The Government is expected shortly to publish its Levelling Up White Paper, with this morning's press release announcing 12 legally binding 'missions' to be enshrined in a new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The missions will be achieved via new devolution deals for nine areas, mirroring those in place for the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
One of the most interesting announcements is the repurposing of Homes England, which will now be responsible for the regeneration of towns and cities. This tallies with comments made at last year's Compulsory Purchase Association Annual Conference, where speakers suggested that Homes England was undertaking an internal review of its use (or lack of use) of compulsory purchase powers to deliver housing schemes.
Analysis shows that £4.7bn of funding has been allocated to the levelling up agenda to date, with a further £1.8bn to be announced. If any of the missions are to be achieved then there will clearly need to be the necessary joined up strategic frameworks in place at a broader than local level. Regional Spatial Strategies anyone...?
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