Third Report - Post-pandemic economic growth: Levelling up

The government's response focuses on the significant impact of COVID-19 on health, the economy, and society, explaining how understanding its long-term implications is crucial for the levelling up agenda. It describes ongoing work to factor this analysis into planning and delivery, but does not directly address the committee's observation about the lack of definition for levelling up itself.

The government acknowledges the committee's comments on the lack of clarity around levelling up and commits to publishing a Levelling Up White Paper to articulate its strategy and provide further details on plans.

The government acknowledges the importance of the issue and the need for long-term planning, stating they will take it into consideration for future policy. They also highlight existing provision of capacity funding to local authorities for bidding for grants.

The government accepts the recommendation, recognizing the importance of factoring COVID-19 impacts into levelling up. It is undertaking a program of work to understand structural shifts and will continue to work closely with the Levelling Up Task Force to integrate this analysis into planning and delivery.

The government commits to publishing the Levelling Up White Paper, which will articulate how livelihoods will be improved across the country, with further details on plans to be included in the paper.

The government welcomes the committee's comments on delivery but responds by discussing local government effectiveness, funding, and general levelling up principles. It does not commit to detailing the specific content requirements (roadmap, timeline, problem statements) for the promised Levelling Up White Paper as requested.

The government reiterates its commitment to levelling up, highlighting DLUHC's role and the publication of priority outcomes and delivery plans from the 2020 Spending Review. It notes that updated priority outcomes will be published at the next Spending Review, but does not specifically commit to being more realistic or clear about the scale of funding.

The government states its commitment to levelling up, outlining DLUHC's central role and the use of priority outcomes and outcome delivery plans from the 2020 Spending Review for accountability. However, the response does not address how levelling up differs from past regional policies or how it will succeed where they failed.

The government states its commitment to levelling up and explains that it uses Spending Review priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans to ensure departmental contributions are aligned with a clear strategy. Updated outcomes and metrics will be published at the next Spending Review.

The government states its commitment to levelling up and explains that it uses Spending Review priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans to link departmental contributions and provide accountability. Updated outcomes and metrics will be published at the next Spending Review.

The government's response discusses the helpfulness of Local Industrial Strategies and encourages local areas to develop their own economic plans, which would be locally owned and not require government agreement. It does not address the committee's observation about the incoherence and inconsistency of regional and local devolution across England.

The government agrees with the importance of clear direction, citing the transformation of the Ministry to DLUHC and new appointments as indicators of seriousness. It states that more plans will be announced in due course and promises to ensure appropriate governance structures for successful delivery of the levelling up agenda.

The government outlines its existing levelling up strategy centered on DLUHC and cross-departmental priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans to ensure accountability, but does not address the recommendation to consider how to report on the comparative effectiveness of different local and regional authorities.

The government acknowledges the value of past Local Industrial Strategies but encourages local places to develop their own economic strategies and evidence-led thinking. It states these locally owned plans would not require government agreement and would build on previous work, rather than committing to support and fund the updating of existing strategies through the Cities and Local Growth Unit.

The government states it already has a system for agreeing provisional priority outcomes and metrics across departments, which are embedded in Outcome Delivery Plans. It notes that updated priority outcomes and metrics will be published at the next Spending Review to ensure departmental accountability.

The government agrees on the importance of clear departmental direction for levelling up, citing the formation of DLUHC and the Secretary of State's role in driving cross-Whitehall efforts. It commits to ensuring appropriate governance structures are in place for successful delivery but does not explicitly agree to establish a Cabinet Committee.

The government states it is already committed to levelling up and has published priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans that set out strategy and planning information. It commits to publishing updated priority outcomes and metrics at the next Spending Review.

The government states its commitment to levelling up and explains that it uses Spending Review priority outcomes and Outcome Delivery Plans to set metrics for departments and ensure accountability. Updated priority outcomes and metrics will be published at the next Spending Review.