(1)A Minister of the Crown must prepare, and lay before each House of Parliament, a statement of levelling-up missions.
(2)A “statement of levelling-up missions” is a document which sets out—
(a)objectives which His Majesty’s Government intends to pursue to reduce geographical disparities in the United Kingdom significantly (“levelling-up missions”), within a period specified in the statement (the “mission period”), and
(b)details of how His Majesty’s Government proposes to measure progress in delivering those levelling-up missions (the “mission progress methodology and metrics”).
(3)In the course of preparing a statement of levelling-up missions, the Minister of the Crown must have regard to—
(a)the importance of the levelling-up missions in the statement (taken as a whole) addressing both economic and social disparities in opportunities or outcomes, and
(b)the needs of rural areas.
(4)The mission period for a statement of levelling-up missions must not—
(a)begin before the statement has been laid before each House of Parliament, nor
(b)be shorter than five years.
(5)A statement of levelling-up missions must specify a target date for the delivery of each of the levelling-up missions in it, which may be before or at the end of the mission period.
(6)If different target dates are specified under subsection (5) for different levelling-up missions, the statement of levelling-up missions must give reasons for the different dates.
(7)The first statement of levelling-up missions must come into effect before the end of the period of one month beginning with the day on which this section comes into force.
(8)A statement of levelling-up missions comes into effect when—
(a)the statement has been laid before each House of Parliament and published by a Minister of the Crown, and
(b)the mission period in the statement begins.
(9)Before the end of the mission period in a statement of levelling-up missions (“the old statement”), a Minister of the Crown must prepare a new statement of levelling-up missions, lay it before each House of Parliament and publish it.
(10)The mission period in the new statement of levelling-up missions must begin no later than immediately after the end of the mission period in the old statement.
(11)When the new statement of levelling-up missions comes into effect it replaces the old statement, which ceases to have effect.
(12)References in this Part to the current statement of levelling-up missions are to the statement of levelling-up missions for the time being in effect.
Commencement Information
I1S. 1 in force at 26.12.2023, see s. 255(1)(b)