as part of the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
The Department is currently updating Manual for Streets, our key piece of design guidance on creating streets for people. Last year the Department ran a call for evidence on personal safety measures in streets and public spaces. This was to find out more about how people, particularly women, feel unsafe using the street and experience harassment, intimidation or unwanted sexual behaviour in public spaces. The aim was to gather information to understand the problem, identify possible solutions, to inform the advice in the updated Manual for Streets.
Responsibility for traffic management, including street design for pedestrians, rests with the relevant local authority, as they are best placed to consider how local needs can be effectively met. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature and scope of policies and to balance the needs of residents, emergency services, local businesses and those who work in and visit the areas.
In September 2021, Government launched the pilot of an online tool, StreetSafe, which enables the public to anonymously report public places where they feel unsafe because of environmental issues, for example street lighting, or because of the behaviour of others.
To date, the tool has received almost 14,000 reports. These have been used by local policing teams to work with local authorities and community partnerships to inform targeted safety activities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing on ensuring that the safety of women is taken into account when pedestrian routes are designed.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department for Transport is committed to improving the safety of women at every step of every journey, as part of the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
The Department is currently updating Manual for Streets, our key piece of design guidance on creating streets for people. Last year the Department ran a call for evidence on personal safety measures in streets and public spaces. This was to find out more about how people, particularly women, feel unsafe using the street and experience harassment, intimidation or unwanted sexual behaviour in public spaces. The aim was to gather information to understand the problem, identify possible solutions, to inform the advice in the updated Manual for Streets.
Responsibility for traffic management, including street design for pedestrians, rests with the relevant local authority, as they are best placed to consider how local needs can be effectively met. It is entirely a matter for individual authorities to decide on the nature and scope of policies and to balance the needs of residents, emergency services, local businesses and those who work in and visit the areas.
In September 2021, Government launched the pilot of an online tool, StreetSafe, which enables the public to anonymously report public places where they feel unsafe because of environmental issues, for example street lighting, or because of the behaviour of others.
To date, the tool has received almost 14,000 reports. These have been used by local policing teams to work with local authorities and community partnerships to inform targeted safety activities.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The table below sets out funding DLUHC core department devolved in 2021-22. Future years funding will be published in the usual way. The Local Government Finance Settlement can be found using this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2021-to-2022.
Programme Name | Value 2021-22 (£m) |
AFFORDABLE HOMES PROGRAMME | 215.0 |
BETTER CARE FUND PROGRAMME SUPPORT | 0.3 |
BICHESTER | 4.6 |
BRENT CROSS | 29.1 |
BROWNFIELD HOUSING FUND | 157.8 |
BROWNFIELD LAND RELEASE FUND | 64.4 |
BUILDING SAFETY REMEDIATION | 393.0 |
CHANGING FUTURES | 16.0 |
CHANGING PLACES | 0.3 |
