What is the 'Levelling Up' plan?

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has announced the "12 big missions" the Government wants to achieve by 2030 in order to improve the lives of those outside London and the South East.

'Levelling Up' was at the forefront of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's 2019 general election campaign which saw the Tories make huge gains in Labour's previously impenetrable "red wall" strongholds.

The 400 page strategy aims to improve services such as education, broadband and transport, but will take until 2030.

Mr Gove has said that the strategy is not aimed at providing these areas with no funding, but ensuring that the money is spent effectively on local priorities.

The Levelling Up Secretary said: "That was money put in, if you like, in departmental bank accounts, and now we are spending that money and it's being allocated to the mayors and other local leaders who are best placed to drive change in their own communities."

What are the "12 missions"?

In all, the White Paper includes 12 national "missions" to be achieved by 2030 to be enshrined in a flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

They are:

• A growth in pay, employment and productivity everywhere.
• Improving the gap between he top and worst performing areas.
• 'Increase domestic public research and development outside the Greater South East increase by at least 40%'.
• Improving local transport systems to be that akin to London's.
• Access to 5G broadband to the "large majority" of households.
• Every part in England to get a 'London-style' devolution deal if wanted.
• 'Eliminating' illiteracy and innumeracy from primary schools.
• Increasing the number of those with high quality skill training.
• Decreasing the gap between healthy life expectancy.
• The number of poor quality rented homes halved.
• Rejuvenation of the most run down town centres and communities across the country.
• A significant decrease in crime in the most disruptive areas.

Criticism from Labour

Labour has criticised the Levelling Up White Paper as being a "series of rehashed announcements, some of which are so old they were actually originally made by Gordon Brown when he was the Labour prime minister in 2008".

Labour MP Yvette Cooper has added that, despite promises, those in the North of England have yet to see any changes.

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