Mario Creatura backs Conservative Government’s Levelling Up plans

• Mario Creatura has welcomed the Conservative Government’s Levelling Up White Paper and the boost it will bring by increasing wages, improving living standards, and regenerating local communities across the country.
• This is the next step on the Conservative Government’s mission to unite and level up Britain, with radical new policies announced across the board – including a devolution revolution, London-style transport systems and 5G across the country, as well as elimination of innumeracy and illiteracy.
• The Conservative Government is creating a better quality of life for people in every part of the UK – so everyone can access the opportunities they need to succeed.

Mario Creatura has welcomed the Levelling Up White Paper unveiled by the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, on 2 February 2022, and the benefits it will bring. The document sets out the Government’s plan to transform the UK by spreading opportunity and prosperity to every community in every region of the country.

At the heart of this new way of making and implementing policy will be 12 bold national missions – all quantifiable and to be achieved by 2030. These missions will be cross-government, cross-society efforts.

By 2030, the missions set out by the Conservative Government will see:

• The rest of the country’s local public transport systems becoming much closer to London standards,
• The large majority of the country gain access to 5G broadband,
• 90 per cent of primary children achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths – with the government’s education efforts focussed on the most disadvantaged parts of the country,
• 55 Education Investment Areas established in parts of the country with weakest school outcomes,
• The mobilisation of £16 billion of local government pension schemes to turbocharge local investment,
• Hundreds of thousands more people completing high quality skills training every year,
• Disparities in healthy life expectancy narrowed,
• The number of poor-quality rented homes halved,
• Kings Cross style regeneration deals across 20 places in England,
• The most run down town centres and communities across the country rejuvenated,
• £39 million to widen access to parks – particularly in areas with the lowest access to green space,
• A significant decrease in serious crime in the most blighted areas,
• Every part of England getting a devolution deal if they wish to.

Commenting, Mario Creatura said:

“This Conservative Government is committed to levelling up the whole of the UK – which means increasing wages, living standards, and quality of life for all our people.

“That is why I am delighted to welcome the Levelling Up White Paper, which lays out the Government’s plan to create jobs, spread opportunity and empower communities across the UK.

“Through this plan, which builds on work over the last two years, this Conservative Government is delivering on its commitments to the British people by levelling up across the whole of the country.”

Commenting, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“From day one, the defining mission of this government has been to level up this country, to break the link between geography and destiny so that no matter where you live you have access to the same opportunities.

“The challenges we face have been embedded over generations and cannot be dug out overnight, but this White Paper is the next crucial step.

“It is a vision for the future that will see public spending on R&D increased in every part of the country; transport connectivity improving; faster broadband in every community; life expectancies rising; violent crime falling; schools improving; and private sector investment being unleashed.

“It is the most comprehensive, ambitious plan of its kind that this country has ever seen and it will ensure that the government continues to rise to the challenge and deliver for the people of the UK.”

Commenting, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said:

“The United Kingdom is an unparalleled success story. We have one of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economies. Ours is the world’s most spoken language. We have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any country other than America.

“But not everyone shares equally in the UK’s success. For decades, too many communities have been overlooked and undervalued. As some areas have flourished, others have been left in a cycle of decline. The UK has been like a jet firing on only one engine.

“Levelling Up and this White Paper is about ending this historic injustice and calling time on the postcode lottery.

“This will not be an easy task, and it won’t happen overnight, but our 12 new national levelling up missions will drive real change in towns and cities across the UK, so that where you live will no longer determine how far you can go.”

• On 2 February 2022, we published our Levelling Up White Paper, which sets out our plan to spread opportunity and reduce geographical inequality across the UK. The paper sets out 12 missions by which to measure our success at levelling up and a range of policies to achieve this ambition (DLUHC, Levelling Up White Paper, 2 February 2022, link).

Our Conservative record on levelling up the UK:

• Increasing overall skills spending by £3.8 billion over this Parliament, turbocharging productivity, wages and prospects for all. This real terms increase of 26 per cent will fund more hours learning for 16-19 year olds, expanding T Levels, more traineeships, funding the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, upgrading our further education college estate, quadrupling the number of places on our skills bootcamps, and spending record sums on apprenticeships (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Investing an additional £4.7 billion per year on schools funding, investing in our children. We are committing another £4.7 billion per year by 2024 to lift real terms per pupil spending to historic 2010 levels – a cash uplift of over £1,500 per pupil (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Increasing spending on healthcare by £44 billion over the course of this Parliament, improving health outcomes across our country. Resource spending on health services will increase to over £177 billion and we will deliver at least 100 Community Diagnostic Centres and 40 new hospitals (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Investing £11.5 billion through our Affordable Homes Programme, improving access to high quality affordable housing. Our Affordable Homes Programme will deliver up to 180,000 homes by 2028-9, with 65 per cent of the funding for delivery of homes outside London (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Establishing a £500 million Beeching Reversal Fund, reconnecting towns and villages across England. The Fund will restore rail lines in the north of England and Midlands, which were cut off from the rest of the network during the 1960s (Conservative Party, Manifesto 2019, 24 November 2019, link).
• Channelling investment in green industry across the UK, creating skilled and well-paid jobs. The £140 million Industrial Decarbonisation and Hydrogen Revenue Support scheme and £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund will support innovative hydrogen projects across the UK. Our £160 million investment in offshore wind power hubs will create and safeguard at least 2,500 jobs in Teesside, Humberside and the North-East, ultimately enabling the sector to support up to 60,000 jobs by 2030 (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Improving local and civic infrastructure with our £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund. We have announced the first £1.7 billion of allocations, which will fund over 100 projects to improve local infrastructure, including a new medical training facility in Bolton, the regeneration of Doncaster Town Centre, and upgrades to coastal attractions in Southend-on-Sea, among others (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Making £3.6 billion available for towns to kickstart local projects, driving growth and improving the environment in 101 towns. The Towns Fund will invest in transport, technology, skills, and culture in towns across the country (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Investing £830 million into 72 high streets and town centres, restoring high streets to their former glory. Our Future High Streets Fund is helping communities redevelop high streets, improve transport and access to town centres, and turn empty retail units into homes and workspace (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).
• Providing the largest funding settlement to the devolved administrations since devolution in 1998 – making sure everyone across the UK can access high-quality public services. This Budget increases Scottish Government funding by an average of £4.6 billion per year, Welsh Government funding by £2.5 billion per year, and £1.6 billion per year for the Northern Ireland Executive (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget and Spending Review, 27 October 2021, link).