COASTAL COMMUNITIES FUND | 0.1 |
COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS | 22.5 |
COMMUNITY HOUSING FUND | 6.0 |
COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP FUND - COF | 1.4 |
COVID-19 CLINICALLY & EXTREMELY VULNERABLE | 61.3 |
CUSTOM BUILD LAND DUTY | 0.1 |
DATA IMPROVEMENT SHARE OUTCOME FUND | 4.1 |
DIGITAL PLANNING REFORM | 1.9 |
DISABLED FACILITIES GRANTS (N) | 573.0 |
DOMESTIC ABUSE | 1.8 |
EAST BANK | 51.6 |
EBBSFLEET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION | 19.0 |
ENGLISH LANGUAGE | 5.2 |
ESTATE REGEN FUND | 14.2 |
FAITH, RACE AND HATE GRANT SCHEME | 0.4 |
FLOOD RECOVERY FRAMEWORK SCHEMES | 3.7 |
FREEPORTS | 3.7 |
FUTURE HIGH STREET FUND | 257.5 |
GETTING BUILDING FUND | 449.9 |
GRT EDUCATION PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOME OF 2030 | 0.4 |
HOMELESSNESS | 378.8 |
HONG KONG BRITISH NATIONAL OVERSEAS (HKBNOS) WELCOME PROGRAMME | 6.5 |
HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE FUND (CORE) | 37.9 |
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES | 17.7 |
INTERFAITH NETWORK FOR THE UK | 0.3 |
LEP CORE FUNDING | 19.1 |
LESSONS FROM AUSCHWITZ UNIVERSITIES | 0.1 |
LEVELLING UP FUND | 103.2 |
LOCAL DIGITAL COLLABORATION | 12.4 |
LOCAL GROWTH INVESTMENT FUNDS | 347.5 |
LOCAL LAND CHARGES | 0.1 |
LOCAL RESILIENCE FORUMS (LRFS) | 8.1 |
MAYORAL CAPACITY FUND | 9.0 |
MIDLANDS ENGINE | 2.5 |
MODERN PLANNING SOFTWARE | 6.8 |
NCTT | 0.3 |
NEAR NEIGHBOURS | 1.0 |
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING | 7.9 |
NEW DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS | 2.1 |
NEW HOMES BONUS | 622.3 |
NORTHERN POWERHOUSE | 0.5 |
OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE ARC | 1.0 |
OXFORDSHIRE HOUSING | 40.0 |
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PEOPLE AND PLACE | 0.7 |
PFI HOUSING | 138.7 |
PLANNING ADVISORY SERVICE (PAS) | 0.7 |
PLANNING DELIVERY FUND | 5.3 |
PLANNING REFORM | 2.8 |
REDCAR AND CLEVELAND BOROUGH COUNCIL | 3.7 |
REGIONAL CONTROL CENTRES | 4.2 |
REMEMBERING SREBRENICA | 0.3 |
REOPENING HIGH STREETS SAFELY | 26.8 |
RIGHT TO BUY RECEIPTS | 12.3 |
ROUGH SLEEPING | 325.4 |
ROUGH SLEEPING COVID RESPONSE | 40.3 |
SCHOOLS LINKING | 0.2 |
SECRETARIAT FOR THE INDEPENDENT ANTISEMITISM ADVISER | 0.1 |
SHIELDING SUPPORT | 40.8 |
SSI STEELWORKS | 25.7 |
STDC - TEESWORKS WORKS | 11.1 |
STRENGTHENING FAITH INSTITUTIONS | 0.5 |
STRONGER TOWNS CAPACITY FUNDING | 162.4 |
SUPPORTED HOUSING OVERSIGHT PILOTS | 2.4 |
SUPPORTING FAMILIES | 163.7 |
TENANT FEES ACT 2019 | 0.8 |
THAMES ESTUARY | 1.5 |
TOWNS FUND | 0.5 |
TRANSPORT FOR EBBSFLEET | 1.7 |
UK COMMUNITY RENEWAL FUND | 122.5 |
VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR FUNDING FOR ROUGH SLEEPING AND HOMELESSNESS | 2.7 |
VOLUNTARY RIGHT TO BUY | 1.4 |
WAKING WATCH | 0.4 |
WESTERN GATEWAY CORE FUNDING | 1.0 |
WINDRUSH | 0.7 |
WOMENS AID | 0.3 |
YOUTH HOMELESSNESS | 0.6 |
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of community service given as part of community sentences have offenders completed in each (a) local justice area and (b) region in England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Community Payback is a term used to describe any work done as part of an unpaid work requirement made by the courts. Prior to 26th June 2021, Community Rehabilitation Companies were responsible for the delivery of unpaid work. Since then, the new unified probation service has assumed responsibility for community payback delivery. This provides an opportunity to re-energise our work, drive up completion rates and deliver better outcomes. This Government has committed to invest an additional £93million in community payback over the next three years. This is so that we ramp up delivery to 8million hours per year, focussing on outdoor projects that help to improve public spaces, ensuring that people can see justice being done.
