To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Resolution Foundation report Income outcomes: Assessing income gaps between places across the UK, published on 27 June; and what plans they have to re-evaluate the feasibility of the Levelling Up programme.
Answered on
11 July 2022
This report reaffirms our finding that disparities in incomes are significant and persistent, both within and between different parts of the UK. These findings reinforce the scale of the challenge we face, but also the vital need for levelling up. The living standards mission sets out government's ambition to narrow the gap in living standards between different areas of the country.
The report's use of the ONS's Gross Disposable Household Income (one of the supporting metrics for the living standards mission) as a data source adds considerable nuance and detail that provides important insights for levelling up and avenues for future research. This analysis also shows the value of improving subnational data to deepen our understanding of the UK's disparities and how they can be addressed. The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities is continuing to work with the ONS and others to improve our subnational data, and will continue to engage with experts like the Resolution Foundation to build the evidence base that we need to deliver levelling up.
Our Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will enshrine in law our commitment to report on spatial disparities within the UK. To do this, we will continue to develop and monitor the suite of metrics we outlined within the Technical Annex of the Levelling Up White Paper, which will enable us to evaluate progress and better understand what works to improve outcomes across different places.