My Lords, I declare, for Committee stage as a whole, that I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association and a vice-president of the National Energy Action advisory board.
I thank my noble friend Lady Pinnock for raising this issue; it is very important that we have a shared understanding of what we mean by levelling up. For me, I think it is the second option she gave, which is narrowing the gap. If we were to compare ourselves with Germany, we would find that there is a constitutional requirement in Germany for the 16 Länder to support each other, and the outcomes are assessed in terms of how well off the Länder are and using the many criteria we will be debating later today—there are so many criteria you can use. However, it is important that we understand the Government’s precise objectives with the Bill.
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The 2019 general election was fought on a Conservative Party manifesto in which levelling up was the guiding principle. What we have had from the Government, before and after, are branding exercises—the Midlands engine, the northern powerhouse, and now trailblazer deals for enhanced devolution for combinations of local authorities—and mission statements, although mission statements are not in the Bill. What we need are action plans and some means of assessing whether the missions are being delivered.
Last year, the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, speaking at a conference in the north of England, said:
“We simply can’t go on with the gulf between rich and poor… growing.”
He was entirely right. But the Office for National Statistics reported last month that the gap continues to grow. So where in this Bill is the plan to reverse that trend? I do not think that it is there. Without doubt, this is a regeneration Bill. It is also about structures for devolution. But joining those structures and the regeneration to the delivery of clear outcomes on levelling up is less certain.
I would find it very helpful indeed to know what the Government’s thinking is. Is it their intention, through this Bill, to define the outcomes and the assessments
that are going to be made which will demonstrate whether levelling up across the whole country in terms of geographical disparities is being delivered? How will the Government ensure that they are passing legislation which assists us to deliver the outcomes that the public have been led to expect?