A significant dip in performance can be seen in years 2019/20 and 2020/21, which is attributed to the pandemic. Community Payback was severely affected by projects, and organisations that provided them, being closed along with the social distancing rules making it difficult for delivery to continue as normal.
Alongside the additional investment, other measures being taken include ; an increase in reporting directly to site to mitigate the reliance on restricted probation transport, increases to independent working projects, and educational online training.
We are unable to provide data segmented by Local Justice Areas as HMPPS report all data based on the probation service region where the person on probation has been allocated, not by criminal justice area.
Please find the data below in response to part b in England and Wales in the last five years. Where possible the data has been mapped to the new Probation Service regions that came into being in 2021. In cases where this was not possible it has been attributed to ‘unknown’.
Unpaid Work Hours Completed | |||||
Region | 2016/2017 | 2017/2018 | 2018/2019 | 2019/2020 | 2020/2021 |
East Midlands | 350,743 | 364,784 | 362,224 | 343,598 | 53,204 |
East of England | 585,447 | 626,417 | 598,237 | 561,479 | 333,990 |
Greater Manchester | 343,824 | 329,494 | 292,432 | 273,089 | 53,643 |
Kent Surrey Sussex | 363,817 | 396,187 | 379,879 | 223,899 | 108,536 |
London | 784,657 | 849,456 | 848,044 | 730,593 | 153,917 |
North East | 197,914 | 190,688 | 197,153 | 194,296 | 59,546 |
North West | 387,368 | 498,787 | 511,721 | 473,152 | 100,766 |
South Central | 321,110 | 305,893 | 298,835 | 281,182 | 89,032 |
South West | 376,013 | 333,668 | 353,762 | 326,969 | 87,749 |
Unknown | 311,460 | 17,287 | 31,176 | 116,035 | 19,435 |
Wales | 423,975 | 370,010 | 404,983 | 374,075 | 107,223 |
West Midlands | 566,772 | 548,595 | 515,484 | 479,075 | 90,318 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 569,343 | 550,905 | 516,595 | 491,548 | 98,704 |
National Total | 5,582,445 | 5,382,173 | 5,310,526 | 4,868,990 | 1,356,061 |
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting economic growth in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I have regular discussions with my ministerial colleagues on a range of matters, including economic growth. The UK Government closely monitors economic growth across the UK and has taken steps to support economic growth in Wales.
The UK Government have provided £46 million through the UK Community Renewal Fund, of which Newport received £2.8 million. This included £850,000 for a ‘Foot in the Door’ programme aimed at improving access to pre-employment training activity for 300 beneficiaries in Newport and over £700,000 to the Welsh Institute of Digital Information to invest in its research and development centre at the University of South Wales Newport campus.
Furthermore, the UK Government is investing £790 million in city and growth deals across Wales, with the Cardiff Capital Region, which includes Newport, receiving £500 million. These Growth Deals empower Wales’ regions to determine how best to drive jobs and growth in their areas, and to identify their own needs and strengths.
The UK Government also recently published the Levelling Up White Paper that sets out our ambitions on levelling up across the UK, tackling regional and local inequalities so we can see growth, more jobs, and higher wages UK-wide. Wales remains front and centre in the UK Government’s plans to level up and have received £121 million through the first rounds of the Levelling Up Fund, in addition to £464,000 through the Community Ownership Fund. These funds will support vital transport improvements, invest in local skills, support local people into employment and regenerate town centres. All to drive local growth and invest for the people and communities most in need, across Wales.
The UK Government is further supporting young people in Wales through the Kickstart programme, which provides fully funded six-month jobs for 16-24-year olds on Universal Credit, with 6,000 jobs already started in Wales. Sustainable jobs are integral to building back better and we are determined to level up every part of the UK.