Labour is demanding the federal government publishes its promised progress report on “levelling up”, saying there’s “no excuse for dodging scrutiny by both parliament and the public”.
Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy has written to her authorities counterpart, Michael Gove, pointing to the pledge he made when launching the levelling up white paper one yr in the past on Thursday.
The 332-page doc laid out 12 “missions” the federal government deliberate to finish by 2030, aiming to “make opportunity more equal and to shift wealth and power decisively towards working people and their families”.
And Mr Gove mentioned he would “publish an annual report analysing progress” in opposition to the missions “so that levelling up is subject to rigorous external scrutiny, including by parliament”.
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In the letter, seen by Sky News, Ms Nandy wrote: “One year on, no such report has been forthcoming and there do not seem to be any plans in place to produce one.
“This is unacceptable and represents the newest in a protracted line of damaged guarantees on levelling up.”
She accused the federal government of “moving the goal posts” when it got here to assembly their targets, claiming ministers try to change the unique missions.
And she mentioned because the white paper was printed, regional inequality had “widened”, including: “The Levelling Up Fund is beset by delays whereas thousands and thousands of kilos have been wasted on failed bids due to your division’s Hunger Games-style aggressive bidding system.
“You have broken your manifesto promise to match previous development funding in our poorest regions, and failed to appoint a single levelling up director.
“One in 10 native bus companies have been axed, prepare cancellations are at a document excessive, and we live via a value of residing disaster that has hit communities within the north of England significantly harshly.”
The shadow minister said that, within such a context, “an trustworthy evaluation of the federal government’s progress in the direction of delivering on its central election promise wouldn’t make for fairly studying – however that’s no excuse for dodging scrutiny”.
Mr Gove has been contacted for a response.
Source: information.sky.com”