Cumbrian Baroness urges Government to increase investment in councils

Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, one of the Government’s Levelling-Up chiefs, faced questions from colleagues in the House of Lords on Thursday.

The discussion was focussed on Central Government’s annual Levelling-Up report.

And Baroness Sue Hayman questioned the ability of the Government’s Levelling-Up agenda to improve communities, urging ministers to do more to support councils across the UK.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock said: “An IPPR report recently found that with its cuts to council funding, the Government has taken £431 from every single person and handed back just £31 in its Levelling-Up funds.

“So can I ask the minister, does he accept that Government can only meet its Levelling-Up tests by working with and properly funding local government?”

Lord Greenhalgh said: “Local government does have a critical part to play in Levelling-Up the country but I’d point out, the commitment both through the UK Shared Prosperity Funds and also the Levelling-Up funds to really turbo charge the 12 missions that are outlined in the bill.”

The minister was also quizzed on how Levelling-Up ambitions will improve housing.

Baroness Thornhill said: “I’m particularly interested in the aspirations around housing that are implicit throughout the Levelling-Up agenda.

“Given the Northern Consortium’s recent report on the fact that it’s actually the quality of existing homes in the North that are a key factor in poverty and other indicators.

“What plans does the Government have, besides building brand new houses, to look after the existing stock that are already in poor condition?”

Lord Greenhalgh said: “It is important that we think about our existing stock and as building safety minister, the quality of housing is incredibly important.

“But one of the key headline metrics is the proportion of non-decent rented homes and ensuring that we continue to drive down and improve the number of homes that haven’t achieved the decent home standard